In the process of setting up plex again after a bit of a hiatus. It will be for myself and a couple close friends.
I was thinking of grabbing one of the 11th gen i5’s and using the iGPU in that but on my current setup I could enable the iGPU and use that for plex so I am considering that as well.
The CPU in my gaming PC is the 10850k, the iGPU is disabled because I have a 2080S for gaming but I can enable the iGPU in the BIOS. Since the iGPU is not being used for anything else Plex could use it for transcoding. I know the audio transcoding happens on the CPU but if its just a few streams it shouldnt be much.
Obviously this would save me from having to buy another mobo/cpu/ram which would be great but I am just hesitant because I do not want it impacting the performance of my gaming (I do a lot of VR gaming with my valve index).
In general I believe that servers, particularly video servers, should have no non-server applications running on a regular basis. There are many reasons and many of those have nothing to do with the power or abilities of the hardware involved. One, just one of the many, potential problems has to do with maintenance timing which can get touchy even for a dedicated server.
Now, if you are only planing to have a small library and no external users then you can use your gaming computer as a server. Every Plex setup is different and you will have to decide what you want but I would go with separate boxes.
Another thing to keep in mind is that really a video server is much like just a computer in a data center. And there is an old saying about data centers that goes: “Data grows to fill available space.” So I recommend that for a server you get the best computer you can afford with emphasis on expandability.
I’m currently using my old gaming rig (the only one I have) as a server.
AMD FX-8350/AMD RX-570.
Today I am running through Doom 3 BFG while at least 2 Direct Play streams are in progress. No issues.
If I have some material in the P’Verse that is unable to Direct Play - I don’t know about it, yet - so there are no issues for anyone. If at some point a transcode is required somewhere while I am gaming, rest assured I’ll be the one that suffers - and dies horribly - when I’m made the meat in an IMP sandwich.
I only have the one graphics card, so it is busy. It normally does help out on a transcode, but when engaged otherwise with a game - the CPU handles all the transcoding and that makes for some serious lag in game. The buffers for the remote/local devices don’t notice a thing but I do, so it’s up to me to make sure whatever that is dealing out the hurt, is fixed.
So far, So Good.
I am building a new Gaming Rig and vetoed the idea of two boxes - one for server. I want a new box - everything Direct Plays - I want a new box to start grinding through HEVC encodes as well as do Next Gen Gaming… So one hole in the AV Closet to pour money into is plenty.
Another vote for a separate server. I have a dedicated Ubuntu box and it’s nice to have it only run Plex and a UPS monitoring utility.
I can manage its network settings, background processes, power draw, configuration, etc. just for Plex, and not have to worry about anything else I do interfering with the machine or needing a reboot of the server. It’s also in my server rack in the basement with all the network equipment and a NAS, all on their own separate UPS.
My desktop is also running an I9-10850k too, and it is nice to be able to just turn it on when I need to use it - the rest of the time its off, and not consuming power, generating heat, or making noise.
Also, I thing Plex uses the default GPU in the machine? So I think it would use your 2080S unless you did something like run a VM and pass the iGPU through to it?
Thanks, I am not worried about having to reboot it or running it 24/7 etc. My gaming desktop runs 24/7 already because I have my gpu mining in its spare time. To me a 2nd machine would be an extra hassle that only makes me have less runtime on my UPS and costs a bunch of money.
The iGPU is what I am most interested about but if as you say I cannot pick my GPU for plex that might cause an issue. If the iGPU idea will not work then I would have to do a 2nd machine, but my preference is 1 machine if possible
I was trying something along the lines of this, but not at all related to plex. I found that regardless of what my configuration was, dedicated use for a single video card for X application didn’t entirely work as you’d think. It is something Windows does…
Separately - i was trying to get my main screen to be for windows only using iGPU and then have my 2080 for VR… but that caused issues too… Something in what makes the “default” monitor actually default. Sorry I don’t have a more technical explanation, it was over a year ago that i tried this.
Vote = Separate box with a mid-level GPU should be fine.
I think I have a HD radeon 8570 running on a 4th gen i5 /12 GB RAM that hasn’t screamed at me yet.
