I am considering switching to hardware transcode for my Plex server running on Unraid. However, it seems like my main reason is different from most: I’d like to improve the speed of my transcodes for syncing to devices.
I see tons of info and testing showing how hardware transcode allows for many more real-time streams, but none of the videos I have seen talk about the impact on offline transcode speed. I assume that more streams translates to faster transcode, but figured I’d see if anyone has data or experience here.
It remains a single threaded process (one file at a time) but the video conversion speed is better. Right now the only supported solution would be an Intel CPU with integrated GPU, a Broadwell or later would be recommended especially if you want to do H.265 to H.264 conversions.
And to be clear it only speeds up video conversions, Audio is done on the CPU.
Thanks for the reply. I assume that you don’t mention Nvidia GPUs because they are not officially supported on Unraid? Would the improved conversion speed also apply there if they were supported?
Correct. The speed gains would only be in preparing the file, the transfer to device would not be affected. I have two devices, one has a much faster wifi chip and can transfer a GB+ file in 15 seconds whereas the older device takes minute or two.
