I5-9400: Anyone using with Plex HW transcoding on Linux?

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

I’m considering custom building a new computer based on an i5-9400 running Ubuntu with Cinnamon. (Not the I5-9400F - I want the GPU!) I’m looking at a MSI Z390-A PRO mobo, start with 8 or 16GB ram but likely expand, an M.2 SSD for all OS, except /home on a traditional HDD. Media would be on traditional HDDs, likely RAID 1 since I want easy recovery.

Is anyone using this processor successfully with Plex hardware transcoding, and if so what is your experience? An I3-9100 or i3-8100 would meet my Plex-only needs, but I want some overhead to do more with the box. Some limited use as a NAS just as a common sharing location for multiple home computers but will be backed up off the server. An i7-9700 is more than I want to spend.

Any feedback or suggestions would be appreciated!

2

I do. Ubuntu server, I5-7500T.

What type of media, how many streams?

I’ve had up to 8 going at once, but they were all direct play.

4 transcodes at once didn’t seem to anger it too much.

image

One transcode going at this moment:

image
image.jpg1073×441 134 KB

3

Thank you! Most of my my media is 1080i or 720p h.264 in either .ts or .mp4 containers. Some mpeg2 in .ts. I direct stream or direct play in most cases; transcoding is mostly for when I have slower speed remote connections. Four transcodes is sufficient for my needs. When I get into 4k I’m not planning to transcode - but out of curiosity have you tried it on your i5-7500T? The GPU on your i5-7500T looks almost identical to the i5-9400.

I had seen some threads where there was pixelation with hardware transcoding, but it seemed to be on older processors.

4

I don’t do a ton, as it destroys storage but I believe roughly 15% cpu per stream, IIRC.

Interesting read:

But yeah, if you only need 4 streams that CPU should handle it fine.

I’ve been working with a guy in England, off and on, who created a pretty great script for pre-processing the data into a specific format.

Won’t work for everyone but fits my needs.

5

I’m running an i5-3570 with centOS 8 and it works great. Easily supports a few 1080p streams, though I haven’t tried to stress it too much, so I am sure a 6 generation newer cpu will be great. I’d recommend centOS over Ubuntu; I love Ubuntu for desktop, but centOS kicks its butt for servers.

6

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.