Hey, sorry if this is in the wrong area. I’ve just purchased a Lenovo Legion 5, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 8 core 16 thread, GTX 1660Ti, 16Gb memory. Will this be enough to play / transcode X265 files? I ask as my current laptop is a POS and can’t play X265 without buffering every 10 minutes. I wanted to get a head start on re-building my library and would be good to know what files/codecs etc to shoot for w this machine specs.
are you asking about, as a player, or as a server ?
because they are totally different tasks.
have you read @ Plex, 4k, transcoding, and you ?
it should answer most, if not all, of your questions about 4k and plex.
All things being equal - that processor is way, way (way) better than my AMD FX-8350 with an adequate AMD RX-570 Card - and mine wades through HEVC transcodes (in the rare case it actually has to do one) like a dozen Amish Farmers through an acre of Wheat.
I don’t think that upgrade will hurt ya any…lol
But, ideally - you don’t want to transcode HEVC. The goal should be Direct Play.
Sorry if this sounds ridiculous but whats the difference? I guess as a server I think… because I always cast from my Android app. The laptop is where I just have my PMS. I store the files on an external hdd.
Thank you! Its just finding a balance between storage sizes and what my CPU can handle really. I know X265 requires more CPU or something to play right? And X264 can usually just direct play without having to transcode. So yeah, just finding a balance between best quality / smallest file size / least CPU intensity.
x265 has benefits in that it will carry more quality at a lower bit rate. That’s great if you’re like me and want good quality crammed into a small package.
The downside is sending that material to apps and devices incapable of handling them - in whatever state they happen to be in - negates ALL the benefits gained with x265… when Plex transcodes a copy to watch that looks like it was bounced off the Moon.
The thread linked above explains in painful detail all the pitfalls of 4K and HEVC(x265).
The bottom line is to find out what your apps and devices can Direct Play and can’t Direct Play - then either replace them or alter the media in whatever way it takes to make them Direct Play.
That might be harder than it sounds.
The Easy Button would be to get a fat server with plenty of horses and let Plex transcode - but there goes your quality.
It is, indeed a balancing act made easier if you’re willing to get your hands dirty.
Pardon me - I have another 84 Episodes of SG-1 Upgrades (is it 3 or 4 times I’ve done this?) to Handbrake - gotta go…lol
Thanks again, I wasn’t sure if that link was pertinent to me as I don’t plan on 4K anytime soon. 1080 will do me just fine. How do I find out what apps will direct play my x265 content? Is it just a case of testing it myself?
Don’t know any other way…
Play things - check the Plexweb dashboard and find out what it’s doing.
Do different stuff until you Get Direct Play - then you’ll know.
Without knowing your setup a bit better but one comment worth considering is casting from your android app. If your watching on a TV then a better streaming device might be a consideration as it will most likely direct stream/direct play.
I cast from my android plex app to a chromecast in my tv, what would be a better streaming device?
Cheers, figured it to be the case haha.
I could be misunderstanding what you are saying here but it sounds (at least to me) that you have a android device (phone, tablet etc…) with the plex app on it and you are then casting from that device to your TV. This would not really be a opium approach to streaming your content locally on your network. I personally would never do that, especially for high quality content (1080p/4k).
What Juice has said regarding checking the dashboard will be a good indication as to what is happening currently with your content while you are playing.
The reason I bring it up is there could be many factors to buffering and your device running plex media server itself might not be the problem. Regardless Lenovo Legion 5, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 8 core 16 thread, GTX 1660Ti, 16Gb memory should be a really good machine for plex. Just do consider how the content is being played on your end point device (TV).
Yep - A device plugged into the TV with a Plex App on it (that’s not an Android device - ATM) would be the best way to go.
There are a million devices, but few good ones for Plex.
I think the general consensus is something like:
Roku
Apple
Shield <—with the accompanying PITA Android App
Android Proper <—again, experiencing major malfunctions
any other ‘Plex Friendly’ devices should be listed here - and I wouldn’t think a Chromecast would be among them…
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I have my PMS on my laptop, with all my content and files in an external HDD plugged into the laptop, I then downloaded the Plex app for my phone so that when I’m away from my laptop I can still remote access my Plex server and from there I cast what I want to watch to my chromecast plugged into my TV. It seems a lot of steps really but I can play at least one local and one remote stream at the same time. Hope that explains it properly 
But thank you for the explanation and help! I’m glsd my new setup should be able to handle what I need.
Okay, maybe a Roku is the way to go then. I may invest and try it out this way. Cheers.
Exactly, Roku or Shield would be MUCH better. They will stream directly from your server to your TV.
fI you scan the forums you will see ROKU has fewer forum posts with issues than the other devices, at least from what I have noticed. I prefer ROKU for that exact reason.
Although I never see an Apple 4 issue either but TBH I HATE Apple.
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