Hello,
As per the title, I’m looking to buy Synology DS1520+, is there anything better?
Shall I upgrade RAM and/or add NVME SSDs for caching?
My main use case is for plex.
Thanks in advance 
There is always something better, depends on what you want to pay. Is this for a business or home use. Do you need 2 1gb ethernet ports, 4 1gb ports or a 10gb port?
I have a 1520+ and am happy with it over the 1522+ because it does not do hardware transcoding for plex.
Ram is always a good idea!! I dont use nvme cache because I do not have many users accessing the nas and working with files all at the same time.
Hope this gives you some insight.
1 Like
Thank you for your reply, it shed the light on important points.
It’s for home use and for using as a plex and some files backup.
May you help me further please with the following,
-
As I’m on open budget, what would be the best RAM upgrade to have a seamless hassle-free experience?
-
I will be the only user of the NAS, so no need for nvme caching?
I want to have a smooth 4k viewing experience, that’s all.
A lot of Plex resource requirements comes down to if you are transcoding or not or how many streams are being fed from the server and that’s almost entirely CPU dependent. RAM upgrades and SSD cache aren’t a big impact.
My Synology 218+ did great for me for transcoding when needed and the x20+ series should be at least twice as good really. The 218+ was handling 720p\1080p SSA sub transcoding with just a bit of buffer time. It choked on PGS subs transcodes though. Sub burn-in transcoding is some of the more intensive Plex activity. I needed that for my Roku devices and when it came time to upgrade my server for more drive storage flexibility, I decided to go with QNAP TS-664 for the hardware specs since the x23+ Synologies didn’t have hardware transcoding support (and with the sales, it cost about the same as an x20+ series but with better hardware).
If you have playback devices that don’t need video transcoding, it doesn’t take much CPU just to feed the media to it. I think nVidia Shields are the go to for not transcoding. AppleTV is pretty solid there too - though I think Infuse is currently required for Atmos audio with HDR video (there’s a thread about that one). Roku covers most things pretty well overall so I’ve been happy with it but doesn’t have as broad of format support (most stuff is fine).
That being said, RAM won’t make a huge difference to Plex overall really but is pretty cheap and doesn’t hurt to upgrade.
SSD cache won’t do much for Plex either because there’s not a lot of repeated random file access, but you can setup a dedicated SSD raid volume and install Plex - and OS\Apps\Dockers - to that and you’ll get a bump in performance over spindle drives; mostly the GUI navigation improves a bit… feels “snappier”. So you put the Plex app on the SSDs and keep the media libraries in the larger drive storage. I recommend SSDs in RAID1 if you’re going to do that… I did 2x1GB NVMe for mine. With the OS, Plex and a few other apps I still have a LOT of space available.
It sounds like based on what you’ve said is your use case, you’d be well served with the 1520+ and RAM upgrades or SSD will depend less on Plex specific needs and more about current budget and future intent; and can be added later without much trouble too.
Anyways… hope that helps?
EDIT: for the specific RAM, I’d hit either the Synology forums or the r/synology sub-reddit and see what folks recommend there.
1 Like
Thank you for your helpful post, it helped a lot.
As I’m searching more and more, I’ve read the 1520+ chipset won’t recognize any RAM beyond the 8 GB one, so I don’t know what shall I do?
My library now is 40+ TB and growing, so is it a must to upgrade the RAM and/or add NVME SSDs?
I’m looking to direct play 4k content and not transcoding it.
I will be the sole user of the NAS with no intention to add users and most of the media will be played locally.
Go with 2 x 4GB.
Plex does not use that much RAM. Even if the system supported over 8 GB you would not need it.
As others have mentioned, the SSDs will not help with Plex.
On the DS1520+, Synology uses them for read/write cache, not for storage.
The read speed of 5400 rpm hard drives is plenty fast for streaming, especially if there is only one user.
2 Likes
Thank you for your helpful input.
So shall I stick with the original status of the DS1520+ with no added RAM and/or NVME SSDs for caching or better performance?
I’d just stick with stock setup for now really. You can always change\upgrade later if you find you’re hitting some performance issues. Functionally you should be pretty solid with the base setup. RAM upgrade is cheap and easy though so might do that one.
1 Like
I’ve a DS918+ with 8 GB RAM, no SSDs.
Right now, it is direct playing a 4K HDR movie with Plex, running a HyperBackup session, and uploading data to Google via Cloud Sync.
It is using 12% of the RAM.
If the only use is Plex, you’ll be fine with 4 GB RAM and you can skip the SSDs.
You can always add additional RAM or the SSDs later if desired.
1 Like
How will I notice I’m hitting performance issues? Buffering/lagging of the media being played?
May I know your setup please for 4k direct playing.
I’m thinking about using NVIDIA Shield Pro as a Plex client and we’ve DS1520+ as a Plex server.
Now for the TV and cables, may I know what are you using?
Anything else missing for the 4k direct play setup I didn’t mention?
Typically yes… that’ll be where you’d see performance issues with Plex but as mentioned, RAM and SSD aren’t really an impact on playback at all. The performance issues I mentioned will be more about the Synology server functionally overall rather than Plex specifically. You can reduce server load by keeping your media in a format that doesn’t require transcoding. That’ll depend on your equipment doing the playback to reduce transcoding, not the server.
If you use an NVidia Shield Pro as Plex client, that is one of the more capable clients so your server won’t be transcoding much of anything at all - if ever - so you’ll have even less concern about your server performance in regards to Plex.
Standard cables are fine.
The only other thing is the capabilities of the TV and audio equipment. Some support more functions than others - like DTS audio support or does it have HDR support. That’s harder to answer specifically - and depends on how you’re managing your personal media files - but with the devices you’ve mentioned you’ll probably be just fine.
If this is all very new to you, then I suggest taking some time in the Support Documents in the “Quick Start” and “intro” sections to get a good handle of some of the things you’ll want to be familiar with to manage your media and setup effectively (formats, naming and organizing, etc). https://support.plex.tv/articles/
1 Like
For cables: Premium High Speed/Ultra High Speed HDMI 2.0 or higher, maybe gold-plated ones.
For TV: One that supports, HDR, DV, Atmos, am I missing something?
For NAS Disks: Is there anything better than WD Red Pro ?
Audio equipment: I don’t know.
Could you please name a specific brand and module for the TV and the Audio equipment taking into consideration an open budget.
Nvidia Shield Pro (2015) ← HDMI → Denon AVR-X4300H <–HDMI-ARC–> LG B7 OLED
I picked up some 2 meter, HDMI 2.0b, 4K 60Hz cables on Amazon. Cost ~$20 USD. Good quality HDMI cables are important, but watch out for marketing hype. If you see any cables that talk about “long grain copper” or are “directional” then keep shopping. That is all a bunch of BS.
The Shield is connected via wired Gigabit Ethernet to the rest of the network. However, a wireless 5 GHz connection works OK too (The TV is connected via 5 GHz WiFi and can stream 4K w/o a problem).
I’ve no problem streaming 4K HDR rips from Blu-ray discs. Everything direct plays. I never transcode when streaming locally. The Denon handles all the audio formats found on DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
As others have mentioned, make sure the audio and video gear supports the desired formats.
Example: Some audio equipment will say it supports “Dolby Atmos” but provide minimal details.
There are two forms of Atmos audio for home theater: TrueHD + Atmos, the type found on Blu-ray discs, and Dolby Digital Plus + Atmos, the type used by streaming services such as Netflix.
If you are buying new equipment, check the details. Make sure it supports both formats.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
