Mac Mini Server needed for 3 stream DVR record and 1 playback

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: 1.14.1.5488
Player Version#:

I have an i5 2014 Mac mini (dual core) I am using as a Plex Server DVR and I am experiencing recording and playback issues. Sometimes commercials are not removed. Sometimes recording are incomplete.

I am contemplating getting a 2018 Mac Mini (6 core). I just want to validate that my troubles are CPU related and will be solved by the new Mac mini.

My max condition might be recording 2 or even 3 shows at once while playing back a recorded show.

I record using two HD HomeRun 2 channel boxes. The boot drive is SSD and records to a 4 disk RAID. I do seem to peg the CPU frequently. I am recording HD over the air (not 4k).

Would new CPU hardware help? Or are my problems from another source?

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Put another way, is a dual core up to this? Do I need quad core? 6 core? Or am I just banging my head against immature live tv software from Plex that will mature over time?

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Turn on HW transcoding on your current Mac. It is borderline capable for what you are trying to do when not using the iGPU.

Basic problem is that OTA TV is mostly transmitted in mpeg2 codec, without a client that natively supports playback Plex will convert to h.264. Normal DVR doesn’t use that much CPU but transcoding to the client will.

What are you using for a client?

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Thanks Tiberius. I am using an Apple TV (gen 3), Apple TV 4K, iPad Pro or Roku 3 for playback. Sometimes a 5k iMac using web client for Plex.

The video files the DVR creates have a .ts extension. Not sure if that tells us if it is mpeg2 or not.

I was using a quad core i7 Haswell-based iMac as the DVR PMS that I believe had a Radeon based GPU. Is that much better spec for this task?

I think the new Mac Minis are also iGPUs (non-discrete) so is that a problematic set up as well?

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More details on prior PMS

Old PMS -
Late 2013 iMac 21.5” with quad core i7 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics processor with 1 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory.

New PMS
2014 iMac dual core i5 with intel integrated graphics.

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FWIW - I switched form iMac to Mac Mini so I could run it headless. It is in a guest room and I thought it would be less distracting without a monitor.

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Yes .TS is MPEG2 container. The Intel iGPU supports HW Transcoding (decode/encode) on Windows, Linux, Mac. The GT750 can encode video but the CPU would still have to decode so it wouldn’t buy you too much.
Without 3rd party clients Apple no longer supports the mpeg2 codec so it all has to be converted to h.264. The Roku 3’s can be updated to OS9 and add one of the channels Plex, Plex Retro, or Plex Preview, enable mpeg2 support. Update your Server version to the new 1.15 beta.

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The new update released yesterday to Plex Pass and turning on Hardware encoding definitely seem to be helping.

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