My First Plex setup and i want to be sure

General Discussions
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Hi Guys,

Sorry for being the noob but i just gotta know :frowning:.

I read alot about Plex, the requirments, transcoding (which i dont fully get), network, support,…
Im looking into creating my first Plex Setup in my new house and i just want to be sure if im not overkilling it and if everything will work smooth.

A little bit of background :

I will be running Plex Server from a Windows PC. Most of my content will be standard fotos, music files and movies. Movies will be generally 1080p. Some might be 4k, but the majority will be lower quality. Format of the files will generaly be .mp4. i have some HVEC, H.264,…

Generally i will be working with Local content. it mostly will be for home use. 2 persons will be working with plex but normally we will be watching together to one thing (so actually it will be 1 person). Seldom we will stream remotly via a Cellphone and if so it will probably not be 4k files.
We will be however streaming with subtitles often, mostly all the time. Locally and Remotly (if we go remotly)

I cant think of any more background story So i will be diving into my current suggested Setup.

The network :

Ubiquiti Unifi USG
Ubiquiti Cloud Key
Ubiquiti Unifi Switch 24
Ubiquiti Unifi AP AC Pro
Cat 6e everywhere
(normally this all will be 1Gbps then)

Plex Media Client :

Nvidia Shield TV Pro
Chromecast Ultra
4k samsung Smart tv
Full HD samsung TV
Dolby atmos speaker set

Plex Media server :

i7 6700k
Asus H110M-C
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 Gyg
Be Quiet! 500w
Intel Solid State drive 128GB
WD Red 6 TB x2
Cooler Master Elite 342
Be Quiet! Shadow rock LP

I think the only thing what might be overkill is the i7 but i dont know. I also dont know if i need a dedicated 3d card. This is where im clueless about the transcoding stuff and if my setup will be trancoding alot ?

If you guys need more background info or anything just ask.

Thanx so much for your suggestions guys

Quick question about Nvidia Shield
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With Nvidia Shield you have not a lot to worry about. Your network will be fine and as for file formats you got it covered.

Happy Plexing

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Thank you so much for replying. So as it seems im covered :slight_smile:

is the i7 overkill or not in my situation ? (just to push down the costs of this thing :))

4

Truly the question is going to be.

Are you going to convert large Video files? Probably not.

This will depend on the source of your growing collection.

I use a i5 without issue, just avoid Trans coding. With the Shield you have got that covered with the Samies you will need to check. One Samy will be attached to your Speaker system and HDMI connection between the shield and the Receiver. The HD Samy will be limited with 100mbps and file format support

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IMHO with subtitles you cannot avoid transcoding in many situations. Particularly when using it remotely.
Therefore stick with a powerful CPU, but you can lose the separate graphics adapter.

However, the CPU model you selected is 4,5 years old and already out of production.


The Quicksync unit in it doesn’t have support for HEVC-10 bit, which is crucial for nowaday’s UHD/HDR encodes. (Skylake)

I’d look for a newer generation i5 or i7 CPU.
Look up their “single-thread-rating” and use that as the main criteria (after the “generation” of the CPU, which I recommend should be at least “Kaby Lake”, and the power consumption [TDP] and price).

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First off all i like to thank everybody for there replys. I know it somethimes can be bothersom to aid total noobs and these kinds of questions.

I will change my CPU to an I7 9700k. this is a coffee lake. Will this be sufficient ?

@SE56 what is a samie ? :smiley:

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Australian Slang for Samsung

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This should be OK for most situations. But if you want to use the hardware transcoder, you need a Plex Pass or everything will only run in software. And this cpu might be just at the edge of running smoothly when trying to transcode UHD 4K rips. So it may stutter occasionally if the hardware transcoder cannot be used. (and the cooling system will run at full speed as well)

Speaking of cooling: don’t skimp on the cooler. Use one which is made for overclockers (but don’t actually O’C your CPU). These are relatively big and have big fans on them (which slow down under normal load scenarios, so you can barely hear them).

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I will be buying the plex Pass premium. So do i need to do something else for this ? or is this pure settings in plex furtheron ?

I’ll buy a better cooler. check

12

and i do not need a dedicated 3d card ?

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Nope, not with the QuickSync unit in Intel CPU’s.

1 Like
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well thats it then :slight_smile: im all set.

whish i could choose all as solution so i can give all you guys points.

Thank you so much everybody.

Happy new year and stuff :slight_smile: will be checking in sometimes :slight_smile:

Thanx!!!

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