Hi, I’m looking to build a new PC server basically for local use (20TB for 1-2 users). I currently only need 2K stream but maybe future proof for H.265, 4K, and remote. I’ve built PCs for specific needs - office/3D design/gaming/etc and enjoy the building. I don’t want to throw together the “cheapest” thing but obviously I don’t need much. I’ve been with Plex a long time and have seen the preference for Intel over AMD (for transcoding). I’m wondering if Ryzen chips should be considered.
Passmark for the above i3 is 9,000 while the Ryzen is 13,000 - the best CPU/$ by cpubenchmark. Is it just that simple if I don’t need hardware acceleration?
I’m fairly new to Docker and Unraid so I’m going to use to improve my knowledge. I know inside Docker there’s no HW acceleration at all with AMD but it has been shown to work with Intel.
i3 10100 or Ryzen 5 2600?
Do I need HW acceleration? Too difficult inside Docker anyway?
I’ll probably add a GTX 1650 or 1050 Ti (both cost $140)? If so, does this make my CPU decision moot? Maybe I don’t need this GPU if the results are comparables without?
I’m sure there may be cheaper or more efficient designs but this is what I’m looking to build. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice!!
am not talking Transcoding the videos to play on a client because that should be done on gpu its way faster than both of these cpu’s and I don’t think they can handle much.
but transcoding audio will be only done on cpu ( as fast as I noticed and researched long time ago)
and transcoding stuff for optimization + downloads etc… all done on cpu
also adding new content to flex library specialy that you have 20 TB will Take looong time on the i3 ( if you want intro detection + thumbnails ) because thumbnails is basically transcoding some frames from the videos to be playable in different resolution + format which that is only done on cpu and never uses gpu so having high core count and faster cpu is a big jump in speed.
my 8700k stock way faster adding new content compared to my 3770k @4.6ghz
so you do want these things that I mentioned (which rely on cpu ) to be faster ? then go for the 2600.
if you dont add big amount at once and maybe you already have these 20 TB done so you will just back up your current flex and restore it on the new machine then you can stay with i3 maybe cheaper for you.
as for gpu if you won’t game on the machine so dont care about frequent gpu drivers update you can follow a trick on YouTube to unlock the geforce gpu’s to get more Hardware transcoding, nvidia limit the number to 3 maximum but using that trick will make it unlimited (so depends how fast the gpu and how much vram you got).
as for the gpu’s this link shows benchmarks for transcoding , both are similar number , its safe to assume the 1650 might be faster transcoding but the same amount "quantity " (I know its not using the new nvenc chip that is there in Turing cards like 1660 Ti but no one doing these kind of tests so I just assume it)
in general I would buy 1650 , it’s based on Volta and its newer so most likely will have more support (updates) and easier to find troubleshooting for it on forums.
Quadro P2000 is what everyone try to buy , its the cheapest quadro card that does high number of transcodes and its officially unlimited transcodes no need to do the trick (video). but might be more expensive than your choices.
if you want to save money and dont buy a gpu then just buy i3 and use the built in Gpu from intel it can handle Plex just fine , check YouTube for it.
Sorry but your answer concerning cpu’s is very wrong. The i3 10100 is faster than the 2600 on all benchmarks and only slightly slower than the 8700k. You can compare them in cpu userbenchmarks website.
Plus transcoding works better on intel cpu’s due to QuickSync. But here GPU will be used anyway as you mentioned.
Apart from that, older generation Ryzen cpus are known to have very inefficient motherboards, you’ll end up with more than 50W idle power which can be very expensive if you keep your server up 24/7. This guy reports 68W idle with a Ryzen 3600 and a GTX 16050 , fast forward to 6:35 in the video.
Intel motherboards are much more efficient (There are builds with a GTX 1650 and a i3 10100 that have idle power of less than 20W, check here)
Thanks for the input. I picked the i3-10100 mostly for the reasons you mentioned. I actually just finished the build this week. Now I need a good starting guide on unraid.
