Not seeing the transcode performance I should be with new GPU

[cyr0nk0r]

Server Version#: 4.49.2
Player Version#: any

PMS server is running Windows Server 2019 (latest updates)
PMS is running inside ESXi 6.7
PMS has 24 cores, 16GB Ram, and a recently installed Nvidia Quadro P2000 (with latest nivida server drivers [460.89])

When I was doing CPU transcoding I could maintain about (2) x265 4K → 720p transcodes at the same time. Now that I have installed this new GPU and setup ESXi for GPU passthrough I am not able to do even a single 4K transcode without massive buffering.

I’m not sure what more is needed. Here are some screenshots and bits from the log. More verbose logging can be provided if needed.

Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [4512] VERBOSE - Auth: We found auth token (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx), enabling token-based authentication.
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [4512] VERBOSE - Auth: Came in with the master token, authorization succeeded.
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:56202 (Loopback)] PUT /video/:/transcode/session/1efygjv8h6honhzsvxlokblv/3a91a35e-0dc7-4ff3-ab7a-f47045d30ba2/progress?progress=1.1&size=-22&remaining=32584&vdec_packets=2886&vdec_hw_ok=2869&speed=1.0&vdec_hw_status=1 (10 live) Signed-in Token (cyr0nk0r) (range: bytes=0-) 
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * Accept => */*
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * Connection => keep-alive
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * Host => 127.0.0.1:32400
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * Icy-MetaData => 1
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * Range => bytes=0-
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * User-Agent => Lavf/58.27.104
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * X-Plex-Http-Pipeline => infinite
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * X-Plex-Token => xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * progress => 1.1
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * size => -22
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * remaining => 32584
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * vdec_packets => 2886
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * vdec_hw_ok => 2869
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * speed => 1.0
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.470 [3656] VERBOSE -  * vdec_hw_status => 1
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.471 [3656] VERBOSE - [Transcode] We want 300 seconds ahead, last returned was 115.031700 and max is 115.031700.
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.471 [3656] VERBOSE - [Transcode] It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.471 [4512] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:56202] 206 PUT /video/:/transcode/session/1efygjv8h6honhzsvxlokblv/3a91a35e-0dc7-4ff3-ab7a-f47045d30ba2/progress?progress=1.1&size=-22&remaining=32584&vdec_packets=2886&vdec_hw_ok=2869&speed=1.0&vdec_hw_status=1 (10 live) 1ms 355 bytes (pipelined: 421) (range: bytes=0-) 
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:39.532 [4512] VERBOSE - WebSocket: processed 1 frame(s)
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [4512] VERBOSE - Auth: We found auth token (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx), enabling token-based authentication.
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [4512] VERBOSE - Auth: Came in with the master token, authorization succeeded.
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:56202 (Loopback)] PUT /video/:/transcode/session/1efygjv8h6honhzsvxlokblv/3a91a35e-0dc7-4ff3-ab7a-f47045d30ba2/progress?progress=1.1&size=-22&remaining=30643&vdec_packets=2894&vdec_hw_ok=2877&speed=0.2&vdec_hw_status=1 (10 live) Signed-in Token (cyr0nk0r) (range: bytes=0-) 
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * Accept => */*
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * Connection => keep-alive
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * Host => 127.0.0.1:32400
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * Icy-MetaData => 1
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * Range => bytes=0-
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * User-Agent => Lavf/58.27.104
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * X-Plex-Http-Pipeline => infinite
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * X-Plex-Token => xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * progress => 1.1
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * size => -22
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * remaining => 30643
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * vdec_packets => 2894
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * vdec_hw_ok => 2877
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * speed => 0.2
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE -  * vdec_hw_status => 1
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE - [Transcode] We want 300 seconds ahead, last returned was 115.031700 and max is 115.031700.
Dec 22, 2020 10:16:40.041 [0992] VERBOSE - [Transcode] It took 0.0 sec to serialize a list with 0 elements.

[cyr0nk0r]

This seems to be an ongoing issue for almost 2 years.

Hardware acceleration in Windows VM on ESXi

Hi there, I wasn’t able to find an existing discussion and I’m not sure if it belongs right here in “Windows” but I decided to write it down here, because it’s matching my environment. I read the article about hardware acceleration and noted that this feature isn’t possible in virtual machines due to not exposing “low-level video hardware to the guest operating system”. My PMS is running on a Windows Server 2012 R2 virtual machine on ESXi 6.0 and I do have a Intel Quick Sync compatible CPU (X…

HW transcoding isn’t working smoothly with Nvidia GPU

I’ve got plenty of 4k HDR HEVC remuxes, I know you shouldn’t transcode 4k hdr as it washes out ecc., but I would like to do that sometime. The thing is: I added a p2000 to my i5 4440, and it’s not working, it buffers every 30 second. The cpu usage is 40% but the GPU doens’t seem to like that video format and doesn’t decode that (gpu usage 10%). What’s wrong? Everything else is being transcoded correctly, latest plex version (non beta), latest drivers, win 10 PRO. Someone said that you CANNOT t…

Did I make a bad investment getting the plex pass?
Is there a different GPU that is confirmed not to have these problems? I don’t mind getting something different than the P2000 as long as its going to work as expected.

[cyr0nk0r]

so the more I search these forums the more I find others having this EXACT same problem with no resolutions. Just a lot of locked threads because no one responds. Is the plex support community that bad?
Is there a better place to get support because these forums don’t seem to be it.

[cyr0nk0r]

So do most topics about transcoding just get flat out ignored?

[JellybeanCowboy]

I have a similar setup - Xeon and P2000. I had to disable Tone Mapping in order to prevent buffering issues. From what I could find out, the Xeon chips don’t actually support Intel Quick Sync, and hardware accelerated tone mapping is not available on Windows right now. The performance in this configuration is not ideal and this was the solution for me.

[cyr0nk0r]

I’ve already disabled tone mapping. And I’m still only getting 0.9 maybe 1.2x on the transcode at the most. This GPU should be performing much better.

[bandit8623]

im on barebone windows server and have a gtx1650 with the patches, i cant even transcode 1 4k hdr file. cpu doesnt even hit 20% and wont keep up constant buffering for client.

e5-2648L 10core 20 thread cpu

non hdr works fine

[JellybeanCowboy]

Dumb question, but have you verified that you have the GPU installed in a PCI-E x16 slot and that your BIOS is correctly configured for that speed? Accidentally installing in an x4 slot or having the x16 misconfigured could result in reduced performance.

[cyr0nk0r]

That was actually a great suggestion. But yes, I have confirmed the P2000 is installed in Slot 4 of the r730xd which is a full x16 slot.

[cyr0nk0r]

Hardly anyone ever does this, but I am here to report back on my findings. I have isolated this squarely to issues with HW transcoding on the windows platform. I rebuilt my plex VM on Ubuntu and I am now getting 8.0x speed on transcoding.

So I will consider this issue resolved.