# Odd cpu/gpu usage with plex-htpc depending on Hardware Decoding and Video Playback Quality settings

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/odd-cpu-gpu-usage-with-plex-htpc-depending-on-hardware-decoding-and-video-playback-quality-settings/807889>\
**Category:** Plex Players\
**Tags:** plex-htpc, player-linux\
**Created:** [August 27, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/odd-cpu-gpu-usage-with-plex-htpc-depending-on-hardware-decoding-and-video-playback-quality-settings/807889 "2022-08-27T16:02:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bai\_Shen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bai\_Shen](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Bai_Shen)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/odd-cpu-gpu-usage-with-plex-htpc-depending-on-hardware-decoding-and-video-playback-quality-settings/807889/1 "2022-08-27T16:02:15Z")

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I noticed this because occasionally my videos would stutter while I was doing other things on the machine. I’m running 1.23.2 from the snap store. I’m direct streaming 4k vp9 video from the server.

When I have Hardware Decoding on, I see a plex-htpc thread running at around 200% cpu. GPU usage is around 30%. If I uncheck the Hardware Decoding box, GPU usage stays around 30% while the plex-htpc thread runs at 100%. There are other plex-htpc threads, but they don’t seem to materially change between the two scenarios.

Oddly, if I adjust the Video Playback Quality from Normal to Maximum then I see 120% cpu and 40% gpu usage with Hardware Decoding enabled and 200% cpu and 30% gpu usage with it disabled.

What exactly is Video Playback Quality doing? It’s not mentioned in the settings article. [https://support.plex.tv/articles/htpc-settings/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/htpc-settings/) And my Local Quality is already set to Original and I’ve confirmed I’m direct streaming both audio and video.

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**Author:** ![gbooker02](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gbooker02/32/9726_2.png) [@gbooker02](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gbooker02)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/odd-cpu-gpu-usage-with-plex-htpc-depending-on-hardware-decoding-and-video-playback-quality-settings/807889/2 "2022-08-29T15:50:45Z")

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See [Testing Linux EGL](https://forums.plex.tv/t/testing-linux-egl/776726)

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**Author:** ![Bai\_Shen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bai\_Shen](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Bai_Shen)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 10:59am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/odd-cpu-gpu-usage-with-plex-htpc-depending-on-hardware-decoding-and-video-playback-quality-settings/807889/3 "2022-08-31T10:59:35Z")

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I’ll give that a try when I get some time.

But what exactly is Video Playback Quality doing? It’s not mentioned in that post.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/odd-cpu-gpu-usage-with-plex-htpc-depending-on-hardware-decoding-and-video-playback-quality-settings/807889/4 "2022-11-29T11:00:16Z")

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