Picking the best bang for the buck in a Linux PMS Intel CPU -- what would you choose?

Plex Media Server
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I have an Ubuntu server running an i3-7100 with Quick Sync, and it is a pretty capable machine for PMS. Unfortunately, I think the system has hardware problems. One DIMM socket has stopped working entirely and it is possible to induce reboots, which of course should never happen. So, I want to plan an upgrade path out of here before it melts down completely. I do want to retain Quick Sync capability on the next system, so no AMD… and I have everything sans CPU and mobo.

The CPU doesn’t need to be the newest or fastest available, but it WOULD be nice if tasks like Sonic Analysis were faster than the i3-7100. I’ll also use this server for other server stuff so it’s nice if it’s quick… it just doesn’t have to be the quickest. (I’m aware of the cheap Celeron box options but that isn’t right for me.)

I don’t need to support ten people watching burned-in subtitles, either.

So… which Quick Sync CPU is right for a Plex-centric Linux server?

For one thing, not all CPUs have great Quick Sync support at the moment. @ChuckPa summarized it like this:

Well, I do not want to wait for support to catch up to my hardware. It’s gotta just work, I am not interested in putting in the work to be on the bleeding edge. So, I am looking at Gen 10 max.

Chuck also opined that Quick Sync image quality is not any better past Gen 9.

So, a Gen 9 or 10 CPU seems like the right move for the conservative Plex builder, with price making the decision.

In Gen 10, an i3 (4 cores) is about $100 and an i5 (6 cores) is about $150. i5 prices go up unreasonably with clock speed, you pay $100 more for 3.3 GHz! The Gen 10 i3-10100 seems like a very good deal.

In Gen 9, which does not have hyperthreading, the i3s are $140 and up. You may as well get a Gen 10 i5. The Gen 9 i5 is $175 and the Gen 9 i7 is at least $300. That’s more CPU than I need and definitely more than I want to spend. Gen 9 looks like a bust if you are shopping for value.

So, overall it seems like it’s down to the i3-10100 at ~$100 vs the i5-10400 at ~$150. I’d probably get the i5 as this will be a long term box and I’ll enjoy the extra cores long after I have forgotten about the extra $50.

A more conservative approach would be to pay more for a Gen 9 where we know the software is totally stable. I don’t love that idea but it is an option.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Please be clear about part numbers. “Gen X” or “Gen Y” designations are not reliable because some SKUs within each generation DO NOT have Quick Sync Video. A Plex server without QSV is pretty useless.

i9-9900 = 8 cores + hyperthreading == 16 threads.

I’m sure you can find better prices

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i9-9900-Desktop-Processor-LGA1151/dp/B07RXX3Y2T

When in doubt, always check ark.intel.com . These are the specs to use.

Ref: i9-10000 (10th Gen) with 10 cores (20 threads)

Subtitle burning + Audio conversions will make the demands on the CPU so judge accordingly based on your media and streaming (players and upload for remote). This means an i5, i7, or i9 will handle a lot more than an i3. . Plan carefully

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Yep. I left off model numbers but you would have to avoid “F” and “KF” models. A “K” is OK but I am unlikely to mess around with overclocking so wouldn’t benefit from it.

Are you aware of any benchmarks or other documents that go into details on how many audio/subtitle operations a particular CPU can do?

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There are no official benchmark docs but I do the testing / vetting for each NAS on the list.

I can tell you . based on passmark scores of the J3455 series processors, you can get about 3, guaranteed 2, audio conversions with DirectStream from those CPUs.

The performance scaling is pretty true - linear.

The single biggest concern with any CPU will be subtitle conversion / burning (if you need it). Subtitles are single-threaded so , with high bit rate video, you need a CPU which can burn the text into each frame at that resolution/bit rate very quickly.

Burning subtitles into 80Kbps video with an i7-7700 will chew it up pretty quick.
2-3 playbacks and the CPU is full.

1 Like
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Great info, thanks!

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