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Hello everybody, i got a plex server. And i would like to transcode my 4K videos.
The point is : i would like to upgrade my server for the lower price possible.
I’m running my server on an ubuntu server.
I got 2 possibilities i think : buy an old gpu (that is not the subject in this topic) or buy a cpu powerfull enough to transcode 4K.
A friend of mine told me that the Intel Xeon cpu are really good processors for transcoding because they got a lot of core.
And that kind of old cpu can be shopped for a good price.
My question is :
In this article https://support.plex.tv/articles/201774043-what-kind-of-cpu-do-i-need-for-my-server/ plex recommand a i7 3.2 Ghz for transcoding 4K videos BUT it don’t say how many core. Most of the i7 are still quad core (except the last generations).
My question is : with 6 cores, is 2.80 Ghz enough ? If not how much core do i need with this frequency, or which frequency do i need with 6 cores ?
Thank you for your answers.
a gpu will always be a better solution than trying transcode 4k on a cpu.
also remember, cpu generation does matter.
an i7 9xxxx generation, is more powerful than i7 2xxx generation.
You will want to compare cpu benchmarks for any cpus you consider, not only combined core scores, but the individual core score as this will determine performance of single threaded tasks such as audio and subtitle processing.
Of course generation always matter what is mean is : the frequency of a cpu is a the frequency of one core. But with the same frequency a cpu with 4 core will transcode faster than a cpu with 6 core. And the number of core isn’t detailed on the i7 recommended …
I know the best solution is to not transcode at all but sometime you don’t have the choice
Other question. If i keep a copy in 1080p of my 4k videos. And if i want to watch the film remotely in 720p. Will plex get the 1080p for transcode it ?
So if i trust the thread you gave me and your advice : i have to go on gpu transcoding if i want something correct.
In the thread, he give this link : https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding for gpu transcoding.
If i’m anderstanding well with a gtx945A i can transcode 2 films from 4k to 1080p ?
I am not quite sure I understand your question, but let me try to answer;
if you keep a separate library for only 4k, and library for everything else, then try to play something remotely, it will completely depend on what library you tried to play from.
If you try to play a 1080p copy remotely and only have speed or quality for 720, then plex will transcode as needed to meet whatever limits are in place.
If you have sufficient internet speed to play the full 1080 remotely, then it will not transcode.
You can even play 4k remotely if you have fast enough internet speeds on both the server side and the remote side.
transcoding 1080 to 720 is way easier than trying to transcode 4k.
no you are not understanding, the 945 does not support 265 codec that 4k/hdr is in.
I suppose it could transcode 4k 264 (which is not normal 4k).
the cards with the GREEN box H.265 are the ones you need for 4k transcoding. at least for transcoding 4k bluray rips/remuxes.
Ok thanks you i anderstand better for the h264/h265 part so i’ll change what i said : with the gtx 950 i can transcode 2 films in 4K to 1080p or 720p.
For the part where we talk about keep 2 version of the video, i was thinking you were talking about the option “optimize” of plex that allow to transcode the film in a chosen resolution and he keep it in copy. That way plex got 1 video but 2 version of it in 1 library.
My question was, if i have a 4k video. And i optimize it in a 1080p video. I have 2 version of my video : the 4k and the 1080p. Now if i want to transcode the film in 720p, will plex transcode the 4k version or the 1080p version ?
Sry for my english ^^ it’s not perfect yet ^^
well for plex optimize function, I have not very well used it, but I think it supposed to use the most appropriate version.
the thing is, plex does not currently support any HDR to SDR conversion, so if you convert or optimize or transcode any 4k/hdr, then the colors will be washed out and look bad.
if you cannot direct play 4k/hdr, then really there is NO reason to even use it.
transcoding 4k to lower resolution does not improve anything and it takes a lot of processing to do it.
its better to just rip the regular 1080 bluray than to rip 4khdr and try to convert.
Yeah i know that it have no interest to take 4K for compress it. It’s just that at home i can direct play my 4k videos. But i’m moving a lot and i like watching films in train and in this case i got to transcode it. That’s why…
