Plex not using GPU for Transcoding media (HW Acceleration is enabled)

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: 4.51.1
Player Version#: 8.7.1.20931 (Android App)

I’m hosing a Plex Server on my old ASUS Laptop with Windows Server 2019 and i can’t seem to make it Transcode media using GPU. See below for my Server-acting-Laptop’s specs:

ASUS X555LD
Intel Core i5-6200U (Supports Intel Quick Sync Video)
8GB DDR3 RAM
GPU0: Intel HD Graphics 520 (N/A, Display)
GPU1: Nvidia GeForce 940M (2GB, Render)

Everytime any of my devices stream a media, it transcode them via the CPU and completely ignoring both GPUs:
image

Also, I am subscribed to a Plex Pass so HW Acceleration should be completely enabled. I have tried below changes for reference:

  • Forced Plex Media Server and Plex Transcoder executables to use the High Performance card (GT940M) in System > Display > Graphics Settings:

    image
    image869×624 19.8 KB

  • Set High-performance NVIDIA processor as the Preferred graphics processor in NVIDIA Control Panel:
    image

  • Set High-performance NVIDIA processor as the Preferred graphics processor for both Plex Media Server and Plex Transcoder executables in NVIDIA Control Panel:
    image

However, even with these settings forced, Plex still transcode media files via the CPU which causes a hilarious amount of utilization %. See below images for reference:

  • Windows Task Manager (High CPU Utilization but almost 0% on both GPU0 and GPU1):
    image

  • HWMonitor (same reading as Windows Task Manager):
    image

Am i missing something? or Plex doesn’t support devices with Dual GPU such as Laptops?

Thanks.

2

Neither of your GPU supports HEVC transcoding. Have you tried transcoding a h.264 file ?

3

Yes, it also didn’t appear to transcode via HW.

image image

4

Your discrete graphics card may not support NVENC NVENC encoding on 940MX - General Topics and Other SDKs - NVIDIA Developer Forums

The Quicksync unit in your CPU only supports baseline HEVC (i.e. without any of the more advanced features like 10 bit color etc)
I think it’s time to upgrade your server hardware. (or avoid HEVC video files)
You might also be better off removing/disabling the discrete GPU.

Have you ever stopped and restarted your Plex server after buying the Plex Pass subscription?

5

Hi, thanks for that.

Well actually, i bought a used HPe ProLiant ML310e Gen8 v2 here with Intel Xeon E3-1220-v3 which i’ll start setting up in a week or so (as soon as i receive the parts i ordered online). Would you say this can work better with my current setup?

I understand that Xeon processors don’t support Intel’s QuickSync Video but later down the road i’ll be buying a GTX 1050 for GPU Transcoding, would that be a good idea?

I don’t have much audience with my Plex Setup now so i hope it wouldn’t hurt the CPU that bad. Just me and a girl some 6,000 km away from me.

Here’s what my initial and final Build will be:

Initial Build:
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220-v3 (3.1ghz~3.5ghz)
GPU: -Not Available-
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1600mhz
SSD: -Not Available-
HDD: 1x 1TB, 1x 750GB

Final Build:
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1270-v3 (3.5ghz-3.9ghz)
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti (or AMD Radeon RX 570)
RAM: 32GB DDR3 1600mhz
SSD: 256GB NVM.e via PCI-e Adapter
HDD: 4x 8TB on RAID5 setup

Do you think my build is more than enough for an ideal starting setup? or is there anything i should change.

Also, is there any easy way i can identify which codecs a certain CPU supports for transcoding?

Thank.s

6

I’d still prefer a relatively modern core i7 over a Xeon.

7

i mean there’s only so much this aging ML310e Server PC can support. and i don’t really have neither the $$$ nor the knowledge in setting up Home Servers (this HPe ProLiant ML310e Gen8 V2 Server PC is actually my first)

8

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