# Plex not using the full CPU's potential **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Tags:** server-linux, server-docker, player-mac\ **Created:** [October 5, 2021, 8:40am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507 "2021-10-05T08:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:40am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/1 "2021-10-05T08:40:07Z")
Server Version#: 1.24.3.5033 Player Version#: 1.35.1.2632-c6783c78 I’m running my Plex server with a pretty beefy CPU, the EPYC 7502P, but for massive h265 movies it only uses 20% CPU and is only able to transcode at 0.8 times playback speed, resulting in buffers. Does Plex not use the full CPU or is it limited by something? ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:43am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/2 "2021-10-05T08:43:00Z")
Do you have “Use hardware accelaration when available” enabled under trancoder settings? ![Udklip](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/a/f/8/af8599444ff321bf9c8cc2ed1d87477683b604d4.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:44am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/3 "2021-10-05T08:44:14Z")
Yes I have, I’ve been testing with many settings the past couple days and nothing I change has better results. ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:46am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/4 "2021-10-05T08:46:25Z")
Do you see utilization of your GPU when transcoding? then that why it’s not using your cpu at a 100%. ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:46am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/5 "2021-10-05T08:46:40Z")
The server does not have a GPU ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:49am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/6 "2021-10-05T08:49:05Z")
Then HW accelaration would be whatever your hardware makes availiable like Quick-Sync or similar… But is it not given thta you have any compatible Hardware that support HW accelaration… ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:50am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/7 "2021-10-05T08:50:42Z")
Yes but still, it uses 8 cores which leaves 24 cores idling. Why doesn’t it use more to keep up with playback? ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:02am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/8 "2021-10-05T09:02:29Z")
AFAIK it should. Can you upload your log files were the issue is reproduced? ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:06am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/9 "2021-10-05T09:06:52Z")
In what log file will this be shown? ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/10 "2021-10-05T09:10:30Z")
The “Plex media server.log” will show info about your plex server installation and general info. trancoder statistics should show what the trancoder is doing. But generally I think the suggestion is to upload the zip file. > **[Plex Media Server Logs | Plex Support](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250417-plex-media-server-log-files/)** > > Log files are an important tool that can be used to help investigate problems you may be having. It’s important... ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:13am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/11 "2021-10-05T09:13:38Z")
Although I appreciate the help, I’m not uploading files with the IPs of me and everyone who uses my Plex server to the internet, so could you tell me what lines I would be looking for that would display this issue? ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:15am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/12 "2021-10-05T09:15:02Z")
![Screenshot 2021-10-05 at 11.08.43](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/d/2/d/d2d8400ede8641d320adfca41eb8510f8caa3021.png) Screenshot for some more info about what I’m trying to do and you can see the 0.8 transcoding speed ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:20am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/13 "2021-10-05T09:20:32Z")
> [@TiltedKyoso](#): > > Although I appreciate the help, I’m not uploading files with the IPs of me and everyone who uses my Plex server to the internet, so could you tell me what lines I would be looking for that would display this issue? You can go thru your log files and look for “error” or “warn” at the time you were experiencing these issues. ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:26am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/14 "2021-10-05T09:26:34Z")
So for what I can see now is that you were correct about not support hardware transcoding ```auto DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Unknown error occurred DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Generic error in an external library ``` I am seeing these errors: ```auto ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Cannot load libcuda.so.1 ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Could not dynamically load CUDA ``` ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:29am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/15 "2021-10-05T09:29:16Z")
But that should not result in an error - it should fallback to software i think. You could try to disable any HW accelaration. ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:35am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/16 "2021-10-05T09:35:48Z")
It no longer logs those debug issues after disabling HW acceleration, but the transcoder speed is still the same ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/17 "2021-10-05T09:42:13Z")
I don’t expect this to be the issue but just to make sure: > Oct 01, 2021 19:53:32.654 [5736] INFO - 8 4200 MHz processor(s): Architecture=0, Level=6, Revision=40457 Processor Identifier=Intel64 Family 6 Model 158 Stepping 9, GenuineIntel This is from the start of “Plex Media Server.log” It shows my 8 cores on my 7700k. Yours should show 32 cores. does it? ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:46am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/18 "2021-10-05T09:46:00Z")
I don’t see that exact log, this is all “INFO” returns for me ```auto Oct 05, 2021 09:38:27.647 [0x7f38a0023b38] INFO - Plex Media Server v1.24.3.5033-757abe6b4 - Docker Docker Container (LinuxServer.io) x86_64 - build: linux-x86_64 debian - GMT 00:00 Oct 05, 2021 09:38:27.648 [0x7f38a0023b38] INFO - Linux version: 4.19.0-17-amd64, language: en-US Oct 05, 2021 09:38:27.648 [0x7f38a0023b38] INFO - Processor AMD EPYC 7502P 32-Core Processor Oct 05, 2021 09:38:27.648 [0x7f38a0023b38] INFO - Compiler is - Clang 11.0.1 (https://plex.tv e0c29d5827bc4eaaa2ceb882cbeed224b0960173) Oct 05, 2021 09:38:27.648 [0x7f38a0023b38] INFO - /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Server ``` ---
**Author:** ![larssorensen83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@larssorensen83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/larssorensen83)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:49am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/19 "2021-10-05T09:49:52Z")
It does see all 32 cores. Have you ever done a manuel ffmpeg transcode on that system? did it utilize all cores? ---
**Author:** ![TiltedKyoso](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tiltedkyoso/32/256147_2.png) [@TiltedKyoso](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TiltedKyoso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 9:54am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507/20 "2021-10-05T09:54:16Z")
It does not, FFMPEG seems to be using around 35% with 8.1 times speed with a 1080p file [Next page](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-using-the-full-cpus-potential/748507.md?page=2)