QNap ts-431p Server not powerful enough

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

Hello Plex Community,

  So I have the QNap-431p  and even though it's probably the cheapest 4-bay NAS that Qnap offers it does the job somewhat well.   Ok so the problem I am having is I am running into is my server isn't powerful enough.  Even with videos on 480p, I get this issue but sometimes I will watch videos on 1080p without a problem.  

  Not sure what the problem might be or what I can do to fix this.   I tried reading through the help me section a little and checking the settings on my server but with no luck.  Not sure if it's because the video is of one quality and it can't transcode into another.   But if anyone knows what the best solution is?   Should I transcode all of my videos into H.264 because that seems to be the best for transcoding on plex with a weak server like mine?   If that's so, what's the best tool out there to convert my entire library?
2

Whenever Plex detects that the media player can’t play media natively it will transcode, and CPUs of the TS-x31P series are too slow for this. You can install a plug-in called ExportTools, it will create a csv file (that you can load to Excel) with the audio and video characteristics of your media. This will let you detect which files are compatible with your media players or not.

To convert to H.264 I suggest HandBrake, but there are many tools out there. Please note that if you use subtitles it may be better to transcode them into the video, many Plex clients are able to handle external .srt subtitles, but not other types of subtitles.