So I have an outdated Dell PowerEdge R900 with a couple of VMs on it that I’ve been running with one as my Plex Media Server (Win 2012 64) and the other as my Usenet / Torrent download server. My media are all stored on a QNAP TS-869 Pro with 8 4TB RED drives in a RAID 6 config. That thing is a beast and should hopefully last me another 5 years or so in terms of serving my media to Plex and safely storing all the media. I’ve got a 250 down / 25 up connection with Comcast XFinity and a fairly new Netgear Dual Band Gigabit Router. Up until a couple of months ago I was able to have 2-5 remote + 1 local streams from Plex going to family members and friends without any issues. I understand that the issue now is that the way that transcoding is now being done is very different and far more CPU intensive… which is where my ancient server just cannot keep up. So I’m looking for some suggestions from the Ninjas around here on buying a new pre-configured system that would be capable of handling 2-3 remote transcodes plus playing another movie locally without the constant buffering for my remote users and my CPU pretty much being bludgeoned to death by Plex. I’m also willing to build a system as that may be the better way to go. I don’t have any requirements for this other than it needs to be able to get at least a 9000 passmark score (as I understand you need 2k for each simultaneous stream). This machine will only be used as a Plex Media Server with local and remote Roku’s connecting to it and it will almost exclusively be serving 720/1080 videos.
Thanks in advance and if there are any questions that you have please let me know. I’m especially interested in anyone who’s currently running a system that has no trouble at all with the new Plex transcoder.
What CPU is in the R900 ?
what is your budget ?
Anyting from and up should do the trick
i7-6700 Socket 1151 Passmark 9986
i7 4790S Socket 1150 Passmark 9598
I am running two Plex servers right now they both run fine
Bare metal : i7 4790S ,16 Gb ram, M.2 250Gb 180W PSU has severed me well 4 streams local or Remote at once
Virtual : E5-2697 v3 (14 vCpu) 170 GB , 8 GB ram
all media is stored on 2 Nas units
I setup HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF Desktop with a i7-6700 and a Nas unit for a friend last month he has been loving it sharing with his family no problems so far, he had requirements for 3 external steams and 2 internal .
I have a crazy setup at home, but the price is really cheap for what you get. I have dual Xeon E5-2670 v1’s (8-core hyperthreaded CPUs) on an Intel S2600CP motherboard. Each of these CPU’s Passmark over 12,000. You can pickup (2) CPU’s, a motherboard and 128GB of RAM for less than $500. Just add heatsinks (the passive ones that come with this kit suck), a case and PSU, and you are off to the races. The only caveat is that this is SSI EEB form factor motherboard (big), but it can be shoehorned into a number of cases. This is what I have below. I just added two Supermicro SNK-P0050AP4 heatsinks that I picked up from eBay for $25/each. I have this in a Norco 4224 with an EVGA 750 Watt G2 Supernova PSU.
http://www.natex.us/Intel-S2600CP2J-Motherboard-Kit-p/s2600cp-sr0h8-128gb-12800.htm
My box combines the tasks of NAS + PMS into a single computer and breaks the 10K Passmark mark. See my sig
I used a Gigabyte Brix i7-4770R. Passmark is 9858. 500Gb Crucial M100 SSD, 16GB RAM, and 2 USB 3.0 WD MyBook 4TB EHD. I use PHT locally with a Flirc remote dongle, Logitech Harmony hub/iPhone or just a Harmony 750 remote if I’m in front of the system. It’s in the cabinet so I don’t hear the CPU fan (because of the compact size, it can get loud). Other than PMS, I do have Carbonite running the background at the minimum setting. Sometimes, if I have 4 or 5 simultaneous streams, I’ll pause Carbonite just to quiet the damn thing down! Overall, it works well, and the majority of the movies are 1080p/5.1 surround, with about half the TV shows in 720p.
I also have Verizon FiOS, 100Mbs up, 100Mbs down.
Imho.
When one starts talking about 4-5 transcodes, all of which might not fall under the fairly soft 1080p 2k passmark / each (as the article uses a low-bitrate media), my viewpoint is that you should start seeking beyond pure CPU power. Having a strong CPU is a much needed cornerstone (especially with Plex) but it shouldn’t be all. A tad bit more finess, and alas more work, is most likely a good strategy to implement as to have a more solid foundation for the future.
Say that one of the aformented files happens to be not 10Mbit, but 30. Perhaps in a year HEVC is the best thing ever for you since you got that fancy 4K OLED-TV. Or that your Uncle that you remote share sets up a second device for his wife. Then, on top of it all maybe a background process fires off on the server (Plex related or not) that req even more. See where I’m going with this?
Given where we stand today raw CPU power is costly and at the high-end also fairly powerhungry (dual xeons will most likely not be cheap to run 24/7 for instance). Pre-transcode media, keep several versions of the same file, expand your storage system and educate all users on how to use the clients (so the settings are correct vs media being played). Keep Plex and its transcoding to a minimum (the odd codec, a subtitle etc) and you’ll be much more happy (as will your users since the picture quality will be much better).
@rubylaser said:
I have a crazy setup at home, but the price is really cheap for what you get. I have dual Xeon E5-2670 v1’s (8-core hyperthreaded CPUs) on an Intel S2600CP motherboard. Each of these CPU’s Passmark over 12,000. You can pickup (2) CPU’s, a motherboard and 128GB of RAM for less than $500. Just add heatsinks (the passive ones that come with this kit suck), a case and PSU, and you are off to the races. The only caveat is that this is SSI EEB form factor motherboard (big), but it can be shoehorned into a number of cases. This is what I have below. I just added two Supermicro SNK-P0050AP4 heatsinks that I picked up from eBay for $25/each. I have this in a Norco 4224 with an EVGA 750 Watt G2 Supernova PSU.
http://www.natex.us/Intel-S2600CP2J-Motherboard-Kit-p/s2600cp-sr0h8-128gb-12800.htm
HI Could you tell me where do you got these prices of 500$ as I could notice only the dual Xeon E5-2670 cost approx £1,113.84 and the motherboad is 500$ do you have perhaps a pcpartpicker list where you guys can share 
I’m looking to buy a high end at low cost possible media server for plex only.
@carloslozada said:
HI Could you tell me where do you got these prices of 500$ as I could notice only the dual Xeon E5-2670 cost approx £1,113.84 and the motherboad is 500$ do you have perhaps a pcpartpicker list where you guys can share I’m looking to buy a high end at low cost possible media server for plex only.
Carlos, the link I provided to natex.us with the deal I used. If you are in Europe, buying used server parts is more difficult (costly). The nice thing is if you call Natex, they will actually ship internationally, and will provide a price quote to ship to you. Give them a call. You want the SR0KX CPU version. They are a later stepping and support VT-D. Here’s the link again.
http://www.natex.us/Intel-S2600CP2J-Dual-E5-2670-128Gb-Kit-p/s2600cp-cpu-128gb-12800.htm
or, if you’d really like to save some money… This isn’t as powerful, but still more than sufficient and it’s $353.
http://www.natex.us/Intel-S2600CP-Motherboard-w-Dual-E5-2650-SR0KQ-6-p/s2600cp-cpu-64gb-12800-2650.htm
Here’s a link to my build. I bought my CPU, RAM, MOBO from natex.us, my case and PSU are from Newegg.
@rubylaser said:
@carloslozada said:
HI Could you tell me where do you got these prices of 500$ as I could notice only the dual Xeon E5-2670 cost approx £1,113.84 and the motherboad is 500$ do you have perhaps a pcpartpicker list where you guys can share I’m looking to buy a high end at low cost possible media server for plex only.
Carlos, the link I provided to natex.us with the deal I used. If you are in Europe, buying used server parts is more difficult (costly). The nice thing is if you call Natex, they will actually ship internationally, and will provide a price quote to ship to you. Give them a call. You want the SR0KX CPU version. They are a later stepping and support VT-D. Here’s the link again.
http://www.natex.us/Intel-S2600CP2J-Dual-E5-2670-128Gb-Kit-p/s2600cp-cpu-128gb-12800.htm
or, if you’d really like to save some money… This isn’t as powerful, but still more than sufficient and it’s $353.
http://www.natex.us/Intel-S2600CP-Motherboard-w-Dual-E5-2650-SR0KQ-6-p/s2600cp-cpu-64gb-12800-2650.htm
Here’s a link to my build. I bought my CPU, RAM, MOBO from natex.us, my case and PSU are from Newegg.
HI Thanks very Much and really nice blog site which is now added to my bookmarks for later review 
