Server Sizing - A tale of two options

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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So a bit of background, I am running a Plex server for a few family members and some of the devices that are in use require transcoding.

My Plex server is a Dell Precision T5500, it originally came with a Xeon 5506 Quad Core CPU and this was an issue with a few transcodes happening, so I upgraded it to a pair of Xeon X5675 Hex Core CPU’s and the performance issues went away, no big surprise there. Although no matter how hard I push it I do not get above 50% CPU on any core.

But having just completed a PC upgrade for my main rig I now am wondering if a swap is in order to reduce power consumption.

The other machine I have available is my old i5-3470 with Quick Sync, my question is will this quad core CPU with Quick Sync be able to handle 4-5 simultaneous transcodes without falling apart, I also have a Quadro 600 that I can put in there, will Plex use Quick Sync and NVEnc at the same time?

Thanks in advance for your time.

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I’m not sure how much quicksync will handle, and it really depends on resolutions (obviously 4k source is going to be more demanding than 1080p source). Experimentation is probably the fastest way to get an answer.

As far as the Quadro, plex server will be happy to use both quicksync (for decode) and nvenc (for encodes), but it will not use the quadro for decoding. More details can be found here: https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/

I’m also hoping that is a more recent Quadro, and not actually a 600 from 2010, I’m not sure those even have nvenc on them. Maybe a K600 or P600?

nVidia specs on what encoding is supported can be found here going back to 1st gen kepler-based GPUs: https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-decode-gpu-support-matrix

Important to note is concurrent sessions, with generally the 2000/2200 cards and higher allow unlimited sessions, only bound by the horsepower of the card, and lesser cards (including GTX consumer cards) being generally limited to 2 streams. For this reason, the P2000 is highly recommended if you are running into CPU bottlenecks, as it will handle quite a few streams, while still being achievable for most people (~$400 USD on eBay or similar).

Hope this gives you some direction, best of luck with the new build.

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