Should I use my available hardware or get all new one? Will try to be ready by Black Friday

General Discussions Hardware
1

Hey,

So, I have old hardware available, namely:

  • AMD Ryzen 5 2600x
  • 16GB RAM DDR4 3200
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 SSC 4GB

I’ll be ripping about a thousand movies to put the remuxes on Plex (half to 2/3 are DVDs, rest are Blu-rays including fewer than 30 4Ks). The server will be used locally and remotely by ~3 couples. I’m aiming for direct play as much as possible but I want to guarantee transcoding capability for all. It will be used almost exclusively on smart TVs. This server will be for Plex only. I just want it sitting in a corner. I don’t want a monitor, keyboard and mouse connected. I’m planning on a pretty basic Plex server all in all. I mainly want it to run smoothly for the client.

My worries are:

  • Is my hardware basically useless? Some Intel CPU seems to be a better option than what I have especially for HW transcoding. If new hardware, what? Pre-built PC/Build it myself? I’m thinking 32TB of storage in order to have space for the future, but then this does not cover the space needed for backups which I’m not sure what to do about (plus which size HDD to buy… lots of small ones or few big ones?).
  • What do I need to make sure the server will be able to transcode up to about 10 streams for future proofing (let’s say blu-ray remux streams and if possible some 4K remux). CPU/HDD speed/RAM size/etc.?
  • Smoothness and speed of the UI. Need a NVMe drive? Other considerations?
  • 4k remux. If using the Plex TV app, what components do I need for it to direct play at least locally? Is it possible remotely too (assuming they have the bandwith)? USB ethernet dongle, specific ethernet cable, specific router, networking card, 1 gbps upload speed, etc.?
  • What to look at to try to keep power consumption not too high?
  • Any other hardware considerations for my needs? Is cooling a worry?

Other information:

  • I have no experience with operating systems outside of using Windows but if I’m getting a big advantage by using a Linux distro or something I’m open to it (Ubuntu and Unraid seem common for amateurs?). I’m still lost in the dockers/containers stuff too. Useful for my needs? I’m not tech savvy (did build my pc though) and although I’m willing to learn, I don’t have as much time available as I would need to set up some of the more complex options.
  • I have Plex Pass.
  • Budget can go up to around 2000$ CAD or $1500 USD in total (including storage, if possible at least).

Thanks a lot.

P.S. If you have the time, feel free to suggest specific components, no doubt it will help a lot.

2

At a minimum you Nvidia 1050ti for transcoding but that isn’t going to get you that many 4k transcodes

This is a good site (when it’s working) It’s down for me now and again like it seems to be now but it gives you an estimate number of transcodes by model
https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

Don’t rule out Intel ARC GPU’s. Plex supports them now, and for the price I’m not sure it would be a bad consideration

Your cpu isn’t terrible but also not going to give you that many transcodes. You’d have to find someone who has one to know how good or bad it would be

The factors for a direct play, be it 4k or anything else are due to your client and Internet speeds
Server specs are more for transcoding stamina and things like generating intro/credit markers

Most people recommend the Nvidia Shield as it pretty much handles most everything you throw at it

I limit my 4k material to people who have the devices and internet speeds capable of handling it. I also keep a copy of a lower resolution for them so that’s not an option if your storage is an issue

If you don’t have a lot of files with things like PGS subs or audio like True-HD and DTS-X you can get away with older devices like a Fire TV. Those devices are limited at 100mbps, unlike the Shield. A typical 4k movie will usually be fine, but a 4k remux can spike well above that

If you really want to build something new…Yes, overall, Unraid seems to be a very common first step into Linux for Windows users. It has a friendly UI and you don’t need a ton of command line knowledge. If you do it’s pretty easy to find with tutorials on Youtube or the Unraid forums.

I priced an Unraid build out with an i5-13500 with no GPU and I came in around 1,200. There are parts I could go cheaper on but obviously that doesn’t even begin the conversation about hard drives

Just FIY, you cannot currently use an Intel chip to do tone mapping in hardware. You need this for something like a 4k HDR to 1080p SDR transcode. If you want to stick with Windows, you will need a Nvidia GPU. Tone mapping is a CPU intensive process done in software

3

I’m definitely a Windows guy overall but I run Plex on Linux very happily. My primary reason for choosing Linux is hardware accelerated HDR->SDR tone mapping via Intel QuickSync, because my goal was a Plex server that would play any file on any client without my needing to take any extra steps. While this is also possible under Windows it requires the right kind of Nvidia GPU, plus maybe hacked drivers to unlock more simultaneous transcodes.

Some people do not agree with configuring a server that can serve any file to any client, and keep 1080p copies of content 4k, or restrict 4k access to only certain clients.

You say you want at least 10x simultaneous transcodes, but remember there’s a big difference between transcoding and tone mapping. A system that can do a lot of SDR->SDR transcodes may choke on one HDR->SDR transcode plus the tone mapping. Capability depends on the GPU and OS combo and the GPU itself.

Offhand I do not know what kind of GPU you need to do 10x simultaneous tone mapping transcodes.

You might consider splitting the server and the storage, too, so that in the future you can update them separately. Roughly speaking, you could spend $500 to pop a new board/CPU in your existing case, add a 4-bay NAS for $500, and that leaves $500 for drives. Depends on your storage needs, of course. You can always add drives to get to 32 TB over time.

I would definitely run the Plex server off a solid state drive but if you cannot, it will still be tolerable.

4

Your current hardware is more than enough to set up a TrueNAS box for storage, then you could get a high powered box for the Plex server that can handle transcoding if needed. As mentioned above, the limiting factor for 4K direct play is the internet speed. However, some TVs can’t handle every audio/video codec which would then trigger transcoding as well.