Hi,
I’ve experienced buffering when transcoding high bitrate 4k content. I have since added an nVidia GTX1060 3GB card to the server with the expectation of remediating the buffering but it remains.
How can I enforce or make sure Plex Server is actually using the Nvidia for the transcoding?
I’m running the latest version of Plex Server on a Windows Server 2019 box. The status dashboard shows “HW transcoding (buffering)” and CPU (Intel i7 4470K) utilization is low. Task manager also shows low CPU and low GPU utilization while buffering. Sample clip is 4k HEVC 78 Mbit/s bitrate. Only 1 stream. Client is built-in Plex app on a 4k 2019 LG 86UM7600. Transcoding to display subtitles. Network is wired Gb same behavior with wifi. DirectPlay works with no issues. Same behavior with Plex client on iPhone 11 Pro Max with >200Mbs wifi connection.
Server version must be 1.17 or higher
Nvidia Driver Version 418 or higher
Task Manager, Performance Tab. GPU 0 should be the Nvidia
HW transcoding does not work if Plex is run as a service
HW transcoding does not work if your first login after reboot is via RDP
If you can in the Bios set the Primary Video to the Nvidia
Monitor connected to the Nvidia
Thanks!
Great new additional information in your response. Did not know I have to have a monitor connected to the Nvidia card to make HW transcoding work. Also didn’t know it won’t work if login is through RDP. I normally run my server headless so those would apply. During troubleshooting I’ve had a monitor connected and logged in through the terminal/session 0 (ie not RDP) and got it to work.
Looking to switch to unraid and run headless. Do you know if GPU HW transcoding would work in this scenario?
Nvidia is supported on versions after 1.17, with Unraid there are some additional steps to get it working like loading the drivers on the OS and then inside the docker.
