Transcoding 4k Dual Xeon / GTX 1060 / Processor Not Maxed

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

I loaded my first 4k movie to Plex and was trying to see if I could get it to transcode to 1080p. Unfortunately, the video keeps buffering, and I was trying to figure out if there is anything I am doing wrong. All I am doing to test this is trying to play it on my PC within the same network.

My general set up is as follows
Windows Server 2016
GTX 1060 6GB
Dual Xeon E5-2670

I activated the hardware transcoding, and it was buffering quite a bit, so I went in and turned off the hardware transcoding. As was expected, the CPU utilization went up, but it would not go beyond 20%, and I’m not sure why.

I thought the graphics card could handle the transcoding or Dual Xeons with a passmark of over 18000 would be able to handle it as well. Either, that isn’t enough or I must be doing something wrong.

Thank you for your help.

2

Tried dealing with this for over a year and upgraded everything. In the end bought a Shield and all is well. Do yourself a favor.

3

From what I understand of it, one of the codecs used in 4K can only be transcoded using a single thread. Thus it wont use all your cores or processors. If your 4K video was made with this codec, you’re out of luck.

4

I appreciate the responses - thank you. I first tried my graphics card with the hardware transcoding enabled in Plex (GTX 1060). I got the same buffering issues - my impression was the graphics card would be able to handle the 4k transcoding, so either it cannot or I need to adjust a setting.

5

The 1060 appears to have some deficiencies in what it can hardware decode. You can see the list here: https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-decode-gpu-support-matrix

I believe this is the area where your card does not support *H.265 (HEVC) 4:4:4 decoding. I think that is what most 4K is encoded in.

This is likely why your hardware transcoding using the 1060 isn’t performing any better.

6

Thank you for your suggestion and that list. It makes sense. I did use the mediainfo application to check the codecs/encoding of the movie I’m trying to transcode. I was actually hoping it would be 4:4:4, so I’d have my answer. When I checked, it is 4:2:0, so according to that chart, it is supported. I’m wondering if there is some setting I need to adjust?

7

I’m officially out of my league. I don’t have anything close to you in hardware, and can’t even imagine trying to do 4K on my system. I’ve got no clue on what to do or suggest at this point.

I’ve got:
Server 2012r2
Xeon x3470
No ability to add a graphics card, and built in graphics is basic VGA.

We’re in completely different boats…
Sorry…

8

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