# Transcoding tips for a new server **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827 "2021-04-03T13:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![swanlee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@swanlee](https://forums.plex.tv/u/swanlee)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/1 "2021-04-03T13:52:25Z")
Hello recently my Plex server PC died and I had to rebuild it on a new PC. Things are working fine for direct play but I seem to be having some performance issues with transcoding that I did not have on my older less powerful pc. What are the basic server config tips? I’m running plex on a 10th Gen I7 with 16 GB ram and the transcoding directory is pointed to an SSD The fans on my CPU sound like a jet taking off This would also include any tips in Windows 10 to tweak to improve transcoding performance. Seems weird my newer much more powerful pc would have more issues transcoding then my old pc ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/2 "2021-04-03T14:35:45Z")
Well… what kind of media are you trying to transcode and what particular CPU is this about? Lower-power versions of the 10th gen i7 might not be suited to do a 4K transcode… # **Edit:** enabling hw-accelerated encoding under `Settings` \> `[Server Name]` \>`Transcoder` might make a difference. ---
**Author:** ![JCHH](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jchh/32/84326_2.png) [@JCHH](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JCHH)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/3 "2021-04-03T14:35:52Z")
is it to do whether you are transcoding via hardware or software (what were you doing before and what are you doing now)? ---
**Author:** ![swanlee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@swanlee](https://forums.plex.tv/u/swanlee)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/4 "2021-04-03T14:42:58Z")
Problem is my server died and I did not have the reg backed up so I do not know the exact setting I tweaked over the years to get plex running smoothly. So I’m looking for a starters transcoding guide for Win 10 and plex setting to help transcoding. I have alot of 4k HDR videos and transcoding those on my old pc worked fine after lots of tweaks over the years My cpu is a i7-1065G7 ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/5 "2021-04-03T14:49:41Z")
That CPU won’t be able to deal with 4K HDR transcoding on its own (by bare CPU power). It got a Passmark benchmark score of approx. 10800. In order to transcode a 4K SDR movie to 1080p you’ll need a score of approx. 12000 – for 4K HDR it’ll be in the area of 17000. Your best shot is to look at the Transcoder options mentioned above (`Settings` \> `[Server Name]` \> `Transcoder`) – specifically: - `Use hardware acceleration when available` - `Use hardware-accelerated video encoding` # [https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/) # If your clients don’t support HDR you might also want to look into `Enable HDR tone mapping`. [https://support.plex.tv/articles/hdr-to-sdr-tone-mapping/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/hdr-to-sdr-tone-mapping/) ---
**Author:** ![swanlee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@swanlee](https://forums.plex.tv/u/swanlee)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/6 "2021-04-03T14:57:00Z")
Ok the hardware when available option seemed to help Any other basic settings to check/change for smoother transcoding? Anything else in win 10 as well that is recommended for better playback? Just want to cover the very basic settings ---
**Author:** ![Alucard1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5daacb/32.png) [@Alucard1](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Alucard1)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/7 "2021-04-03T15:21:09Z")
Why not make optimized versions of the 4K movies so they don’t need to transcode and if transcoding is needed it will use the optimized version instead of the 4K version. ---
**Author:** ![swanlee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@swanlee](https://forums.plex.tv/u/swanlee)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/8 "2021-04-03T15:36:43Z")
Na, my old pc transcoded them fine just want to get my new more powerful pc up to snuff with various tweaks ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-tips-for-a-new-server/706827/9 "2021-07-02T15:37:21Z")
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.