Those aren’t 4k transcodes, but they are x265 to x264 transcodes (and x264 to x264).
A big part of my library is x265, but I don’t allow outside access to 4k media.
I’m very happy you did chime in. This is great and this discussion is beginning to make a mockery of the whole passmark requirement per stream. Perhaps that was from the days before GPUs could do the transcoding for remote streams?
Now leaning even more towards option 2 - I don’t get my fancy upgrade to my home PC, but realistically the 6850k should just stay where it is as it’s doing very well.
I like the sound of your setup. I’ve just been reading other threads about dual processors NOT delivering the performance with Plex that had been expected and there’s a lot of discussion on core/thread count v. clock speed. Glad I read those because I’d been looking at all the cheapo servers for sale on Ebay, most with dual Xeon processors. On the face of it that was perfect, but NOPE.
I’ve never heard of the processor you’re using so I’m going to look into that as well as older i5s. Sounds like that, on a DDR3 suitable motherboard, with some ram is the way to go.
ok, it is probably fair to say that the p2k for the most part has;
*** This on current and supported windows based plex servers ***
- a huge 264 to 264 stream count,
- a fairly large 1080x265 to 264 stream account,
- and a currently unconfirmed 4k/x265 to 264 stream count.
if anyone already has a p2k and a confirmed quantity of simultaneous 4k/x265 to any size x264, it would be great to see some confirmations on the current real world 4k transcode loads.
this is really the only metric that matters going forward;
- how many 4k x265 decodes can the p2k actually handle today with the current plex (windows).
Good luck with your build! Let us know what you end up getting.
The processor has a Passmark of around 1400 if I remember correctly, so pretty much around an i3 or even less. Since the P2000 is going to do your video encoding and decoding I would go with an i5 to handle the audio transcoding.
This might already have been answered somewhere, but if I were to use p2000 to hardware transcode, does it matter if the cpu is AMD or Intel? (assuming they have the same passmark)
From what I’ve read, the amd chips are just as capable in using the p2000 - it more the OS that can hinder compatibility across the board.
The abilities of the p2000 has allowed me to pull back on the amount I was going to spend on a processor so I’m going with an AMD Ryzen 5 2600, with 16gb of ram on a b450 aorus ultra board and an NVME M2 for the OS and Plex database. I’ll throw in 4x 8tb WD Reds and probably install windows 10 pro. I don’t love the idea of Windows but if it’s only running Plex, and an anti-virus/firewall program, surely it won’t bog down. There’s a YouTube collection that compares OS abilities with specific regard to Plex and Windows was the best except for Unraid.
I’ll probably use Snapraid to run RAID5 on my 4 HDDs that store the media.
Do you foresee any issues with my proposed build? I think I’ll do it over the next few weekends.
I’m using mine in combination with an AMD Turion and it works fine. You might get some profit from better audio transcoding with the newer intels that support quickset.
I just added a P2000 to an R720 I have. Would you mind elaborating on the issues you saw resolved by moving to Windows 10?
What i saw was that transcoding didn’t work consistently on Server 2019. It could have been due to other circumstances that the problems where fixed on Windows 10 though. A few things you need to consider for it to work correctly:
-
Do not run Plex as a service
-
Have a monitor connected to the P2000 (or a dongle or something that simulates a screen)
-
You need a plexpass for hardware transcoding to work
The first two items i did in combination to Windows 10, so not sure if it was just those two or if the switch to Windows 10 in itself also contributed to the solution.
Awesome, thanks for the reply.
Both the needing to have a monitor plugged in and not being able to run as a service are a pain in the ass. Especially since Emby and Jellyfin manage it so I’m guessing it isn’t a platform restriction like I’ve seen said by the devs numerous times.
The card is in a rackmounted server so having a monitor plugged in is wasteful and finding a dongle that’ll fit in the port (it has a lip that prevents most plugs from fitting) is troublesome.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
