Upgrade Server Hardware for Plex Media Server

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

My old Plex server is now 18 years old. I am planning on doing an upgrade on it.

Could I get some feedback on the new components for running a Plex Server?

It is currently running on this hardware:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz
Memory: 8GB DDR3
Power: Corsair AX750
Graphic: NVIDIA GeForce GT610

I am keeping the case, and power supply, but switching out everything else.
I am not getting a dedicated graphics card, yet. Thinking I could get a GPU later for better transcoding with hardware acceleration.

This is the Upgrade:
Motherboard: ASRock Z590 Pro4 Motherboard - Intel Z590 - Intel LGA1200 socket - DDR4 RAM - ATX
Processor: Intel Core i5-11400 Rocket Lake Processor/CPU - 6 cores 2.6 GHz - Intel LGA1200
Memory: Kingston Fury Beast Black DDR4 3200MHz 16GB (KF432C16BB/16)
Cooler: Noctua NH-U9S chromax.black Air Cooler
Cabinet Fan: Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM chromax.black.swap - Case Fan - 120 mm - 22 dBA

2

Will it be better for Plex to go for a better CPU?

Intel Core i5 11400 ~211$
Intel Core i5 11500 ~294$
Intel Core i5 11600 ~330$
Intel Core i7 11700 ~365$

The question is how much better will Plex work with the more expensive options here?
Will it be worth paying more for a better CPU?

The prices are calculated from Norwegian price with 1 USD = 9 NOK

3

The RocketLake GPU (-11xxx) will give much better hardware transcoding.

The question remaining: Do you have PGS subtitles and how many concurrent streams ?

  1. PGS subtitles require CPU power to burn into the image
  2. An i5 can handle 1-2 streams
  3. An i7 is needed to handle 2-3 or higher bit rate video streams.

The GT610 will not be able to support Video Transcoding.

4

So any difference, better HW transcoding with the more expensive -11xxx?
Or is the one I first settled on, i5-11400 good enough?

I have a few with PGS subtitles, and very few concurrent streams. At most two concurrent streams.

I will not use NVIDIA GT610 with the new hardware, only the Intel GPU. I plan to get a better NVIDIA GPU later.

5

Whenever you’re looking to upgrade CPU for Plex use, it’s important to look at Intel’s site http://ark.intel.com This site gives you the technical specs you need to know.

For the i5-11400 CPU

As you look down the list, there are 3 pieces of information you need for Plex HW transcoding (in the CPU)

  1. Processor Graphics
  2. OpenCL Support
  3. Quick Sync Video

Looking at this CPU:

  1. Processor Graphics - Intel® UHD Graphics 730
  2. OpenCL* Support - 3.0
  3. Intel® Quick Sync Video - Yes

These translate to:

  1. UHD Graphics 630 and above gives us HEVC HDR capability
  2. OpenCL support gives us Hardware tone mapping (HDR → SDR)
  3. Quick Sync Video gives us the all important Hardware Transcoding.

(In combination, we know we can HW transcode and tone map HEVC HDR → H.264 SDR )

The typical aggregate bit rate (steady state input bit rate) is about 600-700 Mbps.

When you consider i5 vs i7, you must consider: (using an i5)

  1. Audio conversion (anywhere from 2-15% CPU per stream)
  2. Subtitle burning (as much as 30-40% CPU per stream – why these are painful)
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