# What gpu for transcode

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/what-gpu-for-transcode/897583>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Tags:** hardware\
**Created:** [December 1, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/what-gpu-for-transcode/897583 "2024-12-01T18:50:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vojtahavelka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9dc877/32.png) [@vojtahavelka](https://forums.plex.tv/u/vojtahavelka)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/what-gpu-for-transcode/897583/1 "2024-12-01T18:50:54Z")

</div>

Hello. Because my dual xeon e5 2665 is strugling with transcode, i want to buy plex pass and get a gpu for HW transcoding. Currently I am choosing between Nvidia and arc a380. Arc is way cheaper so I like that option, but found mixes info on internet about support. So before buying, is ARC a good choise to get HW transcode working, or should I rather pay more for some nvidia GPU instead? Thanks

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BanzaiInstitute](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/banzaiinstitute/32/293273_2.png) [@BanzaiInstitute](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BanzaiInstitute)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/what-gpu-for-transcode/897583/2 "2024-12-01T18:53:34Z")

</div>

Your Xenon system uses a lot of juice, you could save money in the long run by switching to a newer Intel CPU with a GPU. Intel GPUs do a great job at transcoding. and the whole system will use less power.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vojtahavelka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9dc877/32.png) [@vojtahavelka](https://forums.plex.tv/u/vojtahavelka)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/what-gpu-for-transcode/897583/3 "2024-12-01T19:05:29Z")

</div>

Electricity consumption is not a big deal, i dont really care about that 🙂 Also I would have to upgrade basically averything, because I am using HP Z620-everything is proprietary.  
Is using intel arc for transcoding straightforward or are there any extra steps, except plex pass? Like I said, some people saying it is just working, some had some issues…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![USMarineNCO](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/usmarinenco/32/6828_2.png) [@USMarineNCO](https://forums.plex.tv/u/USMarineNCO)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/what-gpu-for-transcode/897583/4 "2024-12-05T18:05:02Z")

</div>

Find a used NVIDIA P2000 or P4000 on ebay for a couple hundred bucks and slap it in there. You won’t regret it! My P4000 handles 4k transcodes without breaking a sweat…fortunately, it doesn’t have to do a lot of transcoding since most of my remote clients can handle full direct play, but I have had up to 20 transcodes at a time with no issues.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/what-gpu-for-transcode/897583/5 "2026-04-22T13:56:23Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.