What is a great build for multiple streams?

General Discussions
1

Short version: Looking for a good build that can support at least 3 remote streams for either mobile or TV (1080p) and 1 local (1080p) as a minimum.

Long version: I love PLEX and am looking to upgrade my current media server setup which includes 8 hdd’s. I stream all the time to my phone while away and stream while local while also allowing others to stream but it’s typically only about 2 others. I want a lower power setup since I’m using my old gaming rig that is being used by the wife so it has windows 10 and a hefty power supply.

I’m in need of help getting a smaller case, with a lot of bays for now and future expansion. After looking online extensively I think I found something good then I find a post indicating it may not be so looking for clarification from you all. Currently I’m looking at these:

Motherboard
ASRock C2750D4I Mini ITX Atom C2750 Motherboard (was looking at the 2550 but heard it isn’t able to do two 1080p streams)

Case
Lian-Li PC-Q26B Mini ITX Tower Case (because it has 12 bays)
Power Supply
SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (because it’s quiet and only one with enough power cables for all hdd’s)

Is that a good setup to buy or is there something better around the $600 price tag. Thank you for the help.

2

I assume you are talking about transcoding, well, you need a 6000 passmark points CPU minimum.

3

@redpark said:
ASRock C2750D4I Mini ITX Atom C2750 Motherboard (was looking at the 2550 but heard it isn’t able to do two 1080p streams)

No. Not even 2 transcoded streams @1080p with this cpu.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Atom+C2750+%40+2.41GHz&id=2534

the ~2000 passmark points in the plex FAQ per one 1080p video stream are only valid if:

  • the video file on disk uses the h.264 video codec
  • has around 8 mbps
  • no subtitles are “burned in” during the transcode

If you store full BluRay rips on disk, you need easily the double.
If your files use the h.265 video codec you need 4x as much.

There is no way around a “real” cpu like one of the better i3 or i5 models if you need transcoding.

4

Alright thank you, so that’s saves me some money then. So do you have any advice on what a good small full of at least 10hdds could be to tranche at least 2 1080p videos remotely?

Thanks for the replies, I almost hit the buy button on that stuff last night after seeing people say they liked it

5

I cannot advise on server boxes or hard disk deals.

If you are unsure which type of hard drive to buy, I’d peruse this site first: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-stats-q1-2016/

6

Well I have harddrives all set for now just trying to figure out if I can use a smaller case like the one I listed so that way it can be small and in a corner taking up little power especially when not in use since I’d leave it on all the time.

So is it the processor that needs to be amazing to stream the best quality and have multiple streams? If that’s the most important should I be looking at what is thr best for that?

7

Yes, cpu is king in Plex server.
If you have the choice between several models with comparable passmark score, go for the model with fewer cores.
If you go for the latest Intel cpu architecture (Skylake) you can get really good cpu speed vs. power demand ratios.

8

@OttoKerner So looking at the passmark score. This i7-4790k is in the 11k range. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-4790K+%40+4.00GHz&id=2275
So two questions

  1. Does this mean that I should have no problems with transcoding roughly 5 streams of 1080p that aren’t local?
  2. I was under the impression that Media Servers don’t require great hardware, is that just for home networked stuff and not for the purpose I want it for?
9

  1. if these 5 video correlate to the limits I mentioned in my first answer then, yes, this should be possible. If all 5 of these streams require transcoding. If some of them can Direct Play, the cpu requirements are lower.

  2. you don’t need particularly high cpu power if you can Direct Play a file.
    But with remote and mobile clients this is the exception, unless you are willing to re-encode all your media to a lower qualitiy standard. Or invest some more hard disk space and create streaming-friendly versions of your videos.
    Direct Play is what most of media servers do only. Plex is different in that way.

10

@redpark said:
Well I have harddrives all set for now just trying to figure out if I can use a smaller case like the one I listed so that way it can be small and in a corner taking up little power especially when not in use since I’d leave it on all the time.

So is it the processor that needs to be amazing to stream the best quality and have multiple streams? If that’s the most important should I be looking at what is thr best for that?

you need to check the passmark of the CPU.
This is the most important factor.