Which CPU out of the three I have would be best for a Plex Server?

Plex Media Server
1

I’m getting ready to build a Plex server with some components I have at my disposal. I’m just not sure what would best the best CPU out of the three I have.

I have an i7 7820x / X299 mobo, an Xeon W-2140b / c422 mobo or an i7 8700k / Z370 mobo to choose from.

I have more RAM for the c422 motherboard. 64GB as opposed to 32GB for the other two motherboards, if that matters.

Video cards to choose from are either an NVIDIA GTX 1060 3GB or GTX 1070.

From the research I’ve done so far I’m leaning towards the 8700k with no NVIDIA card due to Intel quick sync but I’m not sure if that is the best combo.

Any suggestions on which combination would be best?

2

Consider the features you will use such as transcoding: https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming

3

First and foremost: https://support.plex.tv/articles/201774043-what-kind-of-cpu-do-i-need-for-my-server/

Look them up on https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-7820X+%40+3.60GHz&id=3038
Compare their overall cpu mark score
But do also take into account the “single thread rating”.

Power consumption might also be important if the server is not located in a separate room with air conditioning.

Xeons don’t have Quicksync, so hardware transcoding (Plex Pass feature) is only possible with an add-on GPU card.

4

No quicksync on xeon? Uh, yeah they do. At least some of them, here’s one:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/191043/intel-xeon-e-2246g-processor-12m-cache-3-60-ghz.html

Or is there some reason Plex wouldn’t use it on a Xeon that has Quicksync?

5

That’s probably one of the very few Xeon models which does have a GPU.
These models are so rare, that I rather generalize “Xeons don’t have QuickSync”.
Before some hapless user is wondering why he can’t use Quicksync with his second-hand server, which you can get relatively cheap.

6

There’s several other Xeon chips that have a GPU as well. “very few” does not mean none.

Intel had a database of all their processors. If someone isn’t sure about the CPU, this link will help clarify what features a chip might have.

Searching for Quick Sync and Xeon on it reveals there are NINETY-FIVE listed that have Quick Sync support.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/search/featurefilter.html?productType=873&0_QuickSyncVideo=True&1_Filter-Family=595

I pick this nit because there’s not a ton of concrete examples of which CPU, chipset, motherboard and GPU combinations will or won’t work with plex hardware transcoding. Especially not if it involves virtualization and passing the GPU to the plex VM instance.

But a database count of 95 isn’t the whole story. Just because a chip might have it, well, there’s more than a few posts from folks (here and elsewhere) having trouble getting vGPU transcoding working, for a whole range of reasons.

My interest here is immediate, I’m looking to build a new machine to handle plex and other functions. I tend to work on a 5 year upgrade cycle. I’d like to find my best bang-for-the-buck NEW hardware that’ll take me through the next five years (or more). There’s a ton of variables to sift through for this.

The task is made harder when incorrect info is suggested, potentially shutting off a whole other line of potential solutions.

Me, I just want to find a combination that’s really going to work well with plex in a VM and hardware transcoding.

7

And to clarify, if I can’t run plex in a VM with a pass-through GPU, then I’ll likely run plex on the host instance. Presumably running linux, but given driver woes, I’d be fine with a Hyper-V host.

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