Why can't my i7-2600 transcode more than two 1080p streams?

General Discussions
1

I thought the rule was 2000 per 1080p stream but my i7-2600 (8254 passmark) can barely handle two. If a third starts they all start to buffer. Is something else going on here? The machine is idle except for the streams.

2

Depends on the streams, too.

What’s the Media Info for the streams in question, and what’s your CPU usage look like during transcode?

3

Resolution isn’t everything. Codec, bitrate, subtitles, does the server do anthing else (AV scans, creating thumbnails etc) and so on. If say, one is a HEVC file and the other a VC1 then, yeah, it would def struggle with the transcodes.

4

Here are the two files that were playing. Are the just too large?


5

Those are both pretty clean from a video standpoint, but the audio & subtitles are most likely a factor in both.

What are they being transcoded to? I can see what they’re transcoding from, but what are they being crunched down to?

Also, have you looked at the system performance/monitor during transcode to see what the CPU is at, and if all the usage is Plex transcoder process or if anything else is happening (over-active virus scan, etc.)

6

It’s all transcoding, the system is idle except for the transcoding sessions. If they drop out (because it keeps buffering) the load drops right down or if they reach throttled the load drops down too.

The resolutions seem to be pretty low, I didn’t take a snapshot but I remember them being like yx560 or something really odd. I remember a few months ago some issues with audio and someone with a fire tv stick having issues with any DTS file I had. I thought audio was easy to transcode? Is there a way I can transcode all files so that the audio is two channel so I won’t have to worry about remote clients?

7

The smaller file size from transcoding is great for your network, but it becomes more of an issue for your CPU. If your clients are buffering because of network constraints, then they may be opting for a lower setting and now its killing your CPU. You have to find that happen medium where you have enough bandwidth and enough CPU overhead.

8

So if I’m transcoding a 1080p 5.1 down to 720x300 stereo that hits harder than converting down to 720p? It seems when I get two 1080p transcodes no matter what the file the load jumps up to 20 and people star to buffer.