Why is Plex for Windows Desktop Player CPU and GPU Utilization So High?

Plex Players Desktop Players
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Server Version#:1.25.5.5492
Player Version#:1.40.1.2823-6f60f3a7

I have Plex for Windows Desktop Player on several Windows 10 and 11 PCs. I’ve noticed that the CPU and GPU utilization is much higher with the Plex Player than VLC Media Player or Windows Movies & TV player when playing the same recorded TV show on a client computer (not being played back on the server).

Here are some examples on a PC with an Intel i7 4th generation processor and onboard Intel HD 530 Graphics…

Plex Player CPU 30% GPU 85%
VLC Media Player: CPU 6% GPU 67%
Microsoft Movies & TV CPU 6% GPU 40%

I also noticed that even when Plex Player is open but not playing any video, the CPU utilization is 8%. 6% of that is the Plex process.

Other computers yielded similar results. I am wondering if there are any settings for Plex for Windows Player I should look at to optimize this.

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Plex seems to be extraordinarily inefficient.

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