What video card for Plex?

Doozer

Doozer

2[H]4U
Joined
May 30, 2001
Messages
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So I've got plex running on my server (dual L5640, 48GB). What video card should I look at it to get at least a couple of 1080p streams?
 
Thanks German Muscle

Anyone have an opinion on a RTX A2000 6GB? Its Ampere and allows unrestricted streams. Newegg has it for $479.99
 
The L5640 is downright ancient, but, I'd be pretty surprised if it couldn't handle 2x1080p transcodes (as long as you're not trying to downscale from 4k). If it's being served locally and direct streaming, it'll handle that with ease.
 
Eulogy said:
The L5640 is downright ancient, but, I'd be pretty surprised if it couldn't handle 2x1080p transcodes (as long as you're not trying to downscale from 4k). If it's being served locally and direct streaming, it'll handle that with ease.
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Yeah, they are old. That's why I want to add a video card.
 
I have an emby box running and just use a 1050ti and the driver modification. It can handle several streams easily. I think one time I got it to at least four...

A 1080 or 1080ti with the driver mod would be killer.
 
applegrcoug said:
1050ti and the driver modification
Click to expand...
this question interests me, and since I run a 1050ti this answer interests me.
what is this driver modification ?
searching for "driver modification" got me nothing that seemed pertinent .
 
How much of an issue you currently have with your 2 cpu ?

Rules of thumbs is about 2,000 passmark point by 1080p encode:

Very roughly speaking, for a single full-transcode of a video, the following PassMark score requirements are a good guideline for the following average source file:

  • 4K HDR (50Mbps, 10-bit HEVC) file: 17000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)
  • 4K SDR (40Mbps, 8-bit HEVC) file: 12000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)
  • 1080p (10Mbps, H.264) file: 2000 PassMark score
  • 720p (4Mbps, H.264) file: 1500 PassMark score
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+L5640+@+2.27GHz
You have about 9,000 passmark, should be more than enough for 2 1080p stream, are you going from 4k video down to 2k ?
 
LukeTbk said:
How much of an issue you currently have with your 2 cpu ?

Rules of thumbs is about 2,000 passmark point by 1080p encode:

Very roughly speaking, for a single full-transcode of a video, the following PassMark score requirements are a good guideline for the following average source file:

  • 4K HDR (50Mbps, 10-bit HEVC) file: 17000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)
  • 4K SDR (40Mbps, 8-bit HEVC) file: 12000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)
  • 1080p (10Mbps, H.264) file: 2000 PassMark score
  • 720p (4Mbps, H.264) file: 1500 PassMark score
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+L5640+@+2.27GHz
You have about 9,000 passmark, should be more than enough for 2 1080p stream, are you going from 4k video down to 2k ?
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. Yes, I'm going from 4k to 1080p. I should be good for a while at least. If I decide to share my library with any more family members I'll try a 1050ti and the above nvidia patch
 
Once you start getting into 4k .265 HDR video transcodes you need some beefy hardware. My 3900X / 1080Ti was struggling and couldn't keep up, but my 5950X and 3080 12gb can handle it, with some more playroom to keep using the computer for additional tasks as long as they don't require 100% gpu usage.

For me this mainly came up because my own home watching device can handle 4k HDR without any transcoding, but a lot of people whom i've given access to my plex cannot.
 
Doozer said:
Thanks for that. Yes, I'm going from 4k to 1080p. I should be good for a while at least. If I decide to share my library with any more family members I'll try a 1050ti and the above nvidia patch
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Ah if you are translating 4k content, I could see your CPUs struggling it can rapidly become extremelly heavy, specially with 10bit HDR.

One thing to possibly consider (but would be more of a hassle), would be changing CPU for a modern intel with Quicksync, something like a 12100 for example, could reduce power consumption, a nice performance boost and longevity and intel igpu tend to be relatively up to date codec capacity wise and good at it relative to what they are in 3D, but now that GPU price are down again it is maybe less attractive.
 
LukeTbk said:
Ah if you are translating 4k content, I could see your CPUs struggling it can rapidly become extremelly heavy, specially with 10bit HDR.

One thing to possibly consider (but would be more of a hassle), would be changing CPU for a modern intel with Quicksync, something like a 12100 for example, could reduce power consumption, a nice performance boost and longevity and intel igpu tend to be relatively up to date codec capacity wise and good at it relative to what they are in 3D, but now that GPU price are down again it is maybe less attractive.
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One thing I have to look out for is having a mobo with enough PCIe x8 slots for my HBA and 10Gbe card. Do Xeons support Quicksync at any level?

edit: Xeon E-2100 supports Quicksync from what I could find.
edit2: Xeon E-2374G might be what I need.
 
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Doozer said:
One thing I have to look out for is having a mobo with enough PCIe x8 slots for my HBA and 10Gbe card. Do Xeons support Quicksync at any level?

edit: Xeon E-2100 supports Quicksync from what I could find.
edit2: Xeon E-2374G might be what I need.
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You will also need a Plex Pass if you want to use hardware transcoding. Just an FYI if you didn't know.
 
 
What about the new Intel Arc GPUs like the A380? Intel was touting it's transcoding performance. Currently I am building a NAS with a 11600k that I got pretty cheap. Would it actually be beneficial to get a GPU when I don't plan on doing more then 2 4k streams at a time.
 
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vegeta535 said:
What about the new Intel Arc GPUs like the A380? Intel was touting it's transcoding performance. Currently I am building a NAS with a 11600k that I got pretty cheap. Would it actually be beneficial to get a GPU when I don't plan on doing more then 2 4k streams at a time.
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to early to tell tbh as i havent seen more then a handful out there in the wild but it should be good just like Intel CPUs with iGPU they have quicksync which is better then using a GPU to transcode.
 
vegeta535 said:
What about the new Intel Arc GPUs like the A380? Intel was touting it's transcoding performance. Currently I am building a NAS with a 11600k that I got pretty cheap. Would it actually be beneficial to get a GPU when I don't plan on doing more then 2 4k streams at a time.
Click to expand...
Anything 4K you want a GPU to do the heavy lifting vs the CPU. IMO I would sell that CPU and get the IGPU part and just use quickSync. The new chips work very well for decoding and transcoding duties in Plex.
 
I would try the 11600K UHD graphic 750 before changing the CPU or adding a GPU (I mean why not ?), for one it depend quite a bit what the player at the other end is able to do, to determine your encoding need. Your actual files has well, all 4k are not equal you have 10bit HDR over 100 mbits and much lower than that and will not be going down to all the same things if it has too.
 
LukeTbk said:
I would try the 11600K UHD graphic 750 before changing the CPU or adding a GPU (I mean why not ?), for one it depend quite a bit what the player at the other end is able to do, to determine your encoding need. Your actual files has well, all 4k are not equal you have 10bit HDR over 100 mbits and much lower than that and will not be going down to all the same things if it has too.
Click to expand...
Does the K have built in GPU's... I though only non K's have the GPU's
 
Vengance_01 said:
Does the K have built in GPU's... I though only non K's have the GPU's
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I think it is the exact opposite, K make it sure you have the iGPU there is other letter with has well, Intel page for their cpu are not bad in that regard for a quick look:
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...1600k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz.html

For the U750 plex relevant codec support:
https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/igpu-intel_uhd_graphics_750-252

Hardware codec support​

h264:Decode / Encode
AV1:Decode
h265 / HEVC (8 bit):Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit):Decode / Encode
VP8:Decode
VP9:Decode / Encode
VC-1:Decode
AVC:Decode / Encode
JPEG:Decode / Encode
 
LukeTbk said:
I think it is the exact opposite, K make it sure you have the iGPU there is other letter with has well, Intel page for their cpu are not bad in that regard for a quick look:
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...1600k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz.html

For the U750 plex relevant codec support:
https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/igpu-intel_uhd_graphics_750-252

Hardware codec support​

h264:Decode / Encode
AV1:Decode
h265 / HEVC (8 bit):Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit):Decode / Encode
VP8:Decode
VP9:Decode / Encode
VC-1:Decode
AVC:Decode / Encode
JPEG:Decode / Encode
Click to expand...
good call! I know K means unlocked but I am AMD guy :) Last intel chip was a 2500K
 
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