Haswell CPU strong enough for H.265 Plex transcoding?

Gerr · May 16, 2019

My home server that runs Plex has a Xeon E3-1271v3 CPU, which is basically a Haswell i7. It transcodes H.264 1080p video files fine, but I want to start using H.265 1080p video files to help save space, so was wondering if my CPU can handle realtime H.265 transcoding duties? Usually 1 stream at a time, never more than 3 and most are direct play, but some do get transcoded.

Electronics Wizardy · May 17, 2019

So your transcoding from h265 to h264 right?

It should work fine, it doesn't take that much more cpu power to decode h265.

But also why not test it? You have the hardware and its very easy to make a h265 video file.

Mikensan · May 17, 2019

I'm running an i7 4770k and majority of my movies are h265/HEVC - no issues here. I've had 3 streams going without any issues. If you're using any dongle that supports 4k it won't even transcode, just streams (assuming you're not changing the resolution anywho). My upload is shit so I limit the quality for remote connections - so they all transcode and I've had 3 going at one time - only really noticed because those 3 streams choked my internet lol.

If you do run into some issues you can always throw in a cheap video card that has hardware that supports h265 and pass it through.