Setups for Plex?

[Yellow_]

I'm looking into a setting up plex, I have an i7 3770 laying around with a gtx 770, would I be able to use it as a plex server  and gaming system?

 

I have no idea how plex works

Thanks

[Alex Atkin UK]

Depends a lot on your clients.

 

If they can direct stream all your video files, you should be able to stream and game at the same time with minimal disruption.  But if your clients need transcoding then its likely it will cause stuttering in games due to the CPU load.

If you are never doing both at the same time, there shouldn't be any issues.

[Yellow_]

2 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Depends a lot on your clients.

 

If they can direct stream all your video files, you should be able to stream and game at the same time with minimal disruption.  But if your clients need transcoding then its likely it will cause stuttering in games due to the CPU load.

If you are never doing both at the same time, there shouldn't be any issues.

Yeah its just me and my roommate who will be using it, I intend on having it as a system out in the living room connected to the TV, so there shouldnt be any double usage going on. Appreciate the answer!

[Alex Atkin UK]

In case you aren't familiar, Direct Play/Stream is where the client is able to decode both the video and audio natively, so the server is just sending the raw data as-is.

 

Transcoding is where the client either doesn't support the container (in which case the server will remux the audio and video into a supported container, meaning a lot of disk IO but not too bad on CPU) or it can mean the server has to completely re-encode the audio and/or video into a different format, which will completely hammer the CPU.

 

In the latter case, how hard the video file is to convert could mean the CPU isn't fast enough.  Although modern TVs are usually pretty good at supporting anything you throw at them, at least video wise, so its usually only audio that might need converting which is much ligher on the CPU.

[Yellow_]

1 minute ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

 

Okay that makes sense. Thanks!

 

Considering that, I also have an R3 1200, what would you think on a system based around that, strictly for the plex stuff and no gaming?

[Alex Atkin UK]

To be honest, I have no clue exactly how much CPU power it takes for transcoding.

 

For simply direct play/streaming though, any CPU should handle it.

[divito]

You can check this link for details.

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

 

In short, you should be more than fine.

[Salacious B Crum]

On 2/11/2019 at 4:50 PM, Yellow_ said:

I'm looking into a setting up plex, I have an i7 3770 laying around with a gtx 770, would I be able to use it as a plex server  and gaming system?

 

I have no idea how plex works

Thanks

Your pass-mark score (9280) is fine for several streams on that cpu you should be fine but as stated the more trans-coding the more pressure on the cpu plex is easy to set up go for it you should be fine

[Donut417]

On 2/11/2019 at 4:50 PM, Yellow_ said:

I'm looking into a setting up plex, I have an i7 3770 laying around with a gtx 770, would I be able to use it as a plex server  and gaming system?

 

I have no idea how plex works

Thanks

Its doing transcoding thats going to be tricky. Plex can do hardware and software transcoding. 

 

Hardware transcoding uses GPU or iGPU. Unfortunately Intel iGPU's didnt become "Good" at transcoding until Haswell. Even then haswell chips are still kinda meh at doing it. I run my Plex server on an i5 3570K, so I did a bit of research. Im not sure about the transcoding capabilities of your Nvidia card. 

 

Software transcoding just uses raw CPU power. Which is fine, but if you plan on gaming at the same time? Not going to work out well. 

 

Of course if your video files are in the correct format for your streaming devices, you shouldnt have any issues with transcoding. 

[GimmeGaming]

Sorry to hijack the thread but I figured its too small a question to open a new thread for. Is their anywhere you can legally purchase media to put on a plex server rather than purchasing physical discs and copying them over?

I've built a plex server a few days ago and was looking to start filling it up.

[Salacious B Crum]

3 hours ago, GimmeGaming said:

Sorry to hijack the thread but I figured its too small a question to open a new thread for. Is their anywhere you can legally purchase media to put on a plex server rather than purchasing physical discs and copying them over?

I've built a plex server a few days ago and was looking to start filling it up.

hate to bust your chops but just google it and you shall find what you seek not saying its all good but its a start also harass the shit outta your friends and family to borrow their stuff and rip them you can always grant them access to your server in return

[gt2416]

Its not worth cpu trans coding. Just get the cheapest gpu that has H.265 and your i7 will work fine. While your i7 can probably handle 2 1080p trans codes I can assure you it will barely be able to handle 1 4k HDR h.265 file. Like @jason938 said with pgs subtitles it puts even more stress on your cpu. If you download 4k movies it will probably come with pgs subtitles.

Depends on your needs, if you never use 4k files then your hardware is fine.   

 

[Slayer3032]

35 minutes ago, gt2416 said:

Its not worth cpu trans coding. Just get the cheapest gpu that has H.265 and your i7 will work fine. While your i7 can probably handle 2 1080p trans codes I can assure you it will barely be able to handle 1 4k HDR h.265 file. Like @jason938 said with pgs subtitles it puts even more stress on your cpu. If you download 4k movies it will probably come with pgs subtitles.

Depends on your needs, if you never use 4k files then your hardware is fine.   

 

You're going to need Plex Pass for Intel Quicksync/Nvidia GPU transcode support. My X5660 without AVX handles anything 1080p that I've thrown at it, his setup really doesn't sound that serious.

 

I think the Ryzen 1200 would be an excellent low power cpu that would be up to what he is looking to do with it and if he wants more Ryzen 3000 is a drop in upgrade after a bios update. While cheap DDR3 with the 3770 is really attractive for a home server, I don't think he's going to need that.

[gt2416]

7 hours ago, Slayer3032 said:

You're going to need Plex Pass for Intel Quicksync/Nvidia GPU transcode support. My X5660 without AVX handles anything 1080p that I've thrown at it, his setup really doesn't sound that serious.

 

I think the Ryzen 1200 would be an excellent low power cpu that would be up to what he is looking to do with it and if he wants more Ryzen 3000 is a drop in upgrade after a bios update. While cheap DDR3 with the 3770 is really attractive for a home server, I don't think he's going to need that.

Hey I have a x5660 as well ! Actually 2 of them in a dual socket mobo. 

1080p is FINE as I said, but my dual x5660 can BARELY handle a 4k file. Thats why I said if you use 4k dont rely on cpu power. If you only care for 1080p no probem! .

BUT Its SUPER not efficient and the i7 that OP has does not have h.265 decode on the cpu for most 4k. 

 

Also didnt know hw transcode was a plex pass feature. I bought plex pass a long time ago so I didnt notice, good point !. 

[Donut417]

5 hours ago, gt2416 said:

Hey I have a x5660 as well ! Actually 2 of them in a dual socket mobo. 

1080p is FINE as I said, but my dual x5660 can BARELY handle a 4k file. Thats why I said if you use 4k dont rely on cpu power. If you only care for 1080p no probem! .

BUT Its SUPER not efficient and the i7 that OP has does not have h.265 decode on the cpu for most 4k. 

 

Also didnt know hw transcode was a plex pass feature. I bought plex pass a long time ago so I didnt notice, good point !. 

The real trick with Plex is to not trasncode. The OP needs to look at his media files and streaming devices. As long as they dont transcode it wont be a lot of strain on the CPU.