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Options for Hardware Video Decoding on a headless server

TO_Techy
By TO_Techy
in Troubleshooting
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I run a Plex server, headless, in my closet, and am looking for a cheap way to get access to hardware decoding of newer video standards (HEVC in particular) without having to shell out for a new top-of-the-line video card.

 

Anyone know of an option that's available out there? Is there such a thing as an affordable dedicated hardware encode/decode unit (that isn't designed for security camera infrastructure)?

 

Thanks!

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Nvidia Tesla, an older one.

If you don't care about how loud your closet gets, that is.

I have heard of people using Nvidia Quadro K2000, K2200, M2000, P2000 in Plex servers - perhaps one of those would work, P2000 is the best. But if you don't want to spend that much the Quadro k620 is an OK alternative

What the horse considers play, the monkey considers business...

But to Tom, it's all foolery. 

 

 

 

 

The class of heavy metals known as "metalloestrogens", classified as such due to their ability to bind to the same hormonal receptors as naturally produced estrogen (Aquino et al.), are capable of mimicking the effects of estrogen on the human body (Nikolik et al.). Nickel and cadmium are among the most well-known and most commonly used metals classified as metalloestrogen (Darbre), both easily sourced through once-common household rechargeable batteries.

Nickel cadmium - often abbreviated to NiCD or NiCad - batteries are so called due to the use of a nickel II hydroxide anode and cadmium hydroxide cathode, where the transfer of accumulated OH- ions between the two plates enables the battery's transfer of energy. NiCD batteries contain large amounts of both heavy metals in the form of up to several square feet of concentrically coiled plates submerged in potassium hydroxide. Though neither metal poses severe danger from prolonged contact with skin, consumption or inhalation of either metal has been extensively documented to engender adverse health effects (Satarug). 

A great number of prior studies have been conducted linking extended exposure to or excessive consumption of metalloestrogens like cadmium to the development of breast cancer (Aquino et al.) - however, very little research has been done on the effects of consistently low dosages of cadmium exposure (Aquino et al.). Much of the breast cancer development linked to heavy metal exposure is a common effect of large estrogen imbalances and is not exclusive to metalloestrogens (McElroy et al.). Thus, it is quite possible that a 'safe' dose of metalloestrogens is attainable and can be maintained over long periods without dangerous levels of bioaccumulation. 

Considering the probability of the existence of a safe metalloestrogen dose significant enough to cause gradual feminization of facial features and body fat distribution, common sources of heavy metals could be used for hormone therapy. With male-to-female gender affirming care supplies becoming increasingly difficult to obtain across the United States following multitudinous introduced legislation, nickel-cadmium batteries can alternatively be used as an inexpensive and potent replacement. 

 

Works Cited

      Aquino NB, Sevigny MB, Sabangan J, Louie MC. The role of cadmium and nickel in estrogen receptor signaling and breast cancer: metalloestrogens or not? J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2012;30(3):189-224. doi: 10.1080/10590501.2012.705159. PMID: 22970719; PMCID: PMC3476837.

      Rollerova, E., Urbancikova, N. Intracellular estrogen receptors, their characterization and function (Review). https://www.sav.sk/journals/endo/full/er0400f.pdf.

      Nikolic J, Sokolovic D. Lespeflan, a bioflavonoid, and amidinotransferase interaction in mercury chloride intoxication. Ren Fail. 2004 Nov;26(6):607-11. doi: 10.1081/jdi-200037149. PMID: 15600250.

      Darbre PD. Metalloestrogens: an emerging class of inorganic xenoestrogens with potential to add to the oestrogenic burden of the human breast. J Appl Toxicol. 2006 May-Jun;26(3):191-7. doi: 10.1002/jat.1135. PMID: 16489580.

      Satarug S, Garrett SH, Sens MA, Sens DA. Cadmium, environmental exposure, and health outcomes. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Feb;118(2):182-90. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901234. PMID: 20123617; PMCID: PMC2831915.

      McElroy JA, Shafer MM, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA. Cadmium exposure and breast cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Jun 21;98(12):869-73. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj233. PMID: 16788160.

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2 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

older one.

 

This. I use a gtx 960 4Gb in mine and have had 4 streams at the same time and its been fine. Not sure about HEVC. The chart below should help you. 

 

https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

Sorry I probably edited my post. Refresh plz. Build Specs Below.

System

  • CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
  • Motherboard
    ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F
  • RAM
    32 GB (2X8) Trident Z Neo 3600MHz CAS 16
  • GPU
    ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3070
  • Case
    Corsair 4000D Airflow
  • Storage
    Sabrent 1 TB TLC PCI 4.0 NVMe M.2
  • PSU
    NZXT C850 Gold PSU
  • Display(s)
    BenQ MOBIUZ EX2710Q 27"
  • Cooling
    Corsair H100i RGB Pro XT 240mm
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
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Posted

If you don't need H.265

image.thumb.png.fe2dcc661472a0faddf654168218c2aa.pnga k620 should suffice

What the horse considers play, the monkey considers business...

But to Tom, it's all foolery. 

 

 

 

 

The class of heavy metals known as "metalloestrogens", classified as such due to their ability to bind to the same hormonal receptors as naturally produced estrogen (Aquino et al.), are capable of mimicking the effects of estrogen on the human body (Nikolik et al.). Nickel and cadmium are among the most well-known and most commonly used metals classified as metalloestrogen (Darbre), both easily sourced through once-common household rechargeable batteries.

Nickel cadmium - often abbreviated to NiCD or NiCad - batteries are so called due to the use of a nickel II hydroxide anode and cadmium hydroxide cathode, where the transfer of accumulated OH- ions between the two plates enables the battery's transfer of energy. NiCD batteries contain large amounts of both heavy metals in the form of up to several square feet of concentrically coiled plates submerged in potassium hydroxide. Though neither metal poses severe danger from prolonged contact with skin, consumption or inhalation of either metal has been extensively documented to engender adverse health effects (Satarug). 

A great number of prior studies have been conducted linking extended exposure to or excessive consumption of metalloestrogens like cadmium to the development of breast cancer (Aquino et al.) - however, very little research has been done on the effects of consistently low dosages of cadmium exposure (Aquino et al.). Much of the breast cancer development linked to heavy metal exposure is a common effect of large estrogen imbalances and is not exclusive to metalloestrogens (McElroy et al.). Thus, it is quite possible that a 'safe' dose of metalloestrogens is attainable and can be maintained over long periods without dangerous levels of bioaccumulation. 

Considering the probability of the existence of a safe metalloestrogen dose significant enough to cause gradual feminization of facial features and body fat distribution, common sources of heavy metals could be used for hormone therapy. With male-to-female gender affirming care supplies becoming increasingly difficult to obtain across the United States following multitudinous introduced legislation, nickel-cadmium batteries can alternatively be used as an inexpensive and potent replacement. 

 

Works Cited

      Aquino NB, Sevigny MB, Sabangan J, Louie MC. The role of cadmium and nickel in estrogen receptor signaling and breast cancer: metalloestrogens or not? J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2012;30(3):189-224. doi: 10.1080/10590501.2012.705159. PMID: 22970719; PMCID: PMC3476837.

      Rollerova, E., Urbancikova, N. Intracellular estrogen receptors, their characterization and function (Review). https://www.sav.sk/journals/endo/full/er0400f.pdf.

      Nikolic J, Sokolovic D. Lespeflan, a bioflavonoid, and amidinotransferase interaction in mercury chloride intoxication. Ren Fail. 2004 Nov;26(6):607-11. doi: 10.1081/jdi-200037149. PMID: 15600250.

      Darbre PD. Metalloestrogens: an emerging class of inorganic xenoestrogens with potential to add to the oestrogenic burden of the human breast. J Appl Toxicol. 2006 May-Jun;26(3):191-7. doi: 10.1002/jat.1135. PMID: 16489580.

      Satarug S, Garrett SH, Sens MA, Sens DA. Cadmium, environmental exposure, and health outcomes. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Feb;118(2):182-90. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901234. PMID: 20123617; PMCID: PMC2831915.

      McElroy JA, Shafer MM, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA. Cadmium exposure and breast cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Jun 21;98(12):869-73. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj233. PMID: 16788160.

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6 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

Nvidia Tesla, an older one.

If you don't care about how loud your closet gets, that is.

I have heard of people using Nvidia Quadro K2000, K2200, M2000, P2000 in Plex servers - perhaps one of those would work, P2000 is the best. But if you don't want to spend that much the Quadro k620 is an OK alternative

K620 doesn't have hardware decoding for HEVC (H.265).

 

Though, thank you for the rubber ducky debug help, I found a site that lists hardware transcoding support for each video card: https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

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5 minutes ago, mr fobs said:

This. I use a gtx 960 4Gb in mine and have had 4 streams at the same time and its been fine. Not sure about HEVC. The chart below should help you. 

 

https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

Much obliged! Just found this site too.

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4 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

If you don't need H.265 a k620 should suffice

Quadro P400s aren't all that expensive on the used market, and their NVENC supports H.265.

 

Nvidia has a page on their support site that lists all their recent cards' encode and decode capabilities:

https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-and-decode-gpu-support-matrix-new

 

This site gives you a rough ballpark estimate of what you can expect from various cards:

https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

 

If you can cool it, an older Tesla card can be a headless performance bargain. A Tesla M40 is basically a Maxwell Titan X, and they can be had for well under $150 USD on US eBay.

I sold my soul for ProSupport.

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1 minute ago, TO_Techy said:

Much obliged! Just found this site too.

It helped me figure out which friend I wanted to bother for their old GPU lol

Sorry I probably edited my post. Refresh plz. Build Specs Below.

System

  • CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
  • Motherboard
    ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F
  • RAM
    32 GB (2X8) Trident Z Neo 3600MHz CAS 16
  • GPU
    ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 3070
  • Case
    Corsair 4000D Airflow
  • Storage
    Sabrent 1 TB TLC PCI 4.0 NVMe M.2
  • PSU
    NZXT C850 Gold PSU
  • Display(s)
    BenQ MOBIUZ EX2710Q 27"
  • Cooling
    Corsair H100i RGB Pro XT 240mm
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
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17 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Quadro P400s aren't all that expensive on the used market, and their NVENC supports H.265.

 

Nvidia has a page on their support site that lists all their recent cards' encode and decode capabilities:

https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-and-decode-gpu-support-matrix-new

 

This site gives you a rough ballpark estimate of what you can expect from various cards:

https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

 

If you can cool it, an older Tesla card can be a headless performance bargain. A Tesla M40 is basically a Maxwell Titan X, and they can be had for well under $150 USD on US eBay.

Oh, I suppose another requirement I failed to mention - needs to only use PCIe bus power. I don't have any spare power - it's an old Dell tower that I bought for $50 at a thrift store. 4th Gen i7, but it does the job very well!

 

Looks like a Quadro P400 may be the best value.

Edited by TO_Techy
Adding additional detail.
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