Should i put my main PC:s CPU in my NAS? (GPU vs integrated graphics for plex transcoding)

[deviousanton]

Hi!

 

I'm putting together a small NAS (and plex server) for the first time and need some good advise

 

I have

1 x Ryzen 5 3600X

1 x Ryzen 5 5600G

1 x EVGA GTX 1060 SC

(1 x RTX 2060 - not really relevant for the question, just want to brag about my baller GPU)

 

The 3600X and 2060 is currently in my main pc and I had just put the 5600G in my new NAS build when I remembered that I have an 1060 in the wardrobe.

I plan to run a plex server on the NAS and expect at most 3-4 concurrent streams  

 

So, should I

1. Leave it as it is and use the graphics of the 5600G for transcoding?

2. Put the 1060 in the NAS with the 5600G?

3. Swap the 5600G to my main PC and use it with the 2060 and put the 3600X in the NAS with the 1060?

 

Additional info

I have not yet decided if i will run TrueNAS core or Unraid on the NAS (any input about that is also appreciated, but that atleast I should be able to figure out with my friend google)

My main PC is water cooled while the NAS will have the stock AMD Wraith cooler

 

 

Also, is there any difference in what i can expect to get out of overclocking the 5600G vs the 3600X if I ever get around to play anything else than tabletop simulator?

 

Would be awesome if someone with more experience than me with plex servers could advise me (i have no experience at all so my requirements are not high  ) 

 

[EscapementDog]

From my experience nothing beats even an old discrete GPU.  I have a NAS built around a Ryzen 7 2700X and it was very unhappy doing transcoding, and really couldn't sustain 1080P without all the fans running full tilt. I then installed a GT 710, linked it up to Plex, and it performed much better and it didn't heat up the CPU. If you have the opportunity to just install an old card, I think it will perform better than any of the CPUs you might put in there.  At the same time, a NAS does not need a killer CPU to do its job.  

 

I also have a friend that runs a plex server that deliver movies to his extended family around the US. He uses a 1070 and he says it keeps up with 5 streams.  

 

So that 1060 may be more than you need even. But use it until you find something older for cheap. 

 

[An0maly_76]

15 minutes ago, EscapementDog said:

From my experience nothing beats even an old discrete GPU.  I have a NAS built around a Ryzen 7 2700X and it was very unhappy doing transcoding, and really couldn't sustain 1080P without all the fans running full tilt. I then installed a GT 710, linked it up to Plex, and it performed much better and it didn't heat up the CPU.

Following. Contemplating a media NAS using an i3-2100 workstation and was wondering about this. Multiple streams are not likely, but I wonder how the 2100s iGPU is going to handle recording / ripping to the 5400 RPM HDD I'd be installing.

[EscapementDog]

13 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

Following. Contemplating a media NAS using an i3-2100 workstation and was wondering about this. Multiple streams are not likely, but I wonder how the 2100s iGPU is going to handle recording / ripping to the 5400 RPM HDD I'd be installing.

It's worth experimenting!  It doesn't have to go fast to occupy the HDD. I was happy just using an old i3 laptop and USB attached HDDs for years. It sucks worse to not have any kind of NAS or media server really.  

[deviousanton]

16 hours ago, EscapementDog said:

From my experience nothing beats even an old discrete GPU.  I have a NAS built around a Ryzen 7 2700X and it was very unhappy doing transcoding, and really couldn't sustain 1080P without all the fans running full tilt. I then installed a GT 710, linked it up to Plex, and it performed much better and it didn't heat up the CPU. If you have the opportunity to just install an old card, I think it will perform better than any of the CPUs you might put in there.  At the same time, a NAS does not need a killer CPU to do its job.  

 

I also have a friend that runs a plex server that deliver movies to his extended family around the US. He uses a 1070 and he says it keeps up with 5 streams.  

 

So that 1060 may be more than you need even. But use it until you find something older for cheap. 

 

Thanks for the input!
yeah i dont mind having a little bit over head for future use though

[deviousanton]

I think i will keep the 5600G in the nas together with the 1060. In that way i also have some redundancy in case the 1060 fails

[Captain Tight-Pants]

Keep in mind that AMD APUs (like the 5600G) don't support Plex hardware transcoding, or at least they didn't the last time I checked.  It should still be able to handle a couple transcodes via software transcoding, so it's not a bad backup plan for the 1060, but it won't have even close to the same on-the-fly transcoding performance.

[deviousanton]

On 6/8/2022 at 10:38 PM, Captain Tight-Pants said:

Keep in mind that AMD APUs (like the 5600G) don't support Plex hardware transcoding, or at least they didn't the last time I checked.  It should still be able to handle a couple transcodes via software transcoding, so it's not a bad backup plan for the 1060, but it won't have even close to the same on-the-fly transcoding performance.

Thats good to know

Thanks! 

[Pessimist]

On 6/8/2022 at 3:38 PM, Captain Tight-Pants said:

Keep in mind that AMD APUs (like the 5600G) don't support Plex hardware transcoding, or at least they didn't the last time I checked.  It should still be able to handle a couple transcodes via software transcoding, so it's not a bad backup plan for the 1060, but it won't have even close to the same on-the-fly transcoding performance.

 

On 6/9/2022 at 4:44 PM, deviousanton said:

Thats good to know

Thanks! 

As far as i know, plex supports AMD APU HW transcode on windows. it wont be as good as quicksync or Nvenc, but itll do fine for 1-2 4k transcodes as long as HDR tone mapping is off.

[LIGISTX]

On 6/6/2022 at 8:23 PM, deviousanton said:

Hi!

 

I'm putting together a small NAS (and plex server) for the first time and need some good advise

 

I have

1 x Ryzen 5 3600X

1 x Ryzen 5 5600G

1 x EVGA GTX 1060 SC

(1 x RTX 2060 - not really relevant for the question, just want to brag about my baller GPU)

 

The 3600X and 2060 is currently in my main pc and I had just put the 5600G in my new NAS build when I remembered that I have an 1060 in the wardrobe.

I plan to run a plex server on the NAS and expect at most 3-4 concurrent streams  

 

So, should I

1. Leave it as it is and use the graphics of the 5600G for transcoding?

2. Put the 1060 in the NAS with the 5600G?

3. Swap the 5600G to my main PC and use it with the 2060 and put the 3600X in the NAS with the 1060?

 

Additional info

I have not yet decided if i will run TrueNAS core or Unraid on the NAS (any input about that is also appreciated, but that atleast I should be able to figure out with my friend google)

My main PC is water cooled while the NAS will have the stock AMD Wraith cooler

 

 

Also, is there any difference in what i can expect to get out of overclocking the 5600G vs the 3600X if I ever get around to play anything else than tabletop simulator?

 

Would be awesome if someone with more experience than me with plex servers could advise me (i have no experience at all so my requirements are not high  ) 

 

The real answer is just don’t transcode… while streaming locally to your TV, make sure everything in the chain supports whatever codex you store your media in. That way no transcoding is even required (better quality this way as well).

 

If and when you do need to transcode for say viewing over the internet, I used to run my homelab on a i3 6100, no GPU, and only gave my Ubuntu VM which housed Plex 2 threads of the 4 thread i3, and it also run other linux VM’s, TrueNAS VM, windows LTSC VM, home assistant VM, and another few little odds and ends…. And everything was happy and I could transcode 2-3 1080p files down to 720p at a time.