Plex Build

[MintyFresh0430]

Hi all, looking to plan a good Plex Server build that I won't have to mess with for a few years after being built.  Please see the info below:

 

Budget (including currency): $500-$700

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Mainly a Plex server, may end up using it as a main PC for Backblaze backup of all our media (photos, videos, etc.)

Other details The best processor I have on hand is an i7-6700, but I want to plan for Windows 11 eventually.  The Plex Server could be shared between 7 households, maybe somewhere in the realm of 7-10 1080p streams at a time on different clients.  Hopefully minimal transcoding, but it could happen for sure.  I would need a case with quite a few 3.5" HDD bays for future expansion.  I would like to start with a decent CPU that can handle the 1080p streams, I don't have any 4k content at the moment.  Since there is the possibility of transcoding, maybe a GPU is needed.  I was looking at an updated GTX 1650 that appears to have an updated TU116 Turing GPU chip rather than Volta for $180, but I've read in multiple places to stay away from the 1650.  See link below:

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/pny-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1650-4gb-gddr6-pci-express-3-0-graphics-card-with-dual-fan-black/6502683.p?skuId=6502683

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/pny-gtx-1650-dual-fan-gddr6.b8266

 

No peripherals will be needed, after setup I'll probably run the server headless with Win 10/11 Pro. 

 

Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks!

[TylerD321]

To use GPU with plex you have to pay for plex pass. I use an old Dell Optiplex Micro with external hdds. 

 

(this is what I use)

OptiPlex 3060 Micro Form Factor PC with 8th Gen Intel Core Processors | Dell USA

[ZetZet]

Transcoding 4K is whack on Plex anyway.  HDR to SDR tone mapping support sucks and actually finding 4K non HDR content is more work than it's worth. 

 

I just have separate files, 4K HDR for local playback and 1080p for remote.

[SupaKomputa]

Just disable transcoding and run the file as is. Transcoding is a waste of power.

Have you tried KODI? all you need is a nas working as a file server. You can use KODI as the streamer. The experience is about the same with Plex.

[SupaKomputa]

Or jellyfin https://demo.jellyfin.org

[MintyFresh0430]

14 minutes ago, TylerD321 said:

To use GPU with plex you have to pay for plex pass. I use an old Dell Optiplex Micro with external hdds. 

 

(this is what I use)

OptiPlex 3060 Micro Form Factor PC with 8th Gen Intel Core Processors | Dell USA

Yes, I use Plex Pass currently and it has worked fine with minimal clients on 6th gen. I also use an Optiplex, great machines really. Good for getting into this kind of stuff without spending a ton. Wife approval factor goes down significantly for external devices and wires. I already drive her nuts with network cabling in the basement. Lol. 
 

I guess my main concern is shelling out for an 8th gen Optiplex-type system when I could build one based around 8th or 10th gen and not be as limited by the smaller cases. 

[MintyFresh0430]

19 minutes ago, ZetZet said:

Transcoding 4K is whack on Plex anyway.  HDR to SDR tone mapping support sucks and actually finding 4K non HDR content is more work than it's worth. 

 

I just have separate files, 4K HDR for local playback and 1080p for remote.

I’ve seen similar sentiments in other places. I would probably implement a similar set up. 1080p seems to be fine on most of the clients I use. Even looks great on a 4k display, but I am not the most discerning. Lol. 

[ZetZet]

1 minute ago, MintyFresh0430 said:

I’ve seen similar sentiments in other places. I would probably implement a similar set up. 1080p seems to be fine on most of the clients I use. Even looks great on a 4k display, but I am not the most discerning. Lol. 

High bitrate 1080p on a good TV with good scaling algorithm definitely looks fine. It's really hard to notice a difference. 

[MintyFresh0430]

19 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Just disable transcoding and run the file as is. Transcoding is a waste of power.

Have you tried KODI? all you need is a nas working as a file server. You can use KODI as the streamer. The experience is about the same with Plex.

I do watch on my phone at work over cellular quite often, I have to transcode down to make that work. 
 

I’ve heard of both KODI and Jellyfin. I will look into KODI again, but I did watch Jeff Geerling’s vid on his Jellyfin setup and it looks like an open source version of Plex. That seems to be the main advantage. 

[SupaKomputa]

20 minutes ago, MintyFresh0430 said:

I do watch on my phone at work over cellular quite often, I have to transcode down to make that work.

aah on the phone, i don't get why people watch movies on a tiny screen, hehe.

but seriously most phones can decode almost all popular codecs / even 4k.

the limiting factor is your nas upload speed, unless you're living in a rural place 50mbps up should be enough.

[MintyFresh0430]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:49 AM, SupaKomputa said:

aah on the phone, i don't get why people watch movies on a tiny screen, hehe.

but seriously most phones can decode almost all popular codecs / even 4k.

the limiting factor is your nas upload speed, unless you're living in a rural place 50mbps up should be enough.

I'm not crazy about it either tbh. I work in a pretty open-office concept, I feel weird basically broadcasting what I am watching to those around me if it was up on my monitors. What's also not great is our wifi is terrible, so I can't get direct play speeds even if I wanted to. It also drops out frequently, or rather it boots me off frequently. I could go on and on. It's not ideal. So phone watching over cellular is my next best thing.