I5-3570 for plex

[SoGoesMark]

I've got an old PC with an I5-3570 running win 10 that I'm running as a plex server. 2 questions: 
1- is there any sense in keeping the gtx770 in there and trying to gpu encode or should I just kijiji it? It uses a lot of wattage. I use a magic internet thing to host content remotely, and have an 8TB drive for my 4k content which is all stored locally.  
2- cpu is so old it can't do win11. Would I see a noticeable performance benefit if I installed Linux? Will new Linux versions be compatible with a cpu that old? (I know nothing about Linux but am eager to give it a shot if it's going to keep me from having to buy a used kijiji PC to run the server. I don't particularly want win11 but the inability to upgrade has made me aware how bloody old this CPU is. 

[Fasauceome]

7 minutes ago, SoGoesMark said:

I don't particularly want win11

I am purposefully avoiding windows 11 on all my devices. It's not exactly any better, and there aren't any real issues with windows 10 in comparison.

 

7 minutes ago, SoGoesMark said:

Would I see a noticeable performance benefit if I installed Linux?

not necessarily. How much data are you managing with plex? Best part is that Linux is free, so at the very least it's worth a shot to try. The benefits are more along the lines of quality of life, i.e. no reboots for windows updates etc.

 

10 minutes ago, SoGoesMark said:

is there any sense in keeping the gtx770 in there and trying to gpu encode or should I just kijiji it?

The encoding is super useful, but you could sell the 770 and opt for something a lot more power efficient (and with a much newer encoder) like a GTX 1050

[Donut417]

40 minutes ago, SoGoesMark said:

I've got an old PC with an I5-3570 running win 10 that I'm running as a plex server. 2 questions: 
1- is there any sense in keeping the gtx770 in there and trying to gpu encode or should I just kijiji it? It uses a lot of wattage. I use a magic internet thing to host content remotely, and have an 8TB drive for my 4k content which is all stored locally.  
2- cpu is so old it can't do win11. Would I see a noticeable performance benefit if I installed Linux? Will new Linux versions be compatible with a cpu that old? (I know nothing about Linux but am eager to give it a shot if it's going to keep me from having to buy a used kijiji PC to run the server. I don't particularly want win11 but the inability to upgrade has made me aware how bloody old this CPU is. 

I have a Plex server on a i5 3570K. I run mine with Ubuntu the latest LTS version. Works fine. As far as the GPU is concerned I dont use Hardware transcoding on mine as my HD7950 doesnt do a good job of it. All transcoding on mine is done with the CPU. The trick to Plex is to try to ensure that all files are in a format that most of your devices support so you dont need to transcode. 

 

My machine does multiple transcodes of 1080p content and lower just fine. But I generally never have more than 2 people using it at the same time, with 3 being the max. 

[Bersella AI]

1. The GTX 770 GPU can only decode or encode videos in up to 1080P H.264 format, and thus would be of limited value to be kept. Give a try to a more modern GPU starting from Quadro P400, or more ambitiously, Intel Arc A380.
2. There do have workarounds to make Windows 11 no longer detect the presence of TPM and install it on older platforms, although it may alarm & decline to upgrade thereafter. Linux is believed to have the widest backwards compatibility to older hardware, and the 3rd Gen Core platform is supported in the mainline kernel. In any case, the Windows 10 LTSC (1809 or 21H1) builds, as well as Linux, can be considered as alternatives.

[QuantumRand]

I say drop the GTX-770 and just use Quicksync if your goal is fast transcoding. Both are old and don't support anything beyond the h.264 main profile. Quality between the two is similar, and Quicksync on Ivy Bridge is actually a bit more flexible, and even a bit faster than the GTX-770's NVENC solution. Ditching the GTX card will reduce your system power consumption, and you won't really lose much else.

 

My only experience with Plex hosting is via Unraid, but I'm pretty sure it supports Quicksync out of the box.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, QuantumRand said:

but I'm pretty sure it supports Quicksync out of the box.

As long as you have Plex pass. Because GPU transcoding is locked behind a paywall.