A budget Plex server for $200!? How to right-size your plex server.

[@nickward891]

A little off topic, but I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate the effort you put into enunciating every word you say. It makes it very easy to listen to you and actually hear every word.

[@SlothTechTV]

Thank you so much for the positive feedback!!!

[@Johandyman]

+1, alot of youtubers speed through the talking.

[@alphabanks]

One of the few youtubers who actually talks about budget builds.

[@satcher1479]

Best video I've seen on KZbin that breaks down how to get started with Plex. Keep up the great work.

[@SlothTechTV]

Thank you! :)

[@trentclinton83]

Bought my Plex server after watching this man right here!

[@Arms1234]

This is the best video of all-time. I've been looking for something like this for months now. I've been going back and forth in what should I buy and you answered everything. Thank you.

[@ekosf]

Finally, a video that knows that they are talking about! And I've watched a lot and been doing this for several years! Keep it up and thanks for the info. One of the biggest things people never mention is power consumption. With server running 24/7 and after adding HDDs, costs add up quickly but people always go for the beefiest setups that are super power hungry

[@HenrikCaspersen]

GREAT VIDEO!! Yes! I an currently looking into building a Plex server using ESXi and this video made me think about another CPU since a Quadro P2000 seems a better solution than going for a I9-9900K (waiting for review coming out on Friday especially power consumption) using the built in quick sync transcoding - I (like you) would also like to have the option to build a game pc with 2 fast cores using the same CPU (My storage needs are covered by a enterprise Synology NAS)

[@Alex-fg4tm]

Most underrated youtube! Earned my sub! Keep up the good work man!

[@SlothTechTV]

damnnnn from one Alex to another Thank you!!! :)

[@michaelmorales9697]

Any chance of you doing a 2020 version of this video??? I see you haven't posted a video in over a year

[@bobyoco]

Finally someone that talks about power consumption.

[@84Actionjack]

Man, where were you a year ago? Great video!

[@SlothTechTV]

thank you for the support it means so much to us especially since we are so small :)

[@mikeg3660]

Very meaningful content .... been looking for media server hardware configurations with understandable comparisons... the power consumption was not on my radar until you pointed out the energy use and cost/yr. Thank you! You just got a new subscriber ;).

[@whocares3132]

Finally a Good video. You dont need p2000 or any other gpu , you just need a 10th or 8th gen i3/i5 with UHD 630!!! Low electricity bill too.

[@Farren246]

Would be nice to know how many 4K transcodes you could do at once, as well as 4K HDR10. Difficult to get subtitles added on the fly to any 4K content.

[@goranhinic9242]

I'm looking for the same info. Basically a budget Plex server build that can transcode 4k on the fly.

[@lloydchristmas8834]

Great way to organize the info and exactly what I needed to know. Thanks for doing the research...you just saved me a ton of time. Liked and subscribed.

[@SlothTechTV]

thank you for the sub! it helps the channel tremendously. Let me know what you'd like to see in the future :)

[@jonathan.sullivan]

We need a SLOTH Tech TV AfterEffects intro and some lower thirds. Keep up the progress brother. Enjoy watching the channel grow.

[@SlothTechTV]

hahahha i agree 100%! if only i knew how to use aftereffects :)

[@mQQney]

Hold up, and youre a Trekkie?..... I like this guy..

[@bizanks27]

To follow this video, I think covering the caveats of hardware transcoding in windows and Linux would be a good idea. Linux can on encode whereas windows does encoding and decoding.

[@SlothTechTV]

solid advice, thank you :)

[@plexnbrown760]

One option is to buy a used optiplex 9020 motherboard and the e3-1265lv3. Since the are the same exact board as t1700 and transpose to a different case. For more hard drive space.

[@ilarduya2]

hi! would it be worth just to get the cpu (e3-1265lv3) and try it on a lga1150 'random' motherboard? Or shall the reported results depend on the t1700 mobo+cpu combination? thanks!

[@CraigLambert]

How about a 2019 version of this? Great video!

[@whocares3132]

same config! 8th gen i3/i5 still rocks in 2020 nothing has improved. when 11th gen tigerlake comes then it will be tru upgrade because of the Irish XE igpu with 12bit vp9 support

[@klm_]

@@whocares3132 what do you think about getting a mini pc i7 8750h for under 300$ that contain cpu, cooler, motherboard and psu (power efficient and UHD630) with the addition of JMS585 card (for a little less than 25$) to add 5 sata port (can do this twice and maybe even 3 times if removing wifi card and getting a module that fit) for getting at least 10 sata ports.

[@whocares3132]

@@klm_ Sounds Awesome . Go for it. power efficient build. 🙂

[@badshotuk72]

Or a 2021 version

[@DerekDeVere]

Just ordered a $350 r710. 64Gb RAM, 8Tb, dual 6 core X5650. I hope it’s not too old, my whole house will be powered by solar soon and I wanted it to be plug n play with the storage I already needed.

[@sharklion3]

This was exactly the video I've been looking for. Thank you!

[@SlothTechTV]

This is exactly the type of comment that keeps me motivated to make more videos TY! :)

[@bakonyimate796]

1:42 I'm looking at my Raspberry Pi with just 500 M.2 SSD. You serve me well little buddy, don''t worry.

[@McBicbic]

Nice, looking forward to more videos by you, your channel seems promising! Hoping you do a video on NAS setups from synology and qnap

[@FlaxTheSeedOne]

The thing to consider with the p2000 vs rx 480 are basically 300 bucks difference. And the thiing is consumer nvidia cads cap ot at 2 transcodes max but quadros are unrestricted. So it is a prerry good deal for the 480s 7 Transcodes

[@KungFuMojo]

Jake Gyllenhal's techie brother. But seriously, thank you for all this knowledge!

[@SlothTechTV]

lol its funny i've had people say that to me quite a few times -- i don't personally see the resemblance but I'll take that as a huge compliment that guy is a great actor :D

[@MattMaynard1]

Would love to see thoughts on storage - Seems like my storage needs grow exponentially every year and I need new ideas. 1TB became 2, became 4, became 8, etc. I'm over 40TB now and need a new plan.

[@SlothTechTV]

thanks for the suggestion, i ran into the same exact problems as you and had to upgrade over and over and over again.. I'll try and cover this for you, sir.

[@bloodcarver913]

I'm thinking of buying a 19" server rack case with 24 drive slots and take it from there. I've grown out of my old big tower case ^^. 24 should hold me for a a while...

[@JerrySpallone]

Went with your custom build option and of course I couldn't help myself. Went with 16gb ram, fractal R5 case and 750w power supply. Opted for the cooler and kept everything else the same. Came out to $890 getting parts on newegg and amazon. Let me know if I screwed anything up. Thank you for the video. Very informative.

[@bitlinkchai]

If you get a T30 Server (I currently have one) keep in mind that they have bad air flow for your hard drives. Keep that in mind if you plan to put large hard drives that generate lots of heat into the system.

[@SlothTechTV]

damn solid advice, thank you for your comment! people rarely concern themselves with hdd temps.. and that is a big reason they die prematurely... they can last a long time if taken care of.

[@bitlinkchai]

Yeah, I decided to take the HDD out of the system and use a 500GB SSD for the Plex server. Definitely helps HDDs when they are cool.

[@rick1piece]

I can snap a brand new t30 from dell for around $260 next week. Is there anything I can do to help the airflow? Additional or better fans?

[@ryangrant493]

yang zhao you can use a RAM disk to write partially downloaded files which will reduce the time your disks are online. Can also use ram as a transcode disk which will save your OS drive from heating up and make it last longer.

[@rick1piece]

@@ryangrant493 Thanks Ryan, I downgrade bios and installed windows server 2016 on a 500gb nvme then added 4 8tb drives with existing sata ports. So far so good, however on plex site, Windows 2016 is not listed an os supporting hardware transcoding. 1080p seems fast and 4k takes as long as 30 sec to play, is that to be expected?

[@casanovabutler]

Hey man! Fantastic videos. So informative. I have 5 questions. I know sorry. 1. I'm assuming when you are talking about the number of transcodes these builds are capable of you are referring to remote transcodes for friends from a far? Like if a friend wanted to watch my content to their phone or TV. That's what I'm mostly concerned about in choosing a proper rig. 2. I would also like to watch 4k content remotely and I'm not sure if transcoding would be necessary if I was watching it on a TV at a friend's house, if it was would you high build you made in this video be capable of doing that? 3. I know this video is old, when I clicked on the i5 Amazon link it brought me to it and said there is a newer version of this cpu and it's cheaper. I just want to make sure it has the same capabilities as the specific one you listed. 4. Does hardware acceleration work for remote clients who don't have a Plex pass? 5. I want to make the high rig in this vid with about 20-30tbs of data. Are the WD red HDD's good for this build? I was looking at the 10tb because they are in stock over the 12tb. Would the case you listed hold 3 of these? Thanks again hope to hear from you soon.

[@SlothTechTV]

1.) Roger that, anything transcoded that cannot be direct played. most of the time newer clients support direct play of the majority of media types/containers/formats, but if something needs transcoding due to needing to go down to a lower bitrate, or a different media type then that is what will happen. remote or local it doesn't matter. 2.you want to direct play 4k whenever possible. Unfortunately, most of the time 4k requires high bitrates and that means you need a pretty decent internet connection/upload speed. most cable modems for instance (like Comcast) will limit your upload to something small while you will have a much faster download speed. this answer will require a fast internet connection. You almost always want to avoid transcoding 4k, but it can be done if you absolutely HAVE to do it. yes, you will need a decently powerful server OR a GPU like a P2000/P5000. 3. the newer CPU is actually pretty close to the one i built with but yes the newer CPU is even better :) 4. YES hardware acceleration/transcoding works for remote clients without a plex pass. 5. WD Red is great! Watch my giveaway video where i shuck a 10TB red drive out of an easystore western digital external enclosure. You can find these at bestbuy for $160-$200 and they are almost identical to the WD red for half the price! The case used will only hold 2 drives, if you want a bigger case any ATX case should do you just fine, just verify it has space for more disks :)

[@casanovabutler]

Thank you so much for the prompt response! 1. Got it. Makes sense 2. Do my best to direct play 4k and I'll just have two versions of the 4k movies. 3. Sweet. 4. Also sweet. 5. Very interesting! I just might do that. Another question I noticed in the large build there is no gpu listed. Is that because the i5 is capable enough on its own? In what circumstance should a gpu like the p2000 be added to this build? Only if 4k transcoding is needed?

[@SlothTechTV]

@@casanovabutler The i5 is more than capable enough to hold its own, the P2000 can be added later, but is definitely not needed unless you really need 20+ simultaneous transcodes

[@casanovabutler]

@@SlothTechTV Beautiful! Thank you so much. I was actually thinking of putting the i7 9700k in it since it's only 150 more dollars in case I want to do 4K transcode. Can't wait to have this thing up and running. You have been a huge help!

[@Usernamegoeshere84]

Presently I use a self built AMD Phenom based system and I have two laptops (one is a core i3-370M and the other is a core i5-520M) do all of my transcoding. I get 3 streams out of each machine reliably and I have noted that my electrical bill is roughly 10 dollars per month higher.

[@Felix-ve9hs]

Is it possible to use more than one Quadro in a system or can Plex only use one Device for Hardware de/encoding at the time?

[@noloboy]

Great video! Just wondering what are your opinions with and i5-8400 quick sync only or AMD's Ryzen 2400G both using Hardware Acceleration. All of my videos are 1080p and the a max of 8 simultaneous (usually 3-4 only). I don't plan to install P2000 for now since I'm on a strict budget. Lastly, did you notice any video quality degradation vs Software decode?

[@bkiesz]

First off, Love the channel as it really takes the BS out of things and gets right down to the point!! In respect of your custom build list, I was wondering since this video was made 10 months ago, are these still your personal recommendations or are there some components that you would now recommend; probably in respect to the CPU based on price/speed/etc? Again,Thanks for the great work... Keep it coming!!

[@chrisdcosta2293]

Awesome videos! your first 3 videos were unlike anything else out there, specially for people who's new to Plex (like me). keep it up the great work and like Matt m said, are you able to integrate storage with Plex Media Server. So for instance I want to build a desktop that I can have multiple hard drives (6 to 8 at least) which will be use as personal NAS to backup all my kids pictures, important files and use as Plex Media Server all in one and not break the bank. Cheers!

[@dabigi]

Ok, first sorry for the late comment, I've been binge watching your videos. Can I make a quick request? Bring back the stuffed Sloths and the Star Trek room. Seriously though love the content, keep up the great work!

[@SlothTechTV]

LOL thank you I was actually just thinking about putting them back after i shot the last video I kind of regretted not putting them out.. i'll bring back the sloths I think they are kinda upset that they've been left out for so many videos anyway :D ty for this comment it made my night.

[@Edmund_Mallory_Hardgrove]

How about if we like these performance builds, but we need tons of drive storage for a Plex server? Over the last couple of decades, I've amassed a huge selection of DVDs and Blu Rays, and I'd like to rip them onto my Plex server. Some of the complete TV series I have are HUGE. So how can I add more disk slots or find a cabinet that can handle 10-12 3.5 HDs?

[@vonwerderc]

Love this video. I'm looking more for the medium build and I already have a 1660 ti. Would it be better to stick that in there or is the p2000 really that much better?

[@Anders708]

This is golden information.

[@CapsLock33]

I wish you’d could do a updated version of this video with newer hardware

[@ericchugg]

To get the most trancodes how important is OS? Will a Linux base OS provide a higher gain vs Windows? Given Windows is my preferred OS. Does running Windows 7, 8.1, or 10 make any difference? Great video, and appreciate the time and effort made in creating this video.

[@SlothTechTV]

it really depends on your hardware. If you have an extra gtx 9 series or 10 series card lying around then unlocking it with the patched drivers and running linux is the way to go for sure. If you have a p2000 you want to run windows. there isn't a HUGE difference in performance between the two operating systems, there is a little less bloatware in linux especially if installed with just a terminal and no GUI.

[@rajmohanpm8189]

honestly, I did not understand anything. I was attracted by your headline, a $200 plex server. I am looking for a home media server for my Tv and my tablet. but those details you were talking great but good for those great in tech words. But a common man like me it is very overwhelming. do you have any simple options?

[@pierrebeauregard5369]

rx580 transcoding are dissapointing, is it the same with the new rx5700 from amd?

[@suhdude9775]

Guys I recommend the HP dl360e server with a single e5-2450L mine only draws about 60w when it's running a few vm:s. Very good and it's at a good price too. I bought mine from a store in europe called "BargainHardware" it's about £200 with dual PSU:s and so on. It's really quiet too

[@Alex-fg4tm]

I think Ryzen 5 2400G (with iGPU built in) could be a stronger built compared to the Xeon for the same amount of money. $150 + $80 mobo + $50 8gb DDR4 rams = $280. What's your opinion on Ryzen?

[@MarcoDM1571]

I just finished a build with a Ryzen 7: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oH_ZZWeBoLKpsLc&lc=Ugx1WJQ-6sV5HZzW_Pd4AaABAg Since we're comparing price range, the 7 is the true antagonist of the 8600K: "coming from the Intel side, the 8600K has 95W power consumption, 6 cores, 12770 passmark and €262 the choice here was AMD Rysen 7 2700: 65W, 8 cores, 15045 passmark and €236"

[@tubby5491]

Dell poweredge t110 with xeon x3470 running esxi 5.5. I have 3 vm’s dc-win server 2012; Plex server win 10-pro; downloads vm win 10-pro. 24 gb ram total (8 on Plex) handles software transcoding pretty well. Haven’t tested for full capabilities yet.

[@reloader9114]

I run a Used DELL Poweredge R815 2U Rack Mount Server with 4X 12-Core AMD Opteron processor Model 6174 (2.2 GHz)- optimized for Windows Server 2012/2016 R2

[@SlothTechTV]

Very cool, what kind of performance do you see from those opterons? (Speed in tautulli?)

[@reloader9114]

@@SlothTechTV I have never really looked at tautulli for that kind of info. I have 100 people that use my server. the most I've had on at any one time is 25 and it's a mix of direct play, direct stream, transcode. Most of my stuff is h264 and aac to help cut down on the transcoding. I will have to look at my tautulli for the info you are asking for. Just not sure where that would be.

[@reloader9114]

@@SlothTechTV I can send you some screenshots of my setup if interested.

[@cyberwolf29x]

@@reloader9114 and how many internet Mbps do you need for 100 users?

[@reloader9114]

@@cyberwolf29x I have my system set to 100mbps I've only had 25 streams going at one time 17 were transcoding

[@daliusss]

Great video! I am building a custom nas with plex server in mind. I want to run unraid 4x4tb + 1tb cache so ecc memory is something I consider too. I will use up to 4 simultaneous streams. What cpu would you choose 8100T or 9300?

[@Green_Man_5]

A 2u VM server would be a great video to watch

[@SlothTechTV]

what kind of vm's? Plex as a vm? or plex server on bare metal with vm's running side it? :D let me know and thanks for the feedback!

[@KrzysztofPabich]

I would love to see comparison of both approaches: Plex on bare vs. Plex as VM. Pros and cons of both and what to consider when deciding. BTW, great video!

[@Green_Man_5]

@@SlothTechTV Plex in VM with P2000 passed through

[@n1k0lakv]

Very useful video! Thanks a lot!

[@axnyslie]

The NVIDIA Shield TV Pro is a great budget Plex Server/Client for a single user. It can easily handle 4K codecs and DTS audio no problem. Just add a storage device to it and you're good to go.

[@goranhinic9242]

Is it able to transcode on the fly? More specifically, if I want to watch a 4k HDR video with softcoded subtitles, will it stutter?

[@saaa9964]

Sorry, mate I understand only a fracture of what you said in the video, so I will ask for advise. Will that system be an overkill for my usage if I just want no transcoding (hopefully) with most 1080i content, planning to go 4K. I use only one device amazon fire tv stick and it works just fine. I run plex on my old laptop dell e6410 with nvidia inside. I am just running out of space and see no point to upgrade that laptop. If I will get that t1700 dell thing and new amazon 4K stick I should be alright or it’s just a waste of money and I should just get some WD my cloud to make that storage bigger? I believe that WD my cloud can run plex

[@SlothTechTV]

The T1700 has a few (2) drive bays, Yes it would work great for you. If you want to get a my cloud down the road you can connect that to the T1700 and it would be a more powerful server.

[@iamapie13]

I've had my server running on a raspberry Pi 4 for 5 months now (since I had a raspberry Pi 4 laying around) I share it with 5 people outside my house and I haven't really encountered any problems, most of my content varies from 1080p to 720p and I've had up to 5 people watching at the same time. I don't think it's the best setup but for a small server that isn't shared too much it's a cheap alternative specially if you already own a raspberry Pi 4

[@MarcoDM1571]

First of all: THANK YOU to the host for your invaluable expertise and help! Inspired by your "Custom Large Build", I decided to create an AMD alternative with less power consumption, more passmark and super silent! :-) I post here the link of my build for reference (I apologize if I set the configuration on "Spain", but you can easily change that): es.pcpartpicker.com/user/Marcus1571/saved/MkVcqs About the CPU: coming from the Intel side, the 8600K has 95W power consumption, 6 cores, 12770 passmark and €262 the choice here was AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (NOT the 2700X): 65W, 8 cores, 15045 passmark and €236 (I know it's in Euro, but you can still see the comparison with each other) Here is the passmark list: www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php be quiet! Dark Rock 4 was the silent choice for the CPU cooler, no need for the Pro version, since in general the CPU will not have a hard life like the Quadro P2000. GPU was an NVIDIA Quadro P2000, as you can see here (and as explained in another video) the P2000 was the choice: developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-decode-gpu-support-matrix The P4000 was already too expensive for my taste and you can always scan eBay like a barracuda and wait for the next P2000 to drop in a wholesale. A good Platinum fanless power supply was also something I cherished too since I'll keep this server in my bedroom. All in all, I have great expectations. Notice how from the case I don't really care for the storage space, this is because I have all my movies and series in external drives (Seagate): paste.pics/bade74a748a5bc05d124ba44f00c7ded So this is why I spent a bit more and opted for an X470 (the chipset model) motherboard, so that I would have had as many 3.1 ports as possible. HERE ARE THE PICS: i.imgur.com/ZyK0IQ6.jpg i.imgur.com/UhKnUKZ.jpg And, since running torrent is such a drag on Windows, I built a "Torrent Machine" with this Raspberry PI 4 (4GB RAM) with its own external disk (I had a 320GB spare one), then control qBittorrent by its web interface from the server, and also shared the "finished torrent" folder with Samba, so in general I don't even need to access the PI at all. i.imgur.com/HIlBQt5.jpg I hope this helps!

[@askbruzzdotcom9016]

Hello... Have you any test to share with us? :3 I'm looking for a very good build to make a NAS but i'm not confident with ryzen because doesn't have the quick sync and plex use that. I'm thinking about the OS and i'm undecided to OpenMediaVault and Windows 10/Server OMV grant me more flexibility with raid and semplicity while windows grant me the possibility to use a P2000. Thnx :)

[@MarcoDM1571]

@@askbruzzdotcom9016 Hi! I've been running this for a month and a half now and I can confirm that it is an absolute beast! Feel free to shave on items like the case or the fan... I'm just obsessed with a silent or quasi-silent "server". Ryzen is perfect for this, and it is more energy efficient. All the video encoding and decoding will be done by the Quadro, your CPU will just take care of the occasional audio transcoding, so don't worry about QuickSync: you won't miss it.

[@askbruzzdotcom9016]

@@MarcoDM1571 Thanks you so much :)

[@askbruzzdotcom9016]

What os you use?

[@MarcoDM1571]

@@askbruzzdotcom9016 Windows 10 Pro, but if you read my initial (and now updated) comment, I now moved torrenting out of the server, cos torrent is an unmitigated mess for Windows resources. So now I do off of a RaspberryPI 4 - 4GB RAM, with its Raspbian OS and shared in SAMBA a folder. Works FANTASTIC!!! The server can now stay on indefinitely.

[@kl1492]

When you give a number like "10" h.264 1080p transcodes. How is this tested? By opening up 10 tabs and playing a video on each of it? What about testing how many a NAS can do? I was opening up a bunch of tabs on my PC and pulling videos from my NAS using the plex server that's directly installed on the NAS. When a video starts struggling, how do you differentiate if it's because of the limitations of the PC or if it's the limitations of the NAS?

[@Jimmy_Jones]

Is your enterprise server recommendation an R710 or something similar? I don't see a video on enterprise servers.

[@DudleyPRushmore]

Hey! Thanks again for your videos, they're different that the usual ones on here. I just ordered a T30 from Dell yesterday. What's your recommendation for setting it up when it comes in? I was curious if Linux Mint would work well and if I need to enable quicksync or anything? I've been using an old Mac Mini out of the box, so I'm wanting to make sure I have the new system setup correctly. Thanks for your help.

[@jamshidmistry8992]

A little late to the party. I found a new t30 for 200 dollars, but kinda want to build my own server for about 550 dollars. Just want a simple, yet reliable file server and plex server with a max of 4 simultaneous transcodes. Any suggestions as to Xenon vs core i5 or i7?

[@tac0riffc]

I use a T30, and was wanting to get a graphics card for gaming, but I've been reading that it is limited to cards using

[@jaredszaroleta5751]

I’m thinking of running Blue Iris off a Plex Server build like this. Do you think transcoding and processing ~10 1080/4K IP camera streams will be too much for an i5 like that? I’m not thinking that the IP camera streams will really tax the cpu/gpu at all. All media and video footage would be written/stored on a separate NAS.

[@SlothTechTV]

It should be fine, but i'll be honest I haven't ever run that many cameras, please update us after you get your install done and let me/everyone else know what kind of utilization you see. Thanks!

[@DCBIGOSO]

Great video! 👍🏽 So I was wondering if you could do a video on the best Network Attachment Storage (NAS) for Plex servers.

[@mohammadpourghadiri2956]

Appreciate the video! quick question? Would HP ProLiant MicroServers Gen 8 Xeon E3-1220Lv2 + 16GB do this for me?

[@AKATeamTNT]

If you had to recreate the large build using a rackmount case, what would it be?

[@joeferris7689]

whats the best OS to use with a quadro for transcoding. SPECS: Dual e5-2667s, 64 gig of ecc ddr3, Intel 2U chassis with 7x 8 tb NAS rated drives and 1 SSD (currently cache drive), lsi HBA in IT mode and a quadro p2000 on the way. I am currently running Plex in a docker in UnRaid but I have read that GPU hardware transcoding doesn't work, only IGPU will work.

[@SlothTechTV]

Windows works the best as it supports encode AND decode with NVIDIA cards. If you install it in linux you might be limitted to encoding only thus wasting half of the power of the P2000. I think there are plans in the works from plex to support encode AND decode in linux in a future update.

[@sadeqalbana]

why not just pass the nvidia gpu to a plex docker ? my plex server is running inside a docker with igpu passthrough (Intel UHD 630) and hw trascoding is working fine. the same should be possible for nvidia but I'm not sure.

[@andrewbobulsky3505]

I haven't seen anyone cover the topic of thumbnail generation. Would you be willing to check into the speed of thumbnail generation and cover the topic if it's accelerated at all by hardware? Great video! Thanks for making it :)

[@MrJFreiman]

I would love this covered as well. Plex does more transcode functions than just stream video. How and where else does Plex leverage the HW transcodes? Does it's function differ by GPU?

[@burakakpinar5739]

I am running my pms fron my desktop computer. I would like to build something smaller without noise (i want to place it behind my tv set). I was thinking to run one from Intel NUC having the archive stored in an external hdd connected via usb3. What you think?

[@moharak]

I found a T1700 Intel Core i5-4590 3.30GHz 8GB 1TB SFF machine on EBay dirt cheap. It does appear to have QuickSync. Was there something about the 1226 V2 that made it superior to this chipset? Power Consumption maybe?

[@ohlmntt]

I was thinking of buying an old dell with an i5-4570 inside. Figured if i needed more i would just purchase a gpu with 4gb vram to throw inside. Most of my content is direct played and all I would like is 2-3 1080p transcodes for the odd occasion.. A single 4k transcode would be great but I know its not possible with this cpu. Would I be making a mistake buying this computer?

[@bobolito]

Thank you so much. This is a great video. I happen to have a Poweredge T30 with the 1225 V5 CPU, but I am running ESXi on it and then a Windows Server as a VM guest. For some reason I can't get it to perform as good as my old Optiplex 7010 with i7 CPU, which gave me about 5 H.264 transcodes. Now with the Poweredge, I know I have a more powerful CPU but I get less transcodes. I have the same ESXi configuration on both boxes. Any ideas?

[@SlothTechTV]

did you post this in the plex forums? I replied to you there, i was curious as to what your streams looked like .. if it was hardware transcoding encoding/decoding or if hardware transcoding was turned off entirely? it sounds like quicksync/hardware transcoding isnt at play here, but it is software transcoding instead..

[@bobolito]

Hey thanks for getting back to me. Yes, I posted this on the Plex forum. I will reply there.

[@troyfmradio66]

Online hosting is always a good option, a decent seedbox bytesized hosting etc are dirt cheap and cost less than the electric you are using hosting on a home network

[@SlothTechTV]

For servers requiring few transcodes I would agree, out of curiosity since i've never bitten the bullet -- how well does online hosting scale? for instance if i had a requirement to handle ~10 h265 transcodes at any given time what is the monthly cost of a server with cpu(s) capable of that?

[@troyfmradio66]

@@SlothTechTV I wouldn't recommend online hosting if you needed to transcode your files all the time, you would need an high end dedicated server to handle it. For every day use having friends and family connected without heavy use a cheap vps or seed box is brilliant they range in price from a couple euros. I recommend contabo.com or bytesized-hosting.com

[@troyfmradio66]

@@SlothTechTV This got me thinking so I contacted the very friendly staff at bytesize and they said if your files are converted say to 1080p x264 aac on their 10gbps network there would be no heavy use of the cpu and could comfortably have many users simultaneously streaming at the same time, but they do look out for abuse of their services in-case of people charging for connections .

[@RaidersBasketball808]

Nice video! How many transcodes would an i7 3770 do? how does that compare to your small build?

[@SlothTechTV]

I've never tested that generation of CPU, but the closest cpus i have tested are the i5-2400 (older and slower) which was only capable of doing 2-3 h265 transcodes at once. The next step up from there was an i5-4460 which did 3-4 transcodes with hardware transcoding enabled. since both of those cpus are slower than the one you are asking about i'd bet it could handle more than either of them... but without actually having tested it I can't be certain. ROUGH estimate? probably 5ish h264 transcodes or 5ish h265. but that might be a bit high im not entirely sure.

[@RaidersBasketball808]

@@SlothTechTV Thank you for your time in responding to my question! Great channel, I like all the information and tests since I barely understand computers. I could not find your "small" build but found lots of i7 3770 for $180-$190 with 8gb ram and 500GB HHD on Ebay. Seems to be the cheapest systems for 4-5 transcodes.

[@SimonWM2000]

I've been using an old quad core Intel Q9450 system for years. I'm thinking about switching to an Nvidia Shield but I wonder how that performance compares to the options discussed here.

[@LewisDrakePhD]

What is your recommendation for a small video server to run Channels DVR software. Assume 3-4 clients and for home use.

[@Firespyer]

Whats your opinion on the quadro K1200? I only have room for 1/2 height cards in my server case. My server is getting crushed trying to play liveTV since it has to transcode from MP2

[@MrJovenloco]

Great video some of the links are broken like the one for the quick sync support site new subscriber here

[@wolfking6625]

Will an AsRock Micro ATX DDR3 1066 NA Motherboard FM2A68M-HD+ be a good server for plex ?

[@schoolruler2]

Do you think a P400 or a P600 is good for transcoding? I would need only 4 to 6 streams at 1080p

[@SlothTechTV]

they are locked by Nvidia to 2 transcodes unfortunately.. you could probably use the nvidia driver hack/patch to unlock them and get a decent bit of performance from them.. but if you do that you'll have to use linux and then you'll be stuck to just encoding as plex doesn't support decoding in linux quite yet.

[@rick1piece]

Sloth, my brand new t30 will be delivered today (pull the trigger after watching this video) and cant decide on which os to run my plex server. Windows 10? Windows server 2016? Unraid? I do pretty much only 4k direct play to my projector myself but like to share my library with Family and Friends who may need the extra power for transcoding. Thank you for any advice.

[@SlothTechTV]

I would run windows 10 if you plan on getting a p2000 down the road, if you want to run the Nvidia hack go with Debian.

[@AnontheGOAT]

Great video! So I found a couple of T1700's that I wanted to get your opinion on. One comes with an E1240 V3 and the other with an E1246 V3. Price difference is $20 between the two of them, but I think I can talk down the 1240 price down another $30. What are your thoughts?

[@SlothTechTV]

The 1246 v3 has an iGPU and the 1240 v3 does not. If you will be using just this system without a p2000 or add on GPU than I'd go with the 1246 and enable quick sync. It will perform significantly better. If you will be adding a p2000 to this build or you will be using the Nvidia driver hack in Linux I'd go with the 1240 as it will not be working too much as the p2000 will do the heavy lifting.

[@AnontheGOAT]

@@SlothTechTV Thanks for the great info. Totally skipped out on the fact that it comes with an iGPU. One other question: I found a HPE ProLiant ML10 Gen9 for even less then the T1700 w/1246. It comes with the Xeon E3-1225 V5. Thoughts?

[@SlothTechTV]

Although the 1225 v5 scores lower than the 1246 v3 because its a few generations newer it will likely perform about the same or slightly better. (from my testing each newer generation nets 1-2 extra transcodes @ the same passmark score sometimes even more..) The memory will be a bit more expensive as that CPU uses DDR4, but for Plex you really don't need much (You really only need 8GB unless you are using memory for transcoding cache as well). If I were you i'd have a hard time picking between the two servers but i'd probably go with the ML10 Gen9.. the ML10 Gen 9 will be more future proof as you can always upgrade the CPU to a faster CPU later down the road.. Are they both Full Size/Mid towers? Don't buy a Small form factor of either generation, it will limit what GPU's you can throw in it later. TLDR: Quicksync works better on newer generation CPUs, at least it did the last time I was testing with it.. The issues you might run in to running quicksync on the 1246v3 might actually make it worth buying the ML10 G9. Not to mention a CPU upgrade path later should you have some extra $.

[@AnontheGOAT]

Sloth Tech TV Excellent reply. In the video you mentioned that the 1225 V5 has a more capable iGPU so that's why I looked at the ProLiant. DDR4 has started to come down in price so adding additional memory should alright. I'll go ahead and grab the Gen9.

[@badshotuk72]

Hi buddy, I've searched everywhere for that link list of quicksync supported CPU's , any idea what happened to it,thanks

[@derickmccoy5852]

Just recieved my Dell T30 today! I have a couple of questions you or someone else here may be able to help with. 1. Is there a way to utilize the m.2 slot on the motherboard? 2. Is there a way to run 2 plex servers, both utilizing the same media files, even if it would require a NAS solution? Any help would be appreciated. Also, Im looking forward to your rack server video as my other server is a dell R720

[@maciver6969]

1 yes you have to upgrade bios to newest then downgrade to I believe 1.02 You can google it there is ton of info on it. 2. no idea

[@emtmcg]

Super helpful and well done video thank you.

[@rankintjr]

Any chance you could do a Ryzen 5 and 7 CPU with a Quadro P2000 Plex Server build and see how that stacks with intel i5/i7 or even Xeon?

[@MarcoDM1571]

Check out my just posted comment on that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oH_ZZWeBoLKpsLc&lc=Ugx1WJQ-6sV5HZzW_Pd4AaABAg

[@Raymond327]

Is it better to convert your video files to H 265 or 264, so they don't have to be transcoded by plex?

[@paulo8001]

Well presented and appears to be covering all the bases, but some of us just want to watch some TV. I know there's not much you can do about the the complexity, other than suggest I go pay for Netflix lol. I've been using Plex for about 5 years and everything always seems unnecessarily bloated and complex for the average user

[@nman729]

Hello, I'm thinking of going with the small build for a user with 2-4 out of network transcodes, unraid server plex box and nas do you think that build is appropriate? Can a quaddro be added to it in the future? Its around $119 with no ram on ebay.

[@SlothTechTV]

There are obviously some caveats like what type of transcoding h265 to 264, 4k to ? but for most workloads like standard h264 to h264 or 265 to h264 it hould handle that workload just fine. The P2000 should be able to be added as long as you get a full form factor case (not a Small form factor)

[@robnewin]

Have you looked at hardware transcoding with the AMD ryzen CPU with Vega graphics?

[@overratedprogrammer]

1080p compressed is what 2-4 Mbps? I don't know about most people's internet but I definitely could not even push 20+ concurrent users with my upload bandwidth lol, I think even 10+ is pushing it

[@645-u6e]

For the problems with hw transcoding turning on and off randomly you might need a dummy monitor plugged in (Google they can be found on Amazon)

[@dmsteiner1991]

You look like a more jacked Jake Gyllenhaal

[@kendalls9561]

Thanks so much for the video. Can you please clarify if there is any value in adding a P2000 if you are using a relatively powerful CPU like the i5-8600k. Will the GPU create a bottleneck? Will you get additional streams over and above what is theoretically possible when using the i5-8600k

[@SlothTechTV]

The P2000 is the bottleneck with an i5-8600k but basically it boils down to this (I break it down at 10:33): The P2000 is capable of 28 h265 AC3 to h264 aac transcodes. The i5-8600k HW ON w/quicksync can do 15ish and about 17 overclocked to ~4.9ghz. Plex currently (as of 10/18) won't use both quicksync iGPU AND the P2000 (NVENC) at the same time. so it does add ~10-12 more transcodes by having the p2000 in a box with an i5-8600k, but the cpu sat at ~50% utilization.. so you could probably get away with a medium build and still hit 28 transcodes with a p2000 if you really need that many transcodes. ALL of the machines were capable of 20+ h264 to lower resolution transcodes... small, medium, or large... they are all beasts with quicksync enabled and i honestly don't even think a P2000 is necessary.

[@kendalls9561]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Last Question! I currently have a 4790K w/ Geforce GTX 970. I'm currently trying to improve performance. I currently experience a bottleneck when transcoding Live TV. Should I expect any improvement if I switch out the P2000. I don't have a processor upgrade path with my existing motherboard

[@SlothTechTV]

That's a great question thank you for asking it! I haven't actually tested live tv transcoding with the P2000 yet.. BUT from what I've seen the P2000 handles all the transcoding needs (besides the audio transcoding) for most media types/codecs.. I would bet it would help dramatically, but I really haven't tried it out yet. What do you see (utilization wise) from your 970 while transcoding live tv? What format does it decode the live tv from/What is the format of the original content it decodes and re-encodes? It should help a LOT from what i've seen it handles h265, h264 no problem and pretty quickly..

[@kendalls9561]

So, I Have three tuners available with my HDHome Run Prime. It depends on the program what the transcoding is. In my test I had the following scenario. Tuner 1 is being utilized as a DVR, the final file product is usually a 1GB .ts file. Tuner 2 is H264 to H264 (hw) transcoding / AC3 to AAC. Tuner MPEG2 to H264 (hw)/ AC3 to AAC. CPU performance is about 30% and GPU is between 14 to 23%

[@matt5690]

How would a i3 8100 stack up? 4 cores with quick sync

[@CoolKillkennyCat]

Hey man great video. Just wondering if I could get some advice, I'm in Australia so a lot of these things cost a fortune in shipping but I've found a local server with a xeon e3 1220 v5, I was just wondering how this would compare to the ones you mentioned? Thanks in advance.

[@SlothTechTV]

Scratch that. As far as I can tell that cpu doesn't have a built in iGPU.

[@SlothTechTV]

So it would probably compare to an 8600k with he transcoding off

[@CoolKillkennyCat]

OK and seeing a p2000 here is worth $1300, maybe I'll build a custom one with a xeon e3 1225 v5 I can get locally for $400. Thanks a bunch

[@CoolKillkennyCat]

Hey man just wondering if you know what the v# means at the end as I'm able to get a xeon e3 1225 v6 at reasonable price. Will that be suitable? Thanks

[@DNick5001]

Would like to hear your thoughts on using AMD gpus for transcoding.

[@emsbas1]

What OS did you use to test your p2000 I bought a p4000 and I have the 8700k but unraid doesn’t support nvec encoding

[@thegmkiller1967]

Same question

[@SlothTechTV]

@@thegmkiller1967 Windows 10 was the testing platform.

[@chrisp9759]

if you haven't found a solution yet, create a VM and pass through the GPU to the VM... works with Proxmox.

[@zhughesmiller]

Hey, I'm new to the plex scene, but very keen to set up a server for home and about 6-10 people remotely, following the recommendations I've found the following for a pretty affordable price in my area: "Dell Precision T1700 Intel Xeon E3-1226V3 Quad Core 3.3Ghz TurboBoost 3.7GHz, 8GB Ram, 2TB Hard Drive, DVDRW, Audio, LAN, USB Ports.AMD FirePro W4100 2GB DDR5 Graphics 4 x Mini Display Out Ports" Has a passmark of 7530 and has quicksync. Is this likely to serve me well for my needs? Obv unlikely 10 remote users would be requiring transcodes at the same time. I know with the plex formula the passmark would only support 3 transcodes but with HW transcoding on any idea how many it could handle? Does the included graphics card help? And lastly I assume if it has that graphics card I could easily remove it and replace it with a P2000 further down the line?

[@MrJovenloco]

Which is better the 226 or the 1245

[@AngryDAP]

What about the P1000, how many transcode will that do?

[@seventyeight_]

Any thoughts about Ryzen 2400G?

[@friday13thfan97]

Would you recommend the ryzen cpus as they have caught up to Intel and have better integrated gpus?

[@SlothTechTV]

As far as hardware transcoding goes i'm not sure -- I think Jason @bytemybits is going to beat me to reviewing the new cpus with hardware transcoding so you should check out his channel i think he might have a video up any day now he gets his CPU today.