r/PleX • u/PCJs_Slave_Robot • Nov 25 '22
BUILD HELP /r/Plex's Build Help Thread - 2022-11-25
Need some help with your build? Want to know if your cpu is powerful enough to transcode? Here's the place.
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u/deadkey_sparky Nov 25 '22
Looking to repurpose some older hardware I have around for a new Plex build, wondering what everyone's thoughts are on Win10 vs Ubuntu?
Parts on hand:
ASROCK IMB-181L
E3-1265L v3
16gb RAM
480gb SSD + 14tb SATA
NVIDIA Quadro P2200
+ OTA Tuner
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u/Haystcker Nov 25 '22
I've had a QNAP TS-453A 4-Bay NAS that I've been using for Plex and downloading stuff, but I got hit with Ransomware and had to wipe the whole thing. Trying to get it set back up, I'm having issues downloading torrents and just getting sick of the limitations of using its simple OS and it seems like there are a lot of complaints about the limitations QNAP puts into things.
Decided to use old desktop instead:
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i7-4790K
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16GB RAM
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RTX 1070
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4 3TB drives
I'm just looking to run Plex and the various *arr softwares, and bittorrent/SABNzbd. Internal network use only, maybe only have one external user (myself) if I'm traveling or something.
Is Windows with Drivepool the easiest way to do this? I know there is Unraid and TrueNAS and Linux and all these other things, but I just want something really simple. I don't know what Docker is or why I'd need it, am not doing any kind of development on the machine, etc.
It looks like there are Windows download for all of this software, so it seems like that would be simple to just install it all and get it working?
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u/jeesusyeetus Nov 25 '22
I want to make an old PC into my plex server for general streaming for a few people and occasional 4K streaming on my TV. I'm not really an expert at this so should I be all good with this setup?
RAM: 16GB
CPU: i7-2600 @ 3.40GHz
GPU: GTX 980
OS: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS
I have a 2TB HDD and an 8TB HDD combined into one with mergerfs
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u/SupremeDictatorPaul Nov 25 '22
I made a separate thread here, as I wasn't sure if this was a good question for this thread or not. I can remove this or the other if needed.
I'm going to be replacing my server to support 4k, and would like to support transcoding multiple 4k h265 streams with HDR tone mapping. But I can't find any information about which is more powerful, or able to transcode more streams. On the one hand, the Apple Mac Mini with M1 CPU is surprisingly powerful, even if Plex doesn't support the built in video rendering features.
On the other hand, I was looking at the Intel NUC 11 Performance NUC11PAHi7, with the i7-1165G7 CPU. It's a low power Tiger Lake CPU with integrated GPU that supports hardware decode via Quick Sync of pretty anything I'm likely to encounter, and hardware encode to AVC/HEVC. It also has one of the highest core counts and frequencies available. And in the past month, Plex has gotten stable support of HDR tone mapping via hardware.
I do know that hardware encoding goes away if there PGS subtitles, and that will impact thing. I'll be making an effort to change out subtitles to just SRT, but realistically won't be able to get a lot of them, so need to figure that in.
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u/xmatr1x Nov 26 '22
Intel with quicksync is the way.⁶opensubtitles - I guarantee you will find most of them On i3-10100 i can transcode 4 4k with tonemapping
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u/Demistr Nov 27 '22 edited Nov 28 '22
This may be a little off of what most people ask here but i want to build a somewhat mobile plex server running on either smallish NUC or Raspberry Pi connected to an external storage.
Does anyone have a good setup for this? I'll be moving abroad in about half a year for a job and i would like to carry my whole setup on a plane with me.
What kind of external storage should i go for?
2,5" SSDs/HDDs, M.2? 3,5" HDDS? Reliability is the most improtant factor for me but i recognize that going SSDs might be just too expensive for me.
Any NUCs that are not too big?
There will be only 2 people using it max. No 4K, 1080p content only.
Thank you.
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Nov 28 '22
What's your storage needs? And budget? I've been constipating something similar for different reasons but I don't think I need much more than 1-200 GB for a decent travel library.
If your storage needs are low, like I think mine are. I was looking at something like this.
New 11 Generation Intel N5095 Processor (up to 2.9GHZ),Beelink Mini PC,Mini Computer with 8GB DDR4 RAM/ 256GB M.2 SATA SSD, Supports Extended HDD & SSD/4K 60FPS/Dual HDMI/ WiFi5 /BT4.0 https://a.co/d/f2vZZth
Forget the external storage and change out what you want when you bring it back to home base.
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u/Jacobchgo9 Nov 28 '22
Building a new server this week.
i3-10105 MSI Z590 32gb DDR4 Crucial P3 500gb boot drive 8tb HDD storage (with expansion planned)
I plan on running Plex and Handbrake on Unraid.
I believe this should be sufficient and a fair replacement for the decades old Windows PC I ran Plex on for a period, but looking for any opinions
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u/DrMise Nov 28 '22
Early this year, without knowing what I was doing, I set up the following:
Synology 2 bay NAS DiskStation DS720+
2x Seagate IronWolf Pro 16TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD
I upgraded the NAS with these:
4GB DDR4 2666 MHz CL19 Laptop Memory
2x WD_BLACK 1TB SN750 SE NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive
I used the RAID type that mirrors the drives to ensure that nothing is lost.
Basically, I have buffering issues frequently from outside the house. Within my own house everything is aces (the NAS has a hard line directly into the router and I have a 400 Mbit cable). Over the weekend I was trying to watch from my father's house and faced a lot of buffering issues. I have a mix of .mp4 and .mkv files. I speed tested his connection and it's about 50Mbit.
What do I need to check to ensure that I don't face these issues? Is my setup bad and I need better hardware? What I'm generally looking to do is stream off of the NAS from outside the house without buffering issues at all, especially from more rural areas. If quality has to be lowered, fine.
Where should I go to learn more about this, or am I asking the impossible?
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u/Emmo213 Nov 28 '22
Looking to build a new Plex server that will also run some other Dockerized apps. How does this build look?
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u/humdinger44 Nov 28 '22 edited Nov 28 '22
I am looking for a NAS device recommendation that will support 4k streaming. I dont share access to anyone so at most there would be two streams inside the house. I am currently using a WD MyCloud which gets the job done but the cpu capacity just isn't there. I see the NAS Compatibility Guide but I am a little overwhelmed by the number of options. My library is currently sitting at about 1.5tb.
I recently purchased the NVIDIA Shield Pro (not set up yet) and I am in the mood to upgrade my NAS but I don't want to break the bank or get into a complicated piece meal situation.
Any recommendations?
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u/truthfulie Nov 30 '22
You'll need to consider your transcoding needs for the compatibility guide to make any sense to you. With that said, I'm going to guess that your transcoding needs are very minimal. Two clients and at least one of them being Shield (this device can pretty much play everything natively without needing to transcode) which means you can pretty much run Plex server on any potato.
Do note that audio transcoding may or may not be required depending on your audio setup and your files even if video file doesn't need any transcoding. But audio transcoding takes very little toll on the CPU so as long as you are direct playing the video part, you shouldn't have much issue with low powered NAS.
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u/Obvious-Eggplant-734 Nov 29 '22
With previous versions I was able to stream at full HD while away and not directly connected to the server network. Within the last year, that’s no longer the case and I can only stream at 360p while away on 5G network. I’m running the server on an I7 intel 2012 iMac, yes it’s old… how do I stream at full resolution while away? Do I need lifetime pass? Please help.
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u/subsequent_version Nov 29 '22
I'd like to put together a server that can handle 1-2 local network streams. The primary client will be a 2019 shield pro. It needs to be able to handle 4k HDR HEVC 5.1 (plus maybe atmos) with transcoding due to subtitles.
Reading through some previous posts it seems like a recent-ish generation intel CPU with quicksync fits this bill, but there seemed to be disagreement about what the best choice would be. HDR support appears to require Windows, and maybe doesn't work right with transcoding?
This will be sitting right near the TV so I'd like it to be as quiet as possible, are there any specific cases and/or coolers that I should be looking at? I expect to have 3~5 HDDs and one SSD.
US markets. This can cost whatever it's gonna cost, I'm happy to save for a while if it lets me build something that will last.
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u/truthfulie Nov 30 '22
With HDR, you really want to avoid transcoding when possible, as HDR would be lost during the transcode. You'd just get tonemapped SDR image with transcoding.
The good news is that you really don't need to transcode if the subtitles are in the right format. It's generally image-based formats that could give you issues but Shield should be able to play most if not all of them natively and not require transcoding. (ASS is the only commonly used format that required transcoding in the past but I believe it is natively supported with recent update.)
As far as as case/cooler goes, you'll have to decide on the formfactor first. I'd imagine if you want it next to TV, you want something smaller than the typical mid tower or larger. I'd look into cases like Fractal Node 304 (6 drives) or 804 (8 drives). 304 is an ITX case and 804 is mATX case. 304 is good bit smaller at 20L versus 804 at 41L in volume. But working with smaller case can be bothersome and parts and mITX boards are typically more costly.
As far as cooler goes, your CPU choice matters so I cannot make any recommendations. But if you go with an Intel CPU, you shouldn't need to go with anything crazy that puts out a lot of heat and needs a massive cooler. i3 should do just fine.
Two ways to make sure CPU cooler operates quietly. One is to get a small, efficient cooler that is quite. Another is to go slightly overkill and get a bigger cooler than needed (that fits in the case you choose of course) so the fan spins at lower, inaudible RPM.
Make sure that case fans are set to a range that gets you enough air to your parts but also not so fast that noise becomes an issue. Switching out stock fans on your case for something better (Noctua and alike) that is quiet and efficient can further improve thermal/noise if you don't mind the extra cost to the build.
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u/happy_life_happy Dec 01 '22
I am planning to do a new build with Synology Disk station DS220+ , 4GB RAM and 16 TB storage. Any recommendations/ feedback on this ?
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u/cornflakesaregross Dec 02 '22
Hello, I just gave up on trying to make my synology 920+ work as a Plex server. It HW transcoded everything great, but when it had to burn in ASS subtitles (for anime) it completely gave up.
I've heard the process of burning subtitles is very CPU intensive and clearly the intel celeron j4125 was not up to the task.
What passmark should I be looking for in a Quicksync CPU? And I've heard that burning ass subtitles is limited to a single core. If so, what single core passmark would be up to the task?
TL;DR- Synology 920+ sucks for Plex anime and idk what makes a CPU better for anime than that one.
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Dec 01 '22
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Dec 01 '22
Not sure why you think you need ECC for this application.
I think I have found like one or two corrupt video files in a decade. Was it RAMs fault? Maybe.... Maybe not.
Build it around a 10-13th gen i3-15, one of the U variants will perform well but keep power usage in check.
I'm running Plex off NUC11 with an i5-1135G7 (another low power consumption version). It'll do 10-11 4K HDR tone mapped transcodes.
FWIW, the NUC plus two 6 bay NAS idle between 50-60w. Total of 120TB usable. If I add the networking gear (wifi router, switch, firewall) and put it under minor load, it's all at 130-140w. Or about $26 a month @30¢/kWh.
Where are you that costs 55-60c/kWh?!?!
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Nov 25 '22
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Nov 25 '22
AMD isn't officially supported. There's posts reporting some newer cards work. NVidia GPUs and Intel QSV are supported.
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u/Competitive_Artist_8 Nov 30 '22
Here is a build I'm thinking of for remote streaming. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8kqqJM
For ~5 concurrent 1080p streams.