Anyone got a 4k transcoding, FreeNAS machine? (ITX, IPMI, ECC)

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diskdiddler

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Mar 3, 2017
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Does such a processor and board even exist?

I can't find a single, consistent benchmark / review from any nerds who've built a FreeNAS machine.
The plex fans and staff keep referring to 'passmark scores' which feels entirely unscientific to me.

I would love one of those SuperMicro Xeon D, or Denverton boards, but neither processor supports the Intel QuickSync or whatever it is for video acceleration (there's now a job logged for FreeNAS to add jail and VM passthrough of Quicksync for Plex transcoding.

As much as I'd LOVE to give AMD some money, this bug concerns me.
196683 – Random Soft Lockup on new Ryzen build
Plus there's a thread on the FreeNAS forums about Ryzen instability. This is on the 2xxx series as well.
Furthermore, Ryzen, ITX, IPMI, ECC and 6+ SATA? Yeah that (to my knowledge) doesn't exist.


Do I really need to buy a 16 core Denverton, 8 core Xeon D? What's the solution here? Am I asking too much?
 

maze

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Apr 27, 2013
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Did you consider getting a gfx to do the job?

think the passmark score is like 10k to do a full 4k transcode.. so it'll be brutal on a lot of cpu's..
 

BlackHole

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Jul 21, 2018
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I would love one of those SuperMicro Xeon D, or Denverton boards, but neither processor supports the Intel QuickSync or
Did you consider Xeon 1200v6 or Xeon-E CPUs with iGPU? This'd give you QuickSync, and thus sounds pretty appropriate for your used case. IIRC ITX, IPMI, 6 SATA possible - requires UDIMMs though
Furthermore, Ryzen, ITX, IPMI, ECC and 6+ SATA? Yeah that (to my knowledge) doesn't exist.
Yeah, the mainboard situation for Ryzen is bad if you're not looking for cheap, gaming, bling, or all of those.
 

T_Minus

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Xeon E3 sounds like a much better solution for you.
 

maze

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Apr 27, 2013
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Xeon E3 sounds like a much better solution for you.
Wont the e3's pretty much all break their necks under the load of 4k streams?
the E3-1265Lv4 has a passmark around 10k and that'll choke on a 4k transcode..

- Personally i'd go for direct play at any point though.. or gpu transcode.
 
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T_Minus

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Wont the e3's pretty much all break their necks under the load of 4k streams?
the E3-1265Lv4 has a passmark around 10k and that'll choke on a 4k transcode..

- Personally i'd go for direct play at any point though.. or gpu transcode.
Is that with the igpu or just cpu transcoding?
E3 + integrated graphics (later gen so you get h265) still not working??

GPU Transcode if you don't have one onboard or not powerful enough for your needs is really affordable nowdays too.. so def. another option :D
 

maze

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im unsure how much the igpu can actually do to a 4k stream.. havent had the chance to test myself :(

would love to hear though! - i'd still advo for a dedicated quadro gpu any day of the week. But thats just my midset, dedicated gear for jobs like that..
 

vanfawx

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My understanding is that nVidia GPU's only support 2 transcoding streams. The Intel iGPU doesn't seem to have the same limits. And I am not sure if AMD GPU's are working under plex for transcoding now.
 

diskdiddler

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Did you consider getting a gfx to do the job?

think the passmark score is like 10k to do a full 4k transcode.. so it'll be brutal on a lot of cpu's..

I don't know what to do. I just don't want to move to 4k data in 2 or 3 years and find myself, going to bed, pulling out the ipad and thinking "hey I might watch X" and X happens to be something I've got, only in 4k.
Then it just won't play (to my knowledge) without a transcode.
My day to day video use is Kodi, the idea of transcoding all the time is actually awful, never liked the concept to be honest, personally feels like a sloppy video player in my mind.

Maybe I need to just give up the 4k transcoding idea and buy an 8 core Denverton for VMs :/
 

diskdiddler

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Also I don't know if FreeNAS will ever support GPU or CPU accelerate transcoding, so perhaps I am kidding myself regardless?
 

vanfawx

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@diskdiddler Have you tried the Plex Plugin for Kodi? It gives you the Plex interface, but it direct plays everything. I have a nVidia Shield with this setup, and nothing transcodes, everything is direct played. It's my favourite combination currently.
 

diskdiddler

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The issue is, I have a working Kodi box and I prefer Kodi.
I only use Plex as my secondary player, on holiday (ipad) in bed (ipad) etc. I don't use it that often, to be fair.

So what I really need is a Plex client, for ipad, that does NOT require stupid transcoding (I HATE transcoding)
The ipad has the CPU grunt to do it, I suspect, but the Plex player refuses to play stuff without transcodes, even over local Wifi (Yet VLC for Ipad works fine)
 

maze

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My understanding is that nVidia GPU's only support 2 transcoding streams. The Intel iGPU doesn't seem to have the same limits. And I am not sure if AMD GPU's are working under plex for transcoding now.
Not for the quadro cards. they dont have the two stream transcode limits.
 

BlackHole

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Jul 21, 2018
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Just for completeness sake, there's also the option to use E3 1500 Xeons featuring Iris Pro Gfx (mobile derivatives) in case the normal iGPU hasn't enough omph. They are, IMHO, pretty pricey, though.
 

Peanuthead

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It was my understanding that using anything GPU based to decode in Plex would reduce quality too.
 

maze

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I havnet seen any comparison om CPU/iGPU/GPU .. read that its NOT top bad nyt never seen anyone do an actual comparison.. might be a thing for linus though
 

diskdiddler

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Having thought on it all a bit more, seeing just how many people are having issues and the likelyhood of me transcoding a 4k file to my ipad any time soon. (I'm more likely to use 4k to the TV via a new Kodi box) - I think I'm chasing unrealistic dreams.

I guess this has opened me up to being able to go with pretty much any CPU for my FreeNAS box now, as long as it's low on power, cheap, powerful, etc (you know, the impossible dream)
 

Nizmo

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Im using a E5-2699 v4 VM with 8 cores as well as a GTX 1080 not Direct Allocated (RemoteFX) technically on a Server 2016 Host.

Able to transcode multiple 4k/1080i/720p streams. I rip all media (DVD, Blu Ray, YouTube, etc.) and use a DC S3510 Raid6 array for the media. In my Plex server settings I have "make my cpu hurt" transcode option , as well as hardware transcode.

Using all TV's, mobiles, and PC's I have hit about 7 streams without buffering. Havent done any lengthy testing but Plex is the operational media server for me and I love it.
 
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jdd561

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I saw it mentioned earlier - Plex within a FreeNAS server won't do GPU transcoding. That is your biggest hiccup with this. Otherwise, I think the E3/E5 Xeon options are likely your only path. I run an E3 for a FreeNAS/Plex server, and it works flawlessly - although I don't run 4k. If you are cool with virtualization, you could run FreeNAS as a VM and Plex as a separate VM and maybe get what you want...but I wouldn't want to run my NAS that way.

All that said - if you only expect to stream 4k in the home or only a couple of streams at a time, the next generation of Xeons may get into 20k Passmark territory.
 
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