Will do!Make sure to do a build post. I'm interested in that board as well.
Will do!Make sure to do a build post. I'm interested in that board as well.
I have considered that but the evidence is still showing me that CPU transcoding is higher quality than GPU at this point. If that changes, I can ways throw a GPU ino my new system.I know you've already picked up a new motherboard and are going a different route but did you consider throwing a Nvidia P2000 into your current setup to handle all of your PLEX needs?
While that may be technically true...in practice, very few people other than die hard videophiles will notice the difference. I'm not a videophile per se, I classify myself as an above average video enthusiast , and with a 120" screen, a 4K projector (which replaced a 1080p one recently) and a viewing distance of ~15ft, I cannot see a difference. It may be there, but unless you're looking to find it, I doubt you'll find it. I use a P2000 as well.I have considered that but the evidence is still showing me that CPU transcoding is higher quality than GPU at this point. If that changes, I can ways throw a GPU ino my new system.
Are there any benchmarks similar to CPU Passmark that give rough estimates on how many transcodes different GPUs including the P2000 can handle?While that may be technically true...in practice, very few people other than die hard videophiles will notice the difference. I'm not a videophile per se, I classify myself as an above average video enthusiast , and with a 120" screen, a 4K projector (which replaced a 1080p one recently) and a viewing distance of ~15ft, I cannot see a difference. It may be there, but unless you're looking to find it, I doubt you'll find it. I use a P2000 as well.
There's unofficial videos and information that claims that the P2000 can handle >16 4K streams. I've never reached that high, my Plex server never runs more than 5-6 streams and the P2000 easily handles that.Are there any benchmarks similar to CPU Passmark that give rough estimates on how many transcodes different GPUs including the P2000 can handle?
Can't comment on that, I run a dedicated Plex server (that sleeps and wakes up perfectly).Also, have others successfully passed through GPUs to a Plex docker as that's how I run Plex and don't have any desire to change that.
Depends on how picky you are. If you are supporting Plex clients on displays with basic (or no) calibration you (or your viewers) won't notice at all. More advanced setups like clients using MadVR paired with good calibrated displays, yes, it's obvious, but that is a bit of a stretch for most "transcode lots of streams" scenarios.I have considered that but the evidence is still showing me that CPU transcoding is higher quality than GPU at this point. If that changes, I can ways throw a GPU ino my new system.
When you say 4k streams, do you mean transcodes?There's unofficial videos and information that claims that the P2000 can handle >16 4K streams. I've never reached that high, my Plex server never runs more than 5-6 streams and the P2000 easily handles that.
Can't comment on that, I run a dedicated Plex server (that sleeps and wakes up perfectly).
Thank you for the link. I will look into this. I like the idea of a GPU for hardware transcoding in addition to my CPU/MoBo upgrade.Depends on how picky you are. If you are supporting Plex clients on displays with basic (or no) calibration you (or your viewers) won't notice at all. More advanced setups like clients using MadVR paired with good calibrated displays, yes, it's obvious, but that is a bit of a stretch for most "transcode lots of streams" scenarios.
For Docker passthrough, you want to read this: NVIDIA Docker: GPU Server Application Deployment Made Easy
I'd dispute the "made easy" claim but it is doable. A P2000 is certainly cheaper than what you are looking at doing, assuming you have a slot open.
Apparently. I can't verify that one way or another, there's too many different factors (HEVC, h.265 vs 264, HDR etc etc).When you say 4k streams, do you mean transcodes?
Yea I'll have to do some more research to see if it's possible in docker because I'm not switching to a VM. I run all my home media services in Dockers on Unraid and it's super convenient.I remember someone getting it to work but I think it might have been Emby.
Simplest way is to run Plex in a VM, of course.
Yea looks that way. This upgrade gives me lots of future headroom to upgrade my CPU even further and add a GPU for hardware transcoding down the line if it ever becomes supported on my system.Definitely not possible with Unraid because the Nvidia drivers aren't part of the base install. That's been a long-requested enhancement. Only Quicksync is supported for hw decoding in that setup.
Also, GPU acceleration only works for decoding, not encoding, on Linux. And GeForce cards are limited to 2 streams which is why those who are serious about this get the Quadros (and run Plex in Windows).
Sounds like if you want to stick with an Unraid Docker beefing up your CPU/subsystems is the way to go.
I like Unraid as a complete system a lot. Not a lot of love for how it deals with storage.
Their UX is so nice there's a case to be made for simply using it just for docker/VM management and a separate ZFS NAS for storage. Though if you are going to go through that may as well do it right and build around an ESXi/FreeNAS/Docker host concept.
What CPU/MoBo are you running in your Unraid server that runs Plex?I can definitely recommend a CPU with iGPU. I kinda went through the same path as you. Plex on Windows to Linux to Linux VM to Windows VM with P2000 passthrough to Docker on Unraid with iGPU passthrough. The plex on unraid setup runs smoother than my silver 4116 ever did.