r/PleX • u/STINEPUNCAKE • 6h ago
Help Hardware transcoding
I run a server with a 5800x3d and a 2070 super. (Old hardware I had)
My goal is to run 100% of my streams off the GPU.
The issue I’m running into is that if there is anything the server doesn’t like it will push it to the cpu and crash my server.
Anyone try building a plex server like this, if so do you have any advice?
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u/butterhorse 5h ago
Sell the 2070 and get an arc 380. Should not have to come out of pocket at all. It will use way, way less electricity and will open up AV1
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 5h ago
I get this point but if I’m upgrading hardware it’s the cpu and no one really wants a 2070 super right now. The arc 380 is a more popular by all around right now
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u/butterhorse 5h ago
380 on marketplace by me for $100. Surely you could get that much for it
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 5h ago
I would have to sell the 2070 super first if I were to do this and no one would buy it nor do I want to go through the hassle
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u/No_Policy_1369 3h ago
5800x3d cpu is more tha enough for a server it's not really a server orientated cpu but more than capable either way wrong goal direct streaming is the goal
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u/StevenG2757 70TB unRAID server, i5-12600K, Shield pro, Firesticks & ONN 4K 6h ago
I just use my iGPU as a CPU costs less and uses a lot less power than a GPU.
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 6h ago
I would like to go to intel eventually for QVC. is what it is for now
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u/StevenG2757 70TB unRAID server, i5-12600K, Shield pro, Firesticks & ONN 4K 6h ago
I get it as you got stuff on hand to use.
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u/smokingcrater 5h ago
Under no circumstances should it crash. Linux or windows? Vm or bare? How much memory?
The only situation where it might happen is if you have a linux system with way below minimum memory and it starts killing off processes.
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u/HugsNotDrugs_ 6h ago
Yeah good hardware. It's even overkill.
You won't hit 100% GPU transcoding because of audio, subtitles and sometimes niche HDR tone mapping, but should be able to offload most of it to the GPU.
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 6h ago
I used leftover components when I upgraded my gaming pc.
My issue right now is some codecs don’t like my gpu so it defaults back to the cpu and since it doesn’t have integrated graphics it just crashes my server.
HDR tone mapping is an example of something it doesn’t like (I might be able to fix that one)
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u/HugsNotDrugs_ 6h ago
It shouldn't crash. Fallback isn't IGPU but rather your CPU cores. If CPU can't keep up you'll get buffering, not crashing. Something else is going on.
Your GPU is Turing and has a pretty good transcoder. Can't recall if it has tone mapping support, but that's important especially for UHD HDR content.
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 5h ago
With me running a Linux container I have to install those specific drivers but it does.
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u/xylopyrography 5h ago edited 5h ago
and since it doesn’t have integrated graphics it just crashes my server.
Not normal. The 5800X3D has a lot of horsepower for software rendering.
It can likely do 1 x 4 K transcode or 3-4 1080p transcodes or 20+ direct play streams.
Even when you hit near this limit, crashing is not normal, your server would just be slow.
EDIT: If you go by Plex's estimated figures for transcoding vs. Passmark score:
- 1.6 x 4K HDR transcodes
- 2.3 x 4K SDR transcodes
- 14 x 1080p transcodes
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 5h ago
I’ve looked into it so much, it’s the only thing it can be
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u/xylopyrography 5h ago
Not normal.
Especially if you are talking about a single 1080p transcode, you wouldn't even notice it on a 5800X3D.
I transcode all the time without a GPU but with a weaker CPU. I can't transcode 4K, my CPU was pinned, but the server did not crash.
The GPU (either Intel iGPU or any dGPU) is what lets you either use those above figures without pinning your CPU, or going above those figures.
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 5h ago
I run few cores/threads shorter.
It never runs out of memory.
It’s not over heating.
The only process hitting the CPU hard is 4k transcodes.1080p isn’t an issue.
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u/xylopyrography 5h ago
If you're doing 4K and choking a few threads, and you have some other processes, yeah, you're hitting up against its limits.
So your CPU would sit at 100% load during this situation, and Plex might buffer / stop playing.
Crashing is a separate issue. Do you mean your actual server is crashing? That is not normal. It should be able to operate in such a scenario 24/7. Are you getting a kernel panic?
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 5h ago
The entire LCX crashes.
It appears frozen and acts offline, then after a while or forcing a reboot it comes back up.2
u/xylopyrography 5h ago
Very unfamiliar with that stack, but cursory search looks like a lot of people see similar issues.
It has nothing to do with GPU or not GPU outside of its interaction with your software stack.
Even on Windows this would work completely fine [unless you have a hardware issue] without crashing. CPUs (and OSes) are designed and intended to be run at 100% load continuously.
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 5h ago
Windows probably has better compatibility with Nvidia drivers allowing more codecs to run on the GPU instead of the CPU
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u/xylopyrography 6h ago edited 5h ago
You want direct play streams on your CPU. You want any transcoding on the GPU.
What are you trying to transcode, though? The 5800X3D should probably be able to do 1 x 4K transcode, and at least 3-4 x 1080p transcodes. Your server shouldn't crash, it would just have high CPU utilization.
The 5800X3D can easily handle 20+ direct play streams. I've gone about to that with a much weaker CPU.
EDIT: If you go by Plex's estimated figures for software transcoding vs. Passmark score:
- 1.6 x 4K HDR transcodes
- 2.3 x 4K SDR transcodes
- 14 x 1080p transcodes
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 5h ago
I am doing 4k movies and mostly 1080 tv shows. The 5800x3d crashes because it doesn’t have integrated graphics.
1 4k movie for long enough and it crashes
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u/No_Policy_1369 3h ago
Sounds like your setup is wrong cpu wouldn't crash ... make sure your setup for transcodeing just putting a gpu in will not transcode you need to set it up
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u/STINEPUNCAKE 3h ago
It is setup but you can’t really lock down transcoding to the GPU. There are a number of things that can make it fail over
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u/FinancialSurvey5794 6h ago
I'm not sure you understand that this is not a goal you should be aiming for. Direct play is what your goal should be; for anything else (transcoding), it should go to the GPU.
It sounds to me like you need to do some reading or watch some videos on YouTube explaining what transcoding is.