iGPU needed for transcoding?

[taylorjdunn]

Hello,

 

I'm looking to purchase a used enterprise server to replace my current setup. I have 3-5 Plex users along with Home Assistant and all the typical *arrs and my plan is to expand to include cameras and 2 VMs. My worry is that even though the core and thread count are huge and overkill, will I also need a standalone GPU for transcoding 4k streams, or will the CPUs be able to handle it even without an integrated iGPU?

 

Here are the specs:

2 - Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4 14 Core

256Gb of memory (16 x 16Gb sticks of PC4)

10 GB ethernet

 

Thanks!

[Hoopster]

13 minutes ago, taylorjdunn said:

will I also need a standalone GPU for transcoding 4k streams, or will the CPUs be able to handle it even without an integrated iGPU?

CPU-based (software) transcoding is measured by a passmark score.  The CPU indicated above has a passmark score of 15974.  Transcoding 4K with CPU only requires a much, much more powerful CPU than that.  The estimated passmark score for even one 4K stream is 17,000.

 

For transcoding 1080p streams, 2000 passmarks per stream are recommended with a single thread rating of 2000 also recommended.  The CPU falls just a bit short of the recommended single thread rating but would probably do just fine.  Technically, you could transcode up to seven (7) 1080p streams simultaneously with the CPU (Unraid needs about 2000 passmarks itself for system overhead).

 

Transcoding 4K streams is handled much better by hardware whether it is an iGPU or a discrete Nvidia GPU.  Actually, the real recommendation is to make sure you have local clients that can direct play 4K content (no transcoding needed) and for remote streamed content have 1080p versions of the content.  Transcoding 4K takes some grunt.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Hoopster

[taylorjdunn]

Got it, that makes sense.

 

So I could add a discreet GPU for transcoding or even better, limit remote streams to 1080p and reserve 4k content for local clients.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Lolight]

On 3/16/2023 at 11:01 PM, taylorjdunn said:

I have 3-5 Plex users along with Home Assistant and all the typical *arrs and my plan is to expand to include cameras and 2 VMs. My worry is that even though the core and thread count are huge and overkill...

May I ask then about your reasons for choosing a used Enterprise grade hardware?

What is your current setup?

[taylorjdunn]

Sure, I just saw this server listed on CL and it seems like a great deal. Each of the included CPUs have much higher benchmark scores that my current setup, though the current one does have an iGPU.

 

Xeon E3-1270 V2 - 6448 passmark

[givmedew]

On 3/15/2023 at 6:19 PM, taylorjdunn said:

Got it, that makes sense.

 

So I could add a discreet GPU for transcoding or even better, limit remote streams to 1080p and reserve 4k content for local clients.

 

Thanks for your help!

Instead of trying to be all high and mighty and asking you why you bought that server… which does nothing to help you at all… 

 

edit I got that wrong… thought you already owned that server lol 

 

turns out I’m the jerk

 

let’s move on

 

maybe that other guy doesn’t know you can buy a dual v4 server for $300 rip one of the CPUs out of it and typically have an idle of around 120w which is not bad unless you are trying to build a very efficient system and those take special effort, focus, research and often expensive ITX or very specific mATX/ATX boards.

 

my z board was idling well over 200w with a 9700k when you can get them down below 20w with most ITX boards or some specific other boards.

 

so anyways onto what you actually asked about!

 

transcoding… I’m going the way of the mini juggernaut… the Intel ARC A380 but I’m also running a VM… with an awful 8 core 4180 I was able to get 120FPS AV1 1080P transcode and just over 30FPS 4K AV1 transcode.  But that’s AV1 and that’s a 2GHz 8 core CPU.  In both situations I had about 25% utilization on the GPU.

 

for 264 transcode it won’t brake a sweat!  
 

but you might have to use it in a virtual machine for the time being.

 

if you want to use docker I’m not sure if they got the A380 working perfectly yet.  There is a thread with plenty of action on it you could follow.

 

if you don’t care about permanently converting a huge gigantic library to AV1 there are plenty of affordable NVIDIA cards.  Only 4xxx can do AV1 and believe AV1 is going to matter to you someday.  But not today as with plex only PCs can play AV1.

 

im converting all the old stuff no one watches anymore because it’s saving tons of space going from 264 to AV1 completely skipping 265.

 

but yeh just get a video card just do some research first on which one.  Also be careful about idle power… you buy the wrong card and end up drawing an extra 100w and that’s an extra $100/yr… not a good deal if it was to avoid paying $200-300 for a newer card.

Edited March 17, 2023 by givmedew

[Lolight]

9 hours ago, givmedew said:

unless you are trying to build a very efficient system and those take special effort, focus, research and often expensive ITX or very specific mATX/ATX boards.

 

my z board was idling well over 200w with a 9700k when you can get them down below 20w with most ITX boards or some specific other boards.

There's no need to search for a specific MB to have an efficient system.

Modern consumer hardware can be very efficient - and normally just requires some minor BIOS tweaking to get it running at its peak efficiency.

ITX (assuming you meant mini-ITX) and mATX/ATX are the MBs industry form factors (physical dims)- not some kind of an efficiency metric.

There is no any special effort, focus or research required to select and build a very efficient NAS nowdays.

[Lolight]

10 hours ago, taylorjdunn said:

Sure, I just saw this server listed on CL and it seems like a great deal. Each of the included CPUs have much higher benchmark scores that my current setup, though the current one does have an iGPU.

 

Xeon E3-1270 V2 - 6448 passmark

Yeah, but do you have a particular need for an upgrade?

If not - just want to take advantage of a good deal and are curious about the enterprise grade world...

There's nothing wrong with that type of an approach either.

Just don't be surprised about significantly higher electricity costs, which is inevitable, combined with additional noise and heat, especially when you have to add a stand-alone GPU for 4K transcoding.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Lolight