i have had my current setup for a few years now and while it is working, i do have a couple of issues. i just don't know if they are related to the hardware or something else.

 

i have never really be able to get plex to play without stuttering. i have tried installing plex media server directly onto UnRaid, i have tried installing it in my MacPro (2) 2.66Ghz processors, 16GB ram, 5770 video card, and now i have even installed it on my Xserve 2009 edition (1) 2.26 quad core processor, 3GB Ram.

 

on the other hand, 99% of my files play perfectly on my WDTV Live box, VLC or with XBMC. i have even tried the same files on Plex, VLC, and XBMC (separately and all three playing the same file at the same time) and both of the latter work great. All of my blu rays are ripped using MakeMKV and that's it. The tv shows are usually hd downloads done with sickbeard and SABnzdb (which i have moved to my MacPro in order to free up resources on my UnRaid server.

 

here are my current specs on my server

 

Motherboard    Supermicro mbd-x7sbe

Processor          Intel Celeron E3200 2.4 dual core

Ram                4GB (2 x 2gb) ddr2

controller card  (2) supermicro aoc-sat2-mv8 pci-x133

mixture of 3TB, 2TB, 1TB (different speeds and different manufactures)

 

everything is on a 1Gb network with everything hardwired with cat6 cables.

 

if anyone has any suggestions i would appreciate it.

 

if i can use my current hardware in a better way i would like to, but i am not opposed to starting over.

 

thank you

 

christopher

That's related to the player... If you are playing on a full HTPC, you would be able to play from weak server hardware. When you are playing on a weaker box (ATV or google TV) you need a server that can transcode in real time. For a 1080 stream.. That's a pretty high demand.

I currently play on a MacBook pro. It has a 2.26 core dual processor. Isn't that enough?

Are you using the latest Plex player, now called Plex Home Theater? That fixed the stuttering for me.

Yes. I'm a plex pass member because I love the system, I just can't seem to use it.

I currently play on a MacBook pro. It has a 2.26 core dual processor. Isn't that enough?

I'm not at home, so this is from memory.

Look in the Plex CLIENT (on your Mac for example). There's a tab for SETTINGS and in that there's a 'preferred' setting that defines the bandwidth that the Plex player requests from the PLEX SERVER.

If, for example, you have the option set to receive 300kb of streamed in data, but your SERVER has the original movie as an HD BluRay RIP, then the server has a LOT of work to do to get the movie squeezed down to fit.  Your other boxes may be fine with the original Ripped file.

 

If the problem is JUST with your Mac, also check that you have a full package of CODECS installed.  The Plex client will negotiate with the server to get a stream that is supported by the current player...so maybe you're transcoding from MP4 to Quicktime.

 

 

EDIT: In PLEX Player, its SETTINGS / PLEX MEDIA SERVER / PLAYER / all those settings...be sure 'Direct Play / Stream' is checked on, and the local/remote quality speeds are proper.

Thank you. I will look into it tonight when I get home. I know I have the server set to "hurt my

CPU" as I figured a quad core chip should be able to handle it.

As for running Plex on your unRAID it will direct play files with no issues, but for on-the-fly transcoding (especially 1080) your CPU is too weak.  Hosting PMS on your Mac Pro should do a bit better (don't know if Plex can utilize multiple physical CPU's) but even the Mac Pro CPU is a bit weak compared to today's CPU's. 

 

That said, if you are playing on the MacBook Pro using Plex Home Theater, it should be direct playing and should not stutter (assuming you have all the correct codecs as DaleWilliams stated above).