Confused / Overwhelmed. Need NVIDIA GPU help for Plex


RodgMahal

Recommended Posts

I'll make this short and sweet.  I have recently upgraded my UNRAID box to a AMD Ryzen 5 1600, and am doing lots of transcoding, and the proc is not cutting it given all my other processes/dockers.

 

I know NOTHING about GPU's, since I am an enterprise IT guy, and do zero gaming.  I bought a cheap NVIDIA Geforce GT730 to play with, and while I think I can get it to HW encode (all signs point to yes, based on this fellas informative video), all the monitoring capabilities and ways to check from inside the plex docker console all say "incompatible" with this card.

 

More research has shown that only certain cards can actually do HVENC and HVDEC, and the 730 is not on this list.

 

I am trying to find a reasonably cheap ebay purchasable Nvidia GPU card that is fully supported and will allow me to transcode at least 2 streams without hindering my processor.  HELP!  Someone who knows more about this, throw me a bone, and help me figure out what the hell to buy!  I feel like spending $100+ on this is sort of ridiculous but if thats what i required, I guess so be it.

 

Side note, my mobo might have video output ports but my proc doesnt have built in graphics, so I MUST use the video output from the PCI video card for any video needs when I troubleshoot.  Also, microATX MOBO and only has 3 slots, (1) PCIE 3.0 X16 [x16 mode], (1) PCIE 2.0 x16 [x4 mode], (1) PCIE 2.0 X1 SLOT, first slot is taken up by HBA, second can be GPU, but if I need a 2nd GPU for local OS then it woudl have to be a very hard to find PCIE 2.0 X1 card.

Edited by RodgMahal
typo in title
Link to comment

The 1600 should be able to comfortably handle 2x 1080p streams so for it to "not cutting it", you must be doing 2x 4k streams then, are you?

If you are struggling with even 2x 1080p streams then something is wrong with the config and/or hardware.

And even 2 4k streams should still be passable with the right config and reasonable bit-rates.

 

How are your core assignements? --cpu-shares?

 

You are not going to find anything cheap when it comes to hardware transcoding.

And then you add the complication of micro ATX build and I'd say your first step should be trying to optimise your server and see if it works before trying something drastic.

 

 

Link to comment
12 hours ago, testdasi said:

The 1600 should be able to comfortably handle 2x 1080p streams so for it to "not cutting it", you must be doing 2x 4k streams then, are you?

If you are struggling with even 2x 1080p streams then something is wrong with the config and/or hardware.

And even 2 4k streams should still be passable with the right config and reasonable bit-rates.

 

How are your core assignements? --cpu-shares?

 

You are not going to find anything cheap when it comes to hardware transcoding.

And then you add the complication of micro ATX build and I'd say your first step should be trying to optimise your server and see if it works before trying something drastic.

 

 

 

Well its a GT730, not a 1600.  It just doesnt do any encoding or decoding.  I run "watch nvidia-smi" from a terminal and it shows the GT730, but shows zero transcoding.  I read through about 20 pages of the UNRAID-NVIDIA plugin help topic yesterday and it seems the Quadro P400 and the GTX 1050 are my best sub-$100 options, and that each can handle (hardware limited) 2 streams at a time, even 4k->720p streams with minimal processor degradation.  I just want something that's new enough that actually supports all the available features through the driver. 

Link to comment
7 hours ago, whipdancer said:

You can move your current cheap GPU to a 1x riser card and it will still work fine for the local OS video needs.  My 3 full-sized slots are taken by HBA/NIC cards so my cheap-o GPU moved to a 1x slot on a riser card.

So did you need to use a 1x->16x adapter?  Or does a 16x card actually plug into a 1x slot and only 1/16th of the available bandwidth?  I'm an enterprise hardware guy, every server I touch has video capabilities built in and we never have need of anything other than onboard, so I'm a total noob when it comes to my GPUs!

Link to comment
13 hours ago, RodgMahal said:

 

Well its a GT730, not a 1600.  It just doesnt do any encoding or decoding.  I run "watch nvidia-smi" from a terminal and it shows the GT730, but shows zero transcoding.  I read through about 20 pages of the UNRAID-NVIDIA plugin help topic yesterday and it seems the Quadro P400 and the GTX 1050 are my best sub-$100 options, and that each can handle (hardware limited) 2 streams at a time, even 4k->720p streams with minimal processor degradation.  I just want something that's new enough that actually supports all the available features through the driver. 

I meant the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 i.e your CPU. I could have been clearer but reread my comment.

Link to comment
11 hours ago, testdasi said:

I meant the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 i.e your CPU. I could have been clearer but reread my comment.

Ahhh duh!  My cores are pretty well used on lots of other tasks..   Honestly I can direct play a probably 2-3 4k streams AND have all my other dockers active , if I try to transcode a single 4k stream then I need to shut down all my dockers except Plex and my procs are all at 100%.  See attached pic.  I think i will create a 720p version of each 4k movie, so that when I am playing remotely the transcode engine isn't pegging my procs.  I limit remote vieweing to 3mbit 720p (only have 10mbit upload speed, grrrrr), and most of my movies are 1080P.  I think the QuadroP400 looks like the best device for me to use, it supports two streams, can handle all transcoding needs for me, which frees up my Processors for everything I ask of them.  Then I can dedicate the older GTX730 to being a GPU for Foldeing@home.  

 

637818685_nasDashboard2020-04-1711-50-12.thumb.jpg.f1bb9f091e5459190949a6b9f3973da3.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by RodgMahal
Link to comment
On 4/16/2020 at 4:20 PM, RodgMahal said:

So did you need to use a 1x->16x adapter?  Or does a 16x card actually plug into a 1x slot and only 1/16th of the available bandwidth?  I'm an enterprise hardware guy, every server I touch has video capabilities built in and we never have need of anything other than onboard, so I'm a total noob when it comes to my GPUs!

My 1x slot was physical 1x slot. I used a 1x -> full sized pcie adapter/riser card so my video card would fit.

Link to comment
On 4/17/2020 at 5:10 PM, RodgMahal said:

if I try to transcode a single 4k stream

You really should not transcode a 4k stream.  It is the single most expensive process you can try and does not produce a good result.  If you can't direct play it, consider making other versions.  Plex can make "optimized" copies itself, that it stores in the same folder as the original.

Edited by whipdancer
grammar
Link to comment
4 hours ago, whipdancer said:

You really should not transcode a 4k stream.  It is the single most expensive process you can try and does not produce a good result.  If you can't direct play it, consider making other versions.  Plex can make "optimized" copies itself, that it stores in the same folder as the original.

I am realizing that now.  Trying to see if there is some automatic way to just create a 1080p cnoversion for any 4k movie I add to my plex library..  Seems like the easiest way to go.

 

Link to comment
  • 1 year later...
On 4/19/2020 at 8:21 PM, RodgMahal said:

I am realizing that now.  Trying to see if there is some automatic way to just create a 1080p cnoversion for any 4k movie I add to my plex library..  Seems like the easiest way to go.

 

How exactly did you manage to to let plex create a 1080p version as a file? Did you went for a P400 and are you happy with it? Considering buying exactly this cars because some streaming devices seem to not natively support the codec so my i3 is running at 100% CPU while the video is stuttering.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.