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Do I need a GPU?


Sammy

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Sammy

My Server is as follows:

 

i5 4690k Devil's Canyon Haswell using iGPU intel HD4000 GFX

 

It works fine when streaming to several Emby Clients on the LAN and will handle a few on the WAN with ffmpeg loading pretty light.

 

Where I run into issues is when ComSkip HandBrake is running in MCEBuddy for processing RecordedTV. I can throttle HandBrake in MCEBuddy but any throttling usually results in never getting the recordings finished before the next evening.

 

MCEBuddy allows scheduling but only one schedule so that is usually set to run from about 6am to 4pm when nobody is home and Emby Server usage is light. I wish it could be scheduled to run from about 10pm to 3am too as that is a very light usage time.

 

My problem is that sometimes users want to watch something during the day, including at home when we're off for the day or whatever. Playback of LiveTV is glitchy if I don't log into my server machine and pause MCEBuddy to give enough headroom for even light LiveTV transcoding. Also, my CPU is pegged at 100% with temps hitting 90C according to CPUID HWMonitor.

 

So I probably DO need a GPU.. What to get? This is about a 5 year old machine and does quite well under most circumstances. I really don't want to get a new server just yet but rather give it some assistance with a decent GPU..

 

Recommendations around $100 for a GPU? Are they still inflated for bitcoin mining, BTW?

 

How to implement HW accel properly in Emby and / or MCEBuddy?

 

TIA

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Diedrich

If you have the space, just leave the recording "unprocessed mkv" in MCEBuddy. This is what I do (then again, I delete shows after I watch them so space is not an issue). This will save you on processing power AND time until you can watch your shows.

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Sammy

If you have the space, just leave the recording "unprocessed mkv" in MCEBuddy. This is what I do (then again, I delete shows after I watch them so space is not an issue). This will save you on processing power AND time until you can watch your shows.

 

I should add that I record to a 240GB SSD and process to a 4 TB HDD for inclusion in the Emby Library. This drive does get low on space if the files aren't processed within a couple of days. What I could do however is move the Archived ts files to a different drive to save that space. Good recommendation that gives me other ideas. Thanks.

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Sammy

Are you happy with your current setup?

 

Yes, other than having my CPU pegged at 100% to process these files and some concern with the temps.

 

Will a GPU even help with this? Does HW transcoding move the work off the CPU?

 

I know that HandBrake has a setting for it.

 

Emby, OTOH, had issues with LiveTV when trying to HW transcode IIR so I do it in SW. Maybe this has been fixed in later server releases? I'll need to check.

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Sammy

Yes it can help with this.

 

Will H/W transcoding work for LiveTV now? The specific issue is that CC's were not exposed with H/W acceleration so I had to turn it off in Emby Server. I believe it is set to Auto now so none of the more aggressive profiles for H/A acceleration are active for me. I was using intel QuickSync with the iGPU HD 4000 if that matters.

 

Thanks again.

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sfatula

Yes, other than having my CPU pegged at 100% to process these files and some concern with the temps.

 

Will a GPU even help with this? Does HW transcoding move the work off the CPU?

 

 

It can make a massive difference, better GPU = more difference. For example, my RTX2060 acceleration is many times faster than the built in Intel on the I7-8700.

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Sammy

It can make a massive difference, better GPU = more difference. For example, my RTX2060 acceleration is many times faster than the built in Intel on the I7-8700.

 

I'd sure hope so after laying out $400! My budget is much less than that..

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Sammy

Yes it will.

 

I'm going to toggle back on the H/W acceleration on my HD 4000 iGPU and see how that goes with Closed Captions on my ShieldTV's. Maybe that is all I need to do but still, if HandBrake is pegging things I think I'll still have playback issues with Emby if it is transcoding at the same time.

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Diedrich

I'd sure hope so after laying out $400! My budget is much less than that..

I have a 1500Ti. A 1500 would handle 4K just fine and save you more money. www.gpuboss.com can help you with comparisons.

 

As for your SSD, you just need MCEBuddy to monitor your recordings folder (as set in Emby). It'll pick up a completed ts file, process it for commercials with Comskip, rejoin it, then save it as a mkv, then you can have MCEB move them to your Emby shows location on your 4TB. (I have the same size SSD and HDD in my setup - I don't do anything manual when it comes to my recordings, it's all automatic.

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Sammy

That's how I have MCEBuddy set up.. to automagically do it without intervention but if it starts running while we're watching and Emby is recording things get bogged down so I set MCEBuddy to process off peak. My wife consumes mass quantities of content so Emby is recording all the time and with only about 10 hours to process during the day it gets behind at times. I'll have to check out that 1500Ti and cpuboss

 

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

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Sammy

I had a 1050Ti 2Gb card previously but when I turned my HTPC into a Headless Emby Server and went to ShieldTV I sold it on eBay. Paid $105 and sold it for $130 less seller fees and shipping on eBay for a break even. At that time Emby did not have HW Acceleration so I didn't need it. Guess I'll be buying one again.. What RAM does yours have?

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sfatula

I'd sure hope so after laying out $400! My budget is much less than that..

 

I didn't lay it out merely for transcoding, it's for games also. My CPU has ~20% usage for one thread (of 12) while transcoding. Essentially, it's idle.

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Q-Droid

Yes you could benefit from a GPU. And if you're not looking for gaming power then a fairly recent card like Radeon RX 550 can be had for under $100, doesn't have an artificial stream limit, doesn't need extra PSU power and can handle 4k HDR.

 

Caveat: I haven't used one or had my hands on one. So do your DD and research how well it would work with Emby on your OS and hardware.

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trusselo

I started a different thread that turned into this same question....   here

 

but heres the sitch:

 

I had been running emby in windows, on a phenom 1090T - it could not transcode newer x265 10bit files in realtime (17 fps) single stream EWW!!

I upgraded to a Ryzen 3600, and rx570

 

BUT THEN.... i realized my raid5 array is full and decided to build an unraid machine.

I have Unraid working on my 1090T, got my shares, then learned about docker....

 

Got dockers for Radarr, Sonarr, Jackett and emby.

Have my 2nd Emby server up and running recreated all metadata, users, playstates (via trakt)

 

I was thinking its time to combine the new hardware (ryzen and rx570) with the unraid server and eliminate windows..

 

BUT THEN.... i realize i cannot use the rx570 with unraid docker for emby server.

 

TLDR;

Do i even need a GPU to transcode several x265 streams if i use the ryzen 3600 alone in docker?... lets say 4 streams?  

Or would I be better off using a Windows VM in Unraid to utilize the RX570?

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Sammy

Got dockers for Radarr, Sonarr, Jackett and emby.

 

Jackett?

 

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

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Sammy
Q-Droid

It's limited to two transcoding sessions unless you unlock it.

It needs a 6-pin PCIe power lead from the PSU.

It's refurbished.

 

If you're good with that it should work fine. I think many in here use them.

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Sammy

It's limited to two transcoding sessions unless you unlock it.

It needs a 6-pin PCIe power lead from the PSU.

It's refurbished.

 

If you're good with that it should work fine. I think many in here use them.

 

How does one determine the number of streams it'll transcode? I'd like to know for my search so maybe I get one that does 4 streams or whatever. Also, how does one unlock it and how many streams does that yield?

 

My PSU has the 6-pin power out I believe.

 

I have no problems with refurbished stuff from reputable sellers like Amazon Warehouse and Newegg but not third party merchants.

 

Thanks.

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Sammy

Yes you could benefit from a GPU. And if you're not looking for gaming power then a fairly recent card like Radeon RX 550 can be had for under $100, doesn't have an artificial stream limit, doesn't need extra PSU power and can handle 4k HDR.

 

Caveat: I haven't used one or had my hands on one. So do your DD and research how well it would work with Emby on your OS and hardware.

 

So maybe I should be searching for one of these? I've always prefered nVidia over AMD / Radeon.

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Q-Droid

How does one determine the number of streams it'll transcode? I'd like to know for my search so maybe I get one that does 4 streams or whatever. Also, how does one unlock it and how many streams does that yield?

 

 

Nvidia consumer gaming GPUs are restricted to two streams and there's a patch to unlock that. You should be able to search these forums for references to the patch.

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Q-Droid

So maybe I should be searching for one of these? I've always prefered nVidia over AMD / Radeon.

 

You might find better driver and software support with Nvidia. It would also come down to what OS you plan to use and the kind of support you'd get from Emby. I haven't had to deal with either Nvidia or AMD for my media server.

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