GPU Transcoding (Intel QuickSync and nVidia NVENC)

[Jennice 19]

Why a Ryzen over Intel?

I thought Intel was leading in raw performance (which I suppose is what matters for SW encoding)?

[Guest asrequested]

Why a Ryzen over Intel?

I thought Intel was leading in raw performance (which I suppose is what matters for SW encoding)?

 

12 cores 24 threads opposed to 4 cores and 8 threads. Even Intel's gen 8 don't match that. Intel are relying on the GPU, heavily. And for my HTPC, Intel is the way to go. It has great potential, but for the server, it just doesn't do very much. It's unstable and provides little benefit. ffmpeg has a long way to go to properly / fully utilize the iGPU. It just isn't giving me what I want in the server.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Doofus

[Jennice 19]

If each of the cores/threads is about as effective as Intel's, I see your point. If they're slower, giving the same overall passmark (or similar), then the core count is less important.

 

Which AMD are you consideing ( I think Ryzen is a series). I'd like to read about it, if it's that good at raw math power. 

[Jennice 19]

This one doesn't show Ryzen running faster than Intel?

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-7700K-vs-AMD-Ryzen-7-1800X/3647vs3916

[Jennice 19]

The 1800x is expensive, but now I see why you consider it for transcoding. It's one cruel chip for this stuff!

[Guest asrequested]

If each of the cores/threads is about as effective as Intel's, I see your point. If they're slower, giving the same overall passmark (or similar), then the core count is less important.

 

Which AMD are you consideing ( I think Ryzen is a series). I'd like to read about it, if it's that good at raw math power.

https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-threadripper-1920x

 

 

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-7700K-vs-AMD-Ryzen-TR-1920X/3647vs3934

Edited September 28, 2017 by Doofus

[pappaq 8]

I've thought about upgrading my server to a Ryzen 1600, because my Xeon x5650 in my main PC is able to transcode 8-10 5mbit/s streams @ 4.4GHz. The IPC of Ryzen is higher and should match the overclocked Xeon with 3.6-3.8GHz, so yield the same results. If you double the cores e.g. use a TR 1920x, I think it should be able to transcode 15-20 streams...that would be insane!

[Guest asrequested]

I really need to put my 7700k to the test.

[pappaq 8]

I really need to put my 7700k to the test.

For testing my Xeon I copied all the movies to one SSD and tested it then. At over 3 streams from one HDD you should pull HDD bottlenecking into consideration. Just a thought.

[lifespeed 42]

Hardware Acceleration? I'm over it. I was just doing some testing with both Beta (i5 6500) and stable (i7 6700k) servers. I was getting very little benefit, and encountered several playback issues. One of which was playback froze on one device (Theater desktop on my HTPC). I tried all testing again with HWA off, perfect playback. I had a maxed out CPU, with and without HWA. Ryzen Threadripper, here I come!

I came to the same conclusion as you some time ago, although without investing nearly the effort you have.  Ultimately GPU hardware acceleration will be a boon to Emby server transcoding, as it already is to PC clients direct-streaming HEVC.  But Emby relies on a combination of MPV and FFMPEG, a cross-platform design choice (likely a good one) that puts us at the mercy of multiple interlocking pieces of software.  And they are still in beta with regards to making use of the GPU capabilities.

 

I think this is a great effort, and I appreciate @@Luke, your's, and several other's efforts.  But while this is all interesting and exciting, the family just wants it to work.  Sometimes I just want it to work.  I hope development continues, but today it is still beta.

[pappaq 8]

I came to the same conclusion as you some time ago, although without investing nearly the effort you have.  Ultimately GPU hardware acceleration will be a boon to Emby server transcoding, as it already is to PC clients direct-streaming HEVC.  But Emby relies on a combination of MPV and FFMPEG, a cross-platform design choice (likely a good one) that puts us at the mercy of multiple interlocking pieces of software.  And they are still in beta with regards to making use of the GPU capabilities.

 

I think this is a great effort, and I appreciate @@Luke, your's, and several other's efforts.  But while this is all interesting and exciting, the family just wants it to work.  Sometimes I just want it to work.  I hope development continues, but today it is still beta.

That is my thinking too, but my i3 is not powerful enough for it, so I have no choice.

[Guest asrequested]

If I'm honest, I don't really need the threadripper, but I don't like having my CPU running at max, with only two transcodes.

[pappaq 8]

If you've the money, go for it and report back! I want to see the TR rip the streams to pieces!

[Guest asrequested]

If you've the money, go for it and report back! I want to see the TR rip the streams to pieces!

Lol.. It might be a few months, but I want it!

[Jennice 19]

For transcoding, a threadripper seems to be the viagra of geeks!

 

(I wonder if the Pfizer share value has dropped with ole' Hefner passed away. Their sales must have dropped considerably. )

[Jennice 19]

Wow...! Those Ryzen chips are a different league than the i7 3770 I have here, not to mention my old i7 870k

 

Not cheap, but impressive.

[Guest asrequested]

They seem to be designed primarily for processing large amounts of data, regardless of what type it is. As opposed to optimization of particular types of data stream like video. Just raw processing. They don't appear to do so well with small tasks.

[Jennice 19]

I'm still puzzled how an i3-3225 can manage the workload it does, given it's modest spec and power consumption.

 

I would be annoyed spending big money on a new AMD when a 3225 can do the job, provided that the system "just works"

[Guest asrequested]

I'm still puzzled how an i3-3225 can manage the workload it does, given it's modest spec and power consumption.

 

I would be annoyed spending big money on a new AMD when a 3225 can do the job, provided that the system "just works"

It's not the CPU, it's because Ffmpeg isn't working with it, as well as it should. I imagine someone will make a build that works well, one day. But right now, it's not stable or well built enough. As the architecture evolves, so too must the Ffmpeg builds. In my case, the CPU usage is only part of the issue. In my testing I had playback locking up and various other issues, when enabling HWA, which don't occur when disabled.

 

I can still test with my i5 6500 on my beta server.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Doofus

[lifespeed 42]

I'm still puzzled how an i3-3225 can manage the workload it does, given it's modest spec and power consumption.

 

I would be annoyed spending big money on a new AMD when a 3225 can do the job, provided that the system "just works"

Except when the i3 can't do the job.  Despite the lure, of inexpensive, low-power minimalist HTPCs I have stuck with high-power PCs and let the HTPC do double duty as server w. RAID array.  One less computer in the house with the dual-purppose setup, and the HTPC/server never lacks for processing power.

[pappaq 8]

Except when the i3 can't do the job.  Despite the lure, of inexpensive, low-power minimalist HTPCs I have stuck with high-power PCs and let the HTPC do double duty as server w. RAID array.  One less computer in the house with the dual-purppose setup, and the HTPC/server never lacks for processing power.

Since the last few emby server updates, the transcoding works really well and even the handful of movies which couldn't get hardware transcoded is now down to nearly zero. As I said in my post above, if I had the money, i would upgrade. But until then my little i3-3225 works pretty well. It transcodes up to 2 streams while playing a movie in the livingroom and loading data from the net @ 70mbit/s and unzipping the data. It is all about managing the resources.

[Jennice 19]

... It is all about managing the resources.

Which you seem to manage impressively well. Thumbs up!

[Guest asrequested]

I don't want to manage. I WANT TO RIP SOME THREADS!

[Jennice 19]

       

[pappaq 8]

I don't want to manage. I WANT TO RIP SOME THREADS!

I understand that and first and foremost it has to work. And I admit, that skipping through content does work much better without HW transcoding, that's a fact. With raw compute performance it all would run just so much smoother. But as I said, my main PC is rocking a x5650 from 2011...poor student, you know?