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CPU or GPU, is this enugh?


PeteGul

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PeteGul

Hi

I'm about changing out my Qnap TS-469 Pro. Can't stream anything on this one, exept loacally. So it time to let it go.... 

I'm not going to buy new of the shelf, I want it a bit cheeper, and don't like to buy new if I don't have to.

I think I have found 3 systems that can handle it, but I will ask here, where the "know how" is. Havent bught a computer in almost a decade.

It a server only for Emby, needs to transcode maximum of 2-3 at a time, 4K down to 1080p. Most likelly only max 2 at the time. The max of connected user externally will be 4, but that would be very rare. And my outbound line is 60mbps (not very good, I know).

Comp 1: Intel Pentium G3258 @ 3,2GHz, ASUS B85M-G, Socket-1150, GPU: GTX 1070, 6GB ram. (here I think the GPU will tke the load of transcoding)

Comp 2: Intel Core i7-6700, 16GB DDR4 2133MHz

Comp 3: Intel i5-6500, 16GB ram

This is in my price catagory, but will they work?

 

Have looked at this chart, but it littlebit out of my understanding: https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

Edit: I don't have premium as of now, I like to se if things work before I buy. But if a new machine make my stream work, I'll go for premium.

 

Kindy, Petter

Edited by pettergulbra
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rbjtech

So you really need a 7th Gen (or better) Intel CPU - not for the CPU but actually for the Quick Sync GPU it has built in - UHD 6xx

Gen 6 will still 'work' - but the 7th Gen was a big leap in GPU/transcoding performance - and as you want 4K transcoding, I would suggest you make this your minimum standard. 

You don't need an i7, go for an i5 if you can afford it, but i3 or even a Pentium Gold will be perfectly sufficient if it's dedicated to emby.

You don't need a discreet graphics card at all. (Nvidia GTX etc)

16GB of RAM is more than sufficient.

You will need emby Premium to use the GPU transcoding (on either QuickSync or Nvidia GTX if you went that route)

I hope that helps.

edit - make sure the CPU has the GPU - many do not - its the gpu you want ;)

Quick options below -

i5 - 7400/7500 or 7600

i3 - 7100/7300

Pentium Gold - G5400 onwards

 

 

 

Edited by rbjtech
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Q-Droid

Everything that @rbjtech posted plus:

- The F series CPUs don't have an iGPU, ie: i5-9400F

- If you start with an 8th gen Intel CPU you can squeeze a little more life out of the system that can support 8th and 9th gen CPUs.

- You'll need at least a one month Premiere license to enable HW transcoding support.

 

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PeteGul

So what you guys say is, don't buy old. It wont work 

I'm certain I read somewhere in this forum that an iGPU series 5xx should be ok, but if it is not. Then I think this is a no go.

You don't say what is the difference between series 5 and 6, what are the capabilities difference. I ask because I don't need 10 transcodes at the same time, I need max 4. I'm sure I read it somewhere that series 5 would do. But don't wont throw my mony away neither. 

If there is absolutly no go with series 5, I think this problem solved it self... To expensive.

 

And, what do you mean with "You don't need a discreet graphics card at all. (Nvidia GTX etc)"? I thught maybe I could buy cheeper CPU and use GPU card instead.

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rbjtech
15 minutes ago, pettergulbra said:

So what you guys say is, don't buy old. It wont work 

I'm certain I read somewhere in this forum that an iGPU series 5xx should be ok, but if it is not. Then I think this is a no go.

You don't say what is the difference between series 5 and 6, what are the capabilities difference. I ask because I don't need 10 transcodes at the same time, I need max 4. I'm sure I read it somewhere that series 5 would do. But don't wont throw my mony away neither. 

If there is absolutly no go with series 5, I think this problem solved it self... To expensive.

 

And, what do you mean with "You don't need a discreet graphics card at all. (Nvidia GTX etc)"? I thught maybe I could buy cheeper CPU and use GPU card instead.

Brutally - yes, we are saying don't expect to transcode 4K on old hardware - it simply is not designed for it and it will just frustrate you and your users.

If you can get a GTX 10 series card (1060/70/80 etc) - then that is a reasonable alternative - but I would personally spend the $ on a higher specification intel CPU/GPU - not only to keep things simple, but it will consume much less power.

I don't think a i3 7100/7300 is going to any more expensive than the i7/6700 you posted above ?

edit - a very quick scan on ebay (us site)

$160 for an Intel 7500, 16Gb with 160GB HDD .. as an example .. I'd suggest an SSD - but that is a little more expensive.  Mass storage is from your existing NAS. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304041042675?hash=item46ca4222f3:g:J8MAAOSw9lFjcBPT&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4BoGlRO1hXndK%2FJ9oXSDUWk3qYYcZV7hmki6cJ8r3%2BM9CtNWExagZU4kOrvzPrnDa9dhtDpTKYXC7Z8zKRnE7fJocHI%2BKTlcfz%2BfBjPYAT031mWBAjnaCBhmFa%2BJYdAmiIXikZoPBy71a54AlHKDBY7TR2oBqs0XYbfOud4iYJBaV70SmDOUK0VvbWqlteJzUNATIfWZs%2F6fjZFSyvRZLx0LRSyyFD6HiTmhDAru1UjYAwZR%2BjYbdPo2SfTuXtL5hejL6hQQMGMa9wmOmD6G1MAGKoJFme3mkDX978Mi8aur%7Ctkp%3ABFBM6NXUoJVh

Edited by rbjtech
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PeteGul

I see 😊 

But in the used market, there is not that new stuff. Not in my price segment. The time where people shifted there stuff all the time has going down, that's good by the way 😊

If I'll have to build a new one, I will need everything and then the money will roll....

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rbjtech
2 minutes ago, pettergulbra said:

I see 😊 

But in the used market, there is not that new stuff. Not in my price segment. The time where people shifted there stuff all the time has going down, that's good by the way 😊

If I'll have to build a new one, I will need everything and then the money will roll....

 

There is - the ebay stuff I quoted is used.   You won;t find any 7th Gen processors 'new' - we are now on Gen 13 .. :-S

Maybe a better question is what is your budget ?

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PeteGul

Didn't see you edit from ebay before I answered. But yes, in Norway (Noway), the prices is a bit higher. And shop from over seas takes long and much toll.....

I know you can't buy 7th Gen new, there isn't any old either. So if I have to iGPU 6xx, I'll have to buy new. 😊 

The NAS is going in the sell box, every disc is going in the same machine.

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rbjtech
9 minutes ago, pettergulbra said:

Didn't see you edit from ebay before I answered. But yes, in Norway (Noway), the prices is a bit higher. And shop from over seas takes long and much toll.....

I know you can't buy 7th Gen new, there isn't any old either. So if I have to iGPU 6xx, I'll have to buy new. 😊 

The NAS is going in the sell box, every disc is going in the same machine.

ok understood.

If you are buying new - then I would wait for the  i3 13100 to be released (non F version - you want the one with the GPU) - these have 4 cores/8threads and an extremely capable UHD 7xx GPU - capable of transcoding 8-10 x 4K streams !   Use DDR4 memory and it will be a very nice system, with i5 or i7 CPU upgradability down the line should you need it (the same internal GPU through - hence why it's such a good buy for transcoding at the moment..)

Enjoy !

 

 

Edited by rbjtech
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Q-Droid

It's not only about processing power/capacity or age but about the video codecs supported in the encoder/decoder of the GPU, whether integrated or discrete.

You've seen the nVidia table and probably noticed that the older GPUs do not support HEVC/h.265. Comp 1 on your list could handle the job by using the discrete GPU for transcoding, though somewhat limited by the low power CPU.

Here's why the older Intel CPUs are not cut out for media servers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video

Kaby Lake (7th gen) is really the oldest you should consider if starting with a "new" media server.

 

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PeteGul

Thanks for the good answers!

I have now set up an machine:


Intel Pentium Gold G7400 Alder Lake
ASUS PRIME H610M-K D4 MainBoard
Kingston FURY Beast DDR4 3200MHz 8GB
WD Blue SN570 250GB NVMe SSD
Cooler Master Elite 500 230v V4 PSU
SATA 6Gbs male to male kabel rød 0,5m
Cooler Master Masterbox NR600P

Tot: 590 USD
390 without the Case....

 

I'll search for and computer that maybe have mainboard that I can change the CPU, or maybe both CPU and mainboard. Maybe I then have the mony. But I don't have 6000,-NOK at the time for this.. And as You mentioned, I should wait for the 13. gen, not possible with the prices here. This G7400 in the list 100 USD and a new i5-13600KF cost 400 USD. Not that deep pocket in this times.....

But again, thanks for the help so far. I'll search for som old that can be upgraded 🙂

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RanmaCanada

Or you could buy this and just use your current NAS as a dumb box.  I picked up my current emby server from them for $120.  It's a dual core 11th gen i3 and it can handle everything I throw at it with very little power usage (15-20 watts).  Intel laptops make great servers as quicksync uses very little power and doesn't produce a tonne of heat.  Look for laptops with a smashed screen on eBay, and grab as high of a gen as possible.  For the record, my last server was on an i3-8130u and it could handle 3 4k transcodes before throwing up.

You don't need a desktop if you already have a NAS.  Black Friday also has some great deals on new hardware, and you can usually find ok laptops for cheap on forums like Hard and reddit.

There is this one as well if your want something that works perfectly with a small crack in the screen.  Just do a quick search and you will find lots of working laptops with a broken screen.

Edited by RanmaCanada
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PeteGul

Hi RanmaCanada

That would be a solution, but I want all to be in one box. This nas/server is only powered when it is in use, so I don't like to find a solution to wake to boxes :). My other small server stuff is running on an small PI. 

Will the hardware I've found be good enugh?

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rbjtech
6 hours ago, pettergulbra said:

Hi RanmaCanada

That would be a solution, but I want all to be in one box. This nas/server is only powered when it is in use, so I don't like to find a solution to wake to boxes :). My other small server stuff is running on an small PI. 

Will the hardware I've found be good enugh?

Yes - it has a UHD710 igpu - so it's good.   If you can stretch to an i3 (12100 - NOT the F sku) for probably not a lot more - then that would be my recommendation, but the Pentium Gold will work just fine.

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  • 2 weeks later...
shackbill
RanmaCanada
RanmaCanada
On 10/12/2022 at 14:45, shackbill said:

Im really just wondering if the hardware is sufficient. I’d rather pay more for something reliable. 

Then honestly get a new laptop.  

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-A515-56-53S3-i5-1135G7-Graphics-Fingerprint/dp/B09J5HXWG3/ passmark of 10025 at $459.54

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-A515-57-53T2-i5-1235U-802-11ax-Thunderbolt/dp/B09YFVNK2Q/ passmark of 13567 at $469.99

Your NUC is only 6332.  These are cheaper and far faster.  Great thing about a laptop, no monitor to buy, nor mouse and keyboard.  Also extremely easy to move, and uses very little power.  Parts are also more readily available if something should fail, where as NUC's are pretty much disposable.

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  • 2 weeks later...
shackbill

so I ended up getting the i5-1135G7 but i went with the NUC form factor which i prefer to a laptop. Plus it has more RAM (16GB) and larger SSD (512). The install was flawless and fast although it took 2 days to rebuild all the thumbnails - and now im wondering if i couldve copied those over from my other box. but its done now.

Im having intermittent problems streaming 4K stuff which i never had using the Shield. Is that old shield still better than this chipset?

 

 

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rbjtech
13 hours ago, shackbill said:

so I ended up getting the i5-1135G7 but i went with the NUC form factor which i prefer to a laptop. Plus it has more RAM (16GB) and larger SSD (512). The install was flawless and fast although it took 2 days to rebuild all the thumbnails - and now im wondering if i couldve copied those over from my other box. but its done now.

Im having intermittent problems streaming 4K stuff which i never had using the Shield. Is that old shield still better than this chipset?

 

 

Depends what the problems are - but that CPU and GPU combo is very strong - good choice :)

Assuming you have emby premier and have GPU transcoding configured - then I see zero reasons why you would be having performance issues.

Maybe worth going over an example ?

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shackbill
4 hours ago, rbjtech said:

Assuming you have emby premier and have GPU transcoding configured - then I see zero reasons why you would be having performance issues.

 

I do have premier but maybe i don’t have gpu transcoding configured. I will have to investigate that thanks. I’m on my way out of town for holidays but I will check remote when I get a chance otherwise I will have to wait until I return. I don’t recall the GPU transcoding confit on my shield setup previous though. 

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