ffmpeg causing my CPU to heat up to 73C

[podonnell 47]

I've had a handful of transcodes before, but today I noticed that one was causing my CPU to go wild.

This was a single ffmpeg process for one transcode I saw occurring.

 

Is there a way to limit ffmpeg or these transcode processes from running away with the CPU? Or any kind of limiter?

[Happy2Play 9780]

13 hours ago, podonnell said:

I've had a handful of transcodes before, but today I noticed that one was causing my CPU to go wild.

This was a single ffmpeg process for one transcode I saw occurring.

 

Is there a way to limit ffmpeg or these transcode processes from running away with the CPU? Or any kind of limiter?

Completely normal for software encoding with ffmpeg.  I use it outside of Emby all the time but try to use GPU as much as possible.

[Neminem 1516]

Try running this 

CPU Stress Test - An online tool to test your CPU stability | CPU Expert (cpux.net)

And make a decision about you CPU Cooler, it might not be good enough fore prolonged max usage.

[podonnell 47]

Hmm.. my GPU is pretty bad -- GeForce 570 I think. CPU is older but I think when I looked into it, CPU encoding was better than GPU. CPU is an i7 4790k

I do have Premiere, would GPU encoding be a better idea?

I swear I've seen a bunch of transcodes before but never saw the temp that high

[rbjtech 5282]

73 Degrees is the Tcase max temp for that cpu (it is 10 years old..) - so it is likely throttling CPU throughput and would probably go faster if it was cooled more  efficiently.

Yes the integrated GPU (Intel® HD Graphics 4600) would not only transcode quicker, but run at a fraction of the power/heat.

But as advised above - hitting TDP is never good - so I would get a better cooler capable of dissapating the 88W of power when run at full throttle - or simply provide much better airflow or assistance to the cooler you currently have - such as bigger/more case fans for example.

After 10 years, it's also worth replacing the thermal compound between the cpu and heatsink - as it may have dried and become less effective. 

Edited October 18, 2024 by rbjtech

[RanmaCanada 494]

As for which GPU, as your system is so old, I would suggest just a 1050Ti, as you don't have resizable BAR for an Arc A310 or Arc A380. You can get them in low profile if needed. Ideally it would be best to just upgrade your system to something modern. Even an N100 mini system will run circles around your current rig when it comes to hardware encoding (though your rig would still be faster for gaming). Here's an N100 mini pc that is currently on sale for $127 haha. WOW what at time to be alive ha. What you would do is just offload your server to this little machine and make it your encode box, leaving your main rig free to do whatever you want (unless that is where you have your files store also). As the processor is small and efficient, it's estimated running cost per year is maybe 2 bucks, for the whole machine.

[podonnell 47]

On 10/17/2024 at 10:41 AM, rbjtech said:

73 Degrees is the Tcase max temp for that cpu (it is 10 years old..) - so it is likely throttling CPU throughput and would probably go faster if it was cooled more  efficiently.

Yes the integrated GPU (Intel® HD Graphics 4600) would not only transcode quicker, but run at a fraction of the power/heat.

But as advised above - hitting TDP is never good - so I would get a better cooler capable of dissapating the 88W of power when run at full throttle - or simply provide much better airflow or assistance to the cooler you currently have - such as bigger/more case fans for example.

After 10 years, it's also worth replacing the thermal compound between the cpu and heatsink - as it may have dried and become less effective. 

Hmm I had a nice cooler in there too, a Corsair H100i, but it's at least 5-6 years old so it may be dying out. Typically my temps are great in here idle.

I do think I've replaced the thermal compound when I upgraded the cooler, but it's probably due for another as well.

That being said, how am I able to designate using my integrated GPU versus my dedicated GPU? I think I'd much prefer to specify that GPU handles any transcodes.

12 hours ago, RanmaCanada said:

As for which GPU, as your system is so old, I would suggest just a 1050Ti, as you don't have resizable BAR for an Arc A310 or Arc A380. You can get them in low profile if needed. Ideally it would be best to just upgrade your system to something modern. Even an N100 mini system will run circles around your current rig when it comes to hardware encoding (though your rig would still be faster for gaming). Here's an N100 mini pc that is currently on sale for $127 haha. WOW what at time to be alive ha. What you would do is just offload your server to this little machine and make it your encode box, leaving your main rig free to do whatever you want (unless that is where you have your files store also). As the processor is small and efficient, it's estimated running cost per year is maybe 2 bucks, for the whole machine.

I appreciate this info! I thought about getting a new PC for this but I am mostly handling direct plays and very few users, so it's mostly done the job. But for something that cheap and efficient, maybe I'll think about that decision again...

[RanmaCanada 494]

11 hours ago, podonnell said:

Hmm I had a nice cooler in there too, a Corsair H100i, but it's at least 5-6 years old so it may be dying out. Typically my temps are great in here idle.

I do think I've replaced the thermal compound when I upgraded the cooler, but it's probably due for another as well.

That being said, how am I able to designate using my integrated GPU versus my dedicated GPU? I think I'd much prefer to specify that GPU handles any transcodes.

I appreciate this info! I thought about getting a new PC for this but I am mostly handling direct plays and very few users, so it's mostly done the job. But for something that cheap and efficient, maybe I'll think about that decision again...

I personally use a laptop as my encode server and have everything in a 24 bay server chassis in the basement. I used to use my main rig as the encode machine, but it got to be a PITA when I needed to reboot and people were on it. I started out with an i3-8130u and when I gave that away to a friend I upgraded to an i5-1235u. Got the i5 for $130 USD as it has a smashed screen, but has a working HDMI port so no big deal. It's great to have freedom to use your machine as you want.

Good luck and prices will just get cheaper, maybe.