Will be building a new emby server on Truenas Scale and want to verify

[mlapoint 10]

hardware.

I do have lifetime premiere.

I plan on using the following:

AMD Ryzen 5 4500 6-Core, 12-Thread processor

Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 GV-N1030D5-2GL Low Profile 2G Computer Graphics Card

What I want to do:

Hardware transcoding for 1080p.

Stream them in house with no stuttering.

Thank you,

Mike LaPointe

[Lessaj 467]

The GT 1030 can probably handle a couple streams but it's otherwise the biggest piece of e-waste ever produced. Your goal should be to direct play all your media, especially locally.

[mlapoint 10]

lessard, what video card should i be looking for to do that then? I'm trying to stay on a budget of under $200 for the card.

Thank you, 

Mike

[Neminem 1518]

If Truenas supports Intel Arc the have a look at them.

[Lessaj 467]

You could probably find a used 2000 series card for a good price, something like a 2060 or 2070 would be good. Personally I would stay away from Arc because of how many threads I've seen pop up with issues with the Intel drivers, tone mapping not working, etc, but for SDR content, whether that's HEVC -> H264 or H264 -> H264 at a lower bit rate, it would probably work fine too.

[TMCsw 248]

Why bother with an AMD CPU + Nvidia GPU combo?

When you can get a Intel CPU c/w iGPU like a:

I5-12500 for less money that will perform just as well (or better) and use less power? (don’t get an F-series)

[mlapoint 10]

TMCsw, the I5-1250 is $189 on Amazon right now and I would have to reorder and return all of the things I have already received as well as purchasing all of the different things for it. As well as having to do all of the research again.

Thank You though!

Mike

[mlapoint 10]

Lessaj, how does a AMD 100-505999 Radeon Pro WX 3100 sound?

[guunter 49]

52 minutes ago, mlapoint said:

Lessaj, how does a AMD 100-505999 Radeon Pro WX 3100 sound?

If you can't verify intel arc gpu works then typically you want NVIDIA GPU. A 1050ti/1060/p2000 class card is good enough for 4-5 4K transcodes to 1080p.

[Lessaj 467]

I don't really have any experience using AMD cards with Emby, it would likely also be fine for SDR content but for any HDR content they do not support tone mapping to my knowledge so it will depend on your media. Similarly I don't have any experience using anything that supports QuickSync, I've just seen some threads lately with issues with the Intel drivers depending on exactly which model it was, whether iGPU or an Arc card. It might be resolved already, or needs a certain driver version to work. If you're buying used you could likely get a good deal for a 2000 series Nvidia card as I mentioned, worst case something in the 1000 series would also work great for 1080p transcoding (I'm using a 1080 Ti personally) but if buying new your options are a bit more limited, probably nothing higher than a 1650 cost wise.

Having said that, as I previously mentioned, your goal should be to direct play all your content within your home network, you should not have any stuttering issues in that case unless you're trying to play some really high bitrate media and have poor wifi signal. Your CPU alone can likely handle a couple 1080p transcodes just fine, maybe not if the content is HEVC, so I wouldn't even say that having a GPU is required, but that's something you'd have to evaluate based on your media and your client devices - whether it ends up having to transcode or not. If the video is direct playing but audio is being transcoded this is a very lightweight CPU transcode, could likely have 10 or more of those running and barely notice it. Especially with throttling enabled.