New PC Build + Moving from Kodi to Emby

[Thigerlite 0]

Hi All

I have recently purchased an Emby Premiere licence and will move my library from a single PC (running Kodi) to a new PC build, specifically running Emby as a media server. I have joined here to access the vast repository of information and expertise for Emby, and I have a few questions regarding hardware for a dedicated PC build.

 

Intel Quick Sync

I own 3 PCs that could be used for this server, but I don’t believe that any are suitable for media transcoding.

• 2 of my PCs run Ryzen integrated graphics on the older AM4 motherboards. One CPU is a Ryzen 3 (2^nd Gen) and the other is Ryzen 5 (3^rd Gen). Both of these are officially limited to Win 10.
• The 3^rd PC is a recently purchased (ex govt) HP Z2 G3 with Intel I7 7700 and Quadro M620 GPU. I have Win 11 running on this with a new NVME Gen 4, but from what I have read, the Quick Sync specs of this CPU are limited when compared with modern Intel CPUs.

I also read on this forum that it is highly recommended to use a 12^th Intel CPU or later for the best Quick Sync abilities. If that is the case, then it may be wise to start with a new PC build with Intel integrated graphics only, to reduce complexity and increase reliability.

Q. Is Quick Sync a single chip on the CPU or is it dependent upon how many cores the CPU has? Would a CPU with more cores/threads have more capability with Quick Sync?

 

My Library and the Current HDD Storage

My video library is currently about 16TB, shared across 3 x WD Blue HDDs (2x 8TB + 1 x 4TB). My library is a mix of formats. About 80% is 1080P, but as I add movies to my library, I am adding 4K files rather than the 1080P variants.

I have used the slower Blue drives for over a decade with no issues. As I am the only user, accessing my library on a single device, the WD Blues have been fine. They can take a second to start up from sleep, but sleeping is what they do best. With me as the only user, it can be several days between my access to the library via Kodi.

With an Emby server, it will be quite different. I intend to share my library with extended family and some closer friends. I would expect a maximum of 10 users being given access. How often they use that access is unknown.

My current Kodi PC runs Elementary OS and the 3 HDD are formatted to EXT4. For any Emby PC build, I will run Win 11 and the HDD would need to be formatted for Windows. I could re-use the WD Blues, but I am not certain they fast enough for a Media Server PC running Emby?

Q. Are WD Blue HDD suitable for Emby server? Are they fast enough to deliver data for transcoding etc? My only experience with them was Kodi on a single PC.

 

Any information provided would be greatly appreciated.

[vincen 71]

4 minutes ago, Thigerlite said:

For any Emby PC build, I will run Win 11 and the HDD would need to be formatted for Windows. I could re-use the WD Blues, but I am not certain they fast enough for a Media Server PC running Emby?

Q. Are WD Blue HDD suitable for Emby server? Are they fast enough to deliver data for transcoding etc? My only experience with them was Kodi on a single PC.

Hi

For Emby you should run it on Linux too, lot more efficient and stable  Here running on Debian 12 since 3 years without any problems

WDD Blue are not done at all for servers (it's drives designed for desktop use so you are probably going to kill them prematurely...)

[RanmaCanada 494]

The AMD graphics will "do the job". It won't be as good as Intel or Nvidia, but it would be sufficient as everything is usually transcoded to h.264, which most hardware encoders are extremely good at, at this point. The i7-7700 would be sufficient for most of what you would be doing if it's a personal media server. If it's not, the Quadro could step up, but it's performance would be not up to par in regards to the quality that the i7-7700 could produce as it's from Maxwell generation, which was garbage at NVENC. If you're really concerned, get an Intel ARC graphics card like an A310 or A380 and use one of the AMD systems and call it a day.

As for using Linux, it's its own can of worms and has problems when using quicksync. Take a browse through the linux server sub for the usual issues. Windows is "easier" and more friendly if you're not up to troubleshooting common problems with Linux permissions and crappy drivers.

Now, as for your hard drives, Blues are fine. It doesn't really matter unless you're anal about using server grade or NAS grade drives. A drive is a drive is a drive, unless the drive is SMR. Blues will work, and unless you're streaming multiple 4k remuxes, (10 or more) have more than enough data throughput to saturate your internet bandwidth as not many people have access to 2.5gbit or higher internet upload.  The slowest WD Blue is 147MB/s, which is more than a gigabit a second in regards to network speeds (1176mbit to be exact). To give you an idea, your average 1080p is anywhere from 10-15mbit (1.25-1.875MB/s). So you'd need to stream upwards of 100 movies to full saturate a single drive, in theory.

[Thigerlite 0]

14 hours ago, vincen said:

Hi

For Emby you should run it on Linux too, lot more efficient and stable  Here running on Debian 12 since 3 years without any problems

WDD Blue are not done at all for servers (it's drives designed for desktop use so you are probably going to kill them prematurely...)

Thanks for your response. 

I first ran Kodi many years ago on Win 8.1 and then Win 10. I found the PC needed restarting once per week to keep things going smoothly. When I changed the MB to a AMD setup, I could not get the sound out of Win 10 via the HDMI. I decided to try Linux and discovered that Kodi ran much faster and smoother off Linux. I still run Elementary and for the Kodi (medial server application) it is better than Win 10. I was also surprised how different the color were with the Linux AMD drivers. 

[Thigerlite 0]

28 minutes ago, RanmaCanada said:

The AMD graphics will "do the job". It won't be as good as Intel or Nvidia, but it would be sufficient as everything is usually transcoded to h.264, which most hardware encoders are extremely good at, at this point. The i7-7700 would be sufficient for most of what you would be doing if it's a personal media server. If it's not, the Quadro could step up, but it's performance would be not up to par in regards to the quality that the i7-7700 could produce as it's from Maxwell generation, which was garbage at NVENC. If you're really concerned, get an Intel ARC graphics card like an A310 or A380 and use one of the AMD systems and call it a day.

As for using Linux, it's its own can of worms and has problems when using quicksync. Take a browse through the linux server sub for the usual issues. Windows is "easier" and more friendly if you're not up to troubleshooting common problems with Linux permissions and crappy drivers.

Now, as for your hard drives, Blues are fine. It doesn't really matter unless you're anal about using server grade or NAS grade drives. A drive is a drive is a drive, unless the drive is SMR. Blues will work, and unless you're streaming multiple 4k remuxes, (10 or more) have more than enough data throughput to saturate your internet bandwidth as not many people have access to 2.5gbit or higher internet upload.  The slowest WD Blue is 147MB/s, which is more than a gigabit a second in regards to network speeds (1176mbit to be exact). To give you an idea, your average 1080p is anywhere from 10-15mbit (1.25-1.875MB/s). So you'd need to stream upwards of 100 movies to full saturate a single drive, in theory.

Thanks for your detail information. The WD Blues I have are only 2 years old and therefore they hopefully have significant life left in them. Re-using them will save funds for other projects. I will take note of all the details regarding drive speeds vs network speeds. I will be setting this new PC up in Australia where the internet offerings are extremely varied. I should be able to install a 500MB/s or 1GB/s dependent upon what is being offered by ISPs. 

I had not considered an Intel ARC GPU for one of my Ryzen PCs. I assume that if I install one of these, that the GPU would complete all the transcoding work? Is it correct that I would need to select hardware acceleration within the Emby menus to force this? 

[RanmaCanada 494]

1 hour ago, Thigerlite said:

Thanks for your detail information. The WD Blues I have are only 2 years old and therefore they hopefully have significant life left in them. Re-using them will save funds for other projects. I will take note of all the details regarding drive speeds vs network speeds. I will be setting this new PC up in Australia where the internet offerings are extremely varied. I should be able to install a 500MB/s or 1GB/s dependent upon what is being offered by ISPs. 

I had not considered an Intel ARC GPU for one of my Ryzen PCs. I assume that if I install one of these, that the GPU would complete all the transcoding work? Is it correct that I would need to select hardware acceleration within the Emby menus to force this? 

Yes, if you use an Intel ARC it will take care of everything and use the hardware encoding features of Emby, which is a Premiere feature.

[Thigerlite 0]

21 minutes ago, RanmaCanada said:

Yes, if you use an Intel ARC it will take care of everything and use the hardware encoding features of Emby, which is a Premiere feature.

Okay thank you. Much appreciated.

[vincen 71]

5 hours ago, RanmaCanada said:

As for using Linux, it's its own can of worms and has problems when using quicksync. Take a browse through the linux server sub for the usual issues. Windows is "easier" and more friendly if you're not up to troubleshooting common problems with Linux permissions and crappy drivers.

lol, have fun with Windows then  You clearly don't know what you are talking about regarding Linux !

[RanmaCanada 494]

11 hours ago, vincen said:

lol, have fun with Windows then  You clearly don't know what you are talking about regarding Linux !

Ah yes personal attacks. Great way to lose all legitimacy. Sorry, but you're on the ignore list now.

Have a great day.