Need Advice - Built New "Sever" and I have a question about CPU use

[murky024 3]

So my old Emby Server was built on an i5 (gen 2) laptop from 2011. Dual Core, with 4 GB of RAM on an SSD drive.

 

When I would run a stream I would occasionally get some choppiness which I attributed to the USB 2 connection to my storage array.

 

I picked up a new "server" using a refurbished (recycled corporate PC) HP 8300 Elite SFF. It has a Gen 3 i5 (so 4 cores running 3.2 ghz) and 8 GB or RAM, and I moved the SSD over for the OS and server on a fresh build of Windows 10 Pro 64 bit.

 

The issue is I am not seeing any throttling of the CPU. As soon as a start a stream, it ffmpeg.exe sends the CPU to 100% on all 4 cores. The stream quality is good, the sound is good, and I am able to stream across 4 devices in my network I have tested while keeping the stream quality good on all devices.

 

Normally in my Laptop server build, the ffmpeg.exe would run at 100% for a few seconds and then throttle down to low usage until its next run. My transcoding settings are the same as they were before, with everything at default, Throttling is on, Auto # of threads, and 23 H264 encoding.

 

What am I missing here? This processor is a generation better than my laptop, and has 2 more cores... I was expecting to see a big improvement in CPU use here.

[ebr 16195]

The stream quality is good, the sound is good, and I am able to stream across 4 devices in my network I have tested while keeping the stream quality good on all devices.

 

So.... everything is working well?

[murky024 3]

So.... everything is working well?

Yes, its working well, just not as I expected.

 

I was just expecting to see the CPU throttle down and I am concerned it is not... I just wanted to see what I should look at as to why it wasnt working in a way similar to how my laptop did.

[ebr 16195]

My suggestion would be to sit back and let the system do its thing.  Using your system to its capacity isn't, in itself, any sort of problem.

 

If you really want to play with it, you can explore the transcoding settings in the server (maybe thread count).  But, again, if everything is working, the best thing to do is just leave it alone.

[Tur0k 148]

When you move from a mobile CPU to a desktop CPU you gain some 40-60% processing power and overall speed.

 

If it is working well I don't know that I would split hairs over the CPU utilization.

 

Settings like @@ebr pointed out may ease utilization on the server's CPU like transcoding threadcount and enable throttling in (server dashboard - transcoding). You might also try a custom FFMPEG distribution.

 

Your other alternative is to enable hardware acceleration for transcoding and see if that makes a difference for you. Technically, in windows Intel quicksync is supported but I don't know if it is compatible or even available with your 3rd gen I5 CPU. If you are running on Linux Vaapi and openMAX OMX are supported. In windows there is an option for Intel quicksync.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited November 8, 2017 by Tur0k

[mastrmind11 722]

It'll spike until the transcode is done, then move back to minimal usage.  If it's 100% utilization for longer than it takes to transcode the media, then there's reason to be concerned.  Otherwise, just let it do its thing.

[murky024 3]

It'll spike until the transcode is done, then move back to minimal usage.  If it's 100% utilization for longer than it takes to transcode the media, then there's reason to be concerned.  Otherwise, just let it do its thing.

 

I guess I might not know what to expect.

 

I have my BluRays backed up into MKV files to allow easier watching of media. When I stream a BluRay converted MKV 1 stream will take ~100% of my CPU (according to task manager and resource manager) the entire time. I don't witness a throttling effect where CPU use will drop. The Server dashboard shows transcoding at 78fps plus but it never seems to go into a throttled state.

 

What is the logic used by the server to decide if the file will direct play or transcode?

 

I have seen the same device (Fire TV) transcode and direct play on the same file type.

[mastrmind11 722]

I guess I might not know what to expect.

 

I have my BluRays backed up into MKV files to allow easier watching of media. When I stream a BluRay converted MKV 1 stream will take ~100% of my CPU (according to task manager and resource manager) the entire time. I don't witness a throttling effect where CPU use will drop. The Server dashboard shows transcoding at 78fps plus but it never seems to go into a throttled state.

 

What is the logic used by the server to decide if the file will direct play or transcode?

 

I have seen the same device (Fire TV) transcode and direct play on the same file type.

Generally speaking, bitrate.  But subtitles can also cause something to transcode.  There's a whole section on transcoding on the wiki.  Your transcode log will also tell you why.  Perhaps post it here.

[murky024 3]

Attached is the log for the file that my PC never seemed to get ahead of. This is one where my PC showed 100% CPU use during the entire stream. I think my only real concern is that my "refurbished" hardware isn't in as good of condition as it should be for a Grade A, and maybe there are processor issues.

 

I will note I have since moved the temp file off the default location as I want to minimize the risk to the SSD.

Transcode Log.txt

Edited November 8, 2017 by murky024

[Happy2Play 9784]

Transcoding at 100% is normal no matter how powerful the machine is. 

 

 

And this media is transcoding because

TranscodeReasons=AudioCodecNotSupported,ContainerBitrateExceedsLimit

[murky024 3]

Thanks for all the help and confirmation everything looks normal. I appreciate the support of the community here.