The best way to test is to fire up some transcodes on your server.
Make sure you have hw transcoding enabled in settings
The G4900T should do more then 10 1080p transdodes, you can see more details in the hp290 owners thread
If its working, you should see a bunch of transcode (hw) on the cards.
So about 4 years ago I scored some deals and set myself up on an X8DTL-3F and 2 X5690’s and 64G ECC. Given the ongoing power costs, I’m wondering if it might be worth it to drop that platform and move to the “Basic Unraid NAS” build. I currently have 25 containers running on Unraid with the biggest draw being Plex. Honestly, I never see the overall CPU load top 25% and my max Plex stream history was 10 concurrent transcodes.
Would this move make sense? I have a couple extra boxes that I’m thinking about utilizing for docker if the load is too much. Is there any resale market for the existing mobo/cpu/ram to help recover cost?
Thanks!
I think you should add a QSV transcoder box to your setup and keep your X8DTL in place. Evaluate the impact removing Plex from your current setup has. Then, if you see a drastic lowering of CPU usage, I’d downgrade to something low power like L5630.
That is…a very well reasoned argument! I happen to have an unused G4600 system kicking around - I might give that one a try first to see how it manages. Looks like I can score 2 L5630’s for $30 CAD (because that kicks it up to only 80W).
Damn, thanks for the sanity check!
The G4600 would be a great place to start, that’s Kaby Lake (7th Gen).
So am about to purchase an HP 290 as my plex server so i dont need to keep my Windows PC on 24/7. I do not have a NAS setup, just some shares on my PC. Is there a way to this plex server can send a WON packet to my PC either; when there is user activity on plex, so share is ready to go… or at minimum send a WON when file is requested from SMB share located on PC.
Thanks!
[EDIT]
I think in going to merge this HP 290 Plex server as a docker under Unraid for NAS using a esata controller/case thread here for suggestion
Did you ever build this setup? I was looking at same components for a multi-tasking NAS/Plex build. Was wondering how it would compare to the recommended builds above.
I highly recommend an Intel-based build instead of AMD Ryzen. QSV and value are two good reasons to do so.
Didn’t know if you were replying to my post. But after looking through this post and the one on the hp 290 I am definitely going with Intel. Had no idea that HW transcoding would be that good. Was just wondering if the Intel Core i3-10100 would work for the same level as your multi-taking as NAS builds above. Was looking at Mini-ITX boards and the 1x16gb ram that you posted from TeamGroup.
Mini-ITX is extremely limiting, I would avoid it. Micro-ATX should provide many more opportunities for expansion at a lower cost.
You’re not gaining much by going for LGA1200/10th-gen, I’d stick to 8th/9th unless you get a really good deal on something newer.
Great thanks for info! Site has so much good information, still trying to figure everything out. My Core 2 Duo Plex box finally died so need to build something new. Thought first about Synology Box, them AMD box… then came across your hp 290 post and video!
Yes,
HP290, 500g NVMe, eSATA controller & enclosure got here Wednesday night. Build is up and running with stock CPU and 4gb. I was to anxious to test it out, so i got it up and going before the CPU and ram got here.
I got 10 dockers running including plex and all of them finally talking to each other. They don’t seem to phase the box too much. I have ~12TB copied over so far, but waiting on another 14tb for my parity drive, before I bring my other drives over to the array.
This is my first time touching a NAS, Unraid, a docker container and know little to nothing about Linux, so it’s been a tiresome couple of days.
Think the ram and CPU will be here tomorrow.
Many motherboards have the option to set the amount of RAM to be used by the iGPU. How does this setting affect QSV performance?
It’s not a huge build, but somebody looking for 4 drives + parity + cache, it should suffice nicely.
If that’s a USB MediaTek box (or similar) I’ve had 2 of them die within the year that I bought them.
Watch it like a hawk.
It’s a Mediasonic eSata encloser 
Mediasonic is definitely what I meant.
I was worried about using a USB controller, but I figured an eSATA would be fine, as all the work is done with the controller and the box is just a passive connection, No?
Did you have yours set to USB or eSATA ?
Did you ever hear back if JDM was using usb or esata? I’ve got an identical build in progress.
