Server Upgrades

Self-Hosted & Services Plex
#1

I have had my server for a couple of years and am thinking of updating it as it struggles with streaming 4K and often PLEX gives me an error saying This server is not powerful enough” Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated… Here is what I currently have

OS - Windows 10 PRO

Case - Rosewill 4U Server Chassis
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091IZ1ZG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

MB - ASRock EP2C602 SSI EEB Server Motherboard
https://www.newegg.com/asrock-ep2c602-dual-intel-xeon-e5-1600-2600-4600-v2-series/p/N82E16813157352?Item=N82E16813157352

CPU - Intel E5-2670 2.60Ghz 20M Cache 8-Core X2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007H29FRS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

RAM - 16 GB

Video card - amd radeon r5 200 series

Main HD - 250 GB SSD

Additional HD - 4 8 TB Western Digitial

#2

Most servers should be able to direct stream 4k without issue.
Can you ensure that you are not transcoding 4k?

#3

Honestly, I have no clue

Under transcoder settings, it is set to “Transcoder quality” Automatic
There is no directory set
transcoder default throttle buffer is set to 60

Enable HDR tone Mapping and User Hardware-acclerated video encoding are checked

#4

If you have 4k titles in your library and you have users with devices that don’t support 4k, you are transcoding. You can confirm on the Plex activity page while someone is streaming whether it is transcoding or not.

I think the general consensus will be that:

  • Windows is not going to be the OS of choice
  • If you need to support a mix of 4k and non-4k devices, you should have two separate Plex libraries - one for 4k direct play, and one to direct play and transcode 1080 titles
  • If you need to do more than a few simultaneous transcodes, get a dedicated QS box for that
  • You don’t need a video card unless you are going to be passing it through to a VM.
  • Newegg sucks donkey balls
1 Like
#5

I wholeheartedly concur, esp the part about newegg!

#6

the expanse GIF by SYFY

#7

All of that is fine, but you need to be checking your clients as well. Plex dashboard will tell you what its doing when playing a file.