Hello, I am struggling with the hardware selection for a Plex and TrueNAS Server build with a ZFS Raid (Raid-Z2) with (12) 12TB drives. I will have up to 4 concurrent streams in 4k. I am struggling with what will be best for hardware encoding/transcoding, Quick Sync or a dedicated graphics card. I want the motherboard to have IMPI Lan control with a 10Gigabit port. I will use a separate LSI SATA card in IT mode for the 12 hard drives. I would prefer a motherboard with multiple PCI slots in x16 and x8. What should I use for the boot drive. And can someone explain SLOG and what hardware is needed for that. I have built windows based computers but not a server.
Budget for CPU, motherboard, RAM, SATA card, dual boot SSDâs, and enclosure- $2500 (I already have the HDDâs)
⢠â Expected usage - 4 Plex streams plus NAS workload from 4 users
⢠â Media types - 4K and 1080p
⢠â Transcoding needs - I will need either Quick Sync or a dedicated graphics card
⢠â Form factor - Any size constraints? - I havenât bought a case yet and would like any recommendations to work with 12 drives
Option 1:
A CPU with no Quick Sync like AMD 9800x3D/990x3D
and use a dedicated graphics card like the following: NVIDIA Quadro P2000 / Tesla P4/NVIDIA RTX 3060 (12GB)
Option 2:
Use a Generation 14 Intel 14900K or generation 12 Intel 12900k that both
have the 770 UHD Quick Sync
Option 3:
Use a Xeon E5-2699 V4 without Quick Sync with a dedicated graphics card like the following: NVIDIA
Quadro P2000 / Tesla P4/NVIDIA RTX 3060 (12GB)
Option 4:
Use a Xeon W-1370P
with P750 iGPU (Quick Sync),
Option 4 seems like the best of both worlds with a
Xeon processor and Quick Sync. The graphics are not the newest 770 but should work to reduce the load on the CPU. Is Quick Sync just as good as a dedicated graphics card? If there is little difference than option 1 with the AMD 9800x3D would be the way to go. If Quick Sync is better Option 2 would be the best. There are still some lingering questions about the 14th generation Inte
I donât know .. I just use a Ryzen 5 7600 with a Sparkle A380 6GB GPU .. if you are doing direct play then you donât need much .. transcoding is what gets you. I share my Plex with about 30 friends and family and Iâve seen 11 people watching stuff at once. I only run 1080p content though
RAM is probably going to be the bulk of your costs and youâll be limited by your internet speeds outside your network
Would recommend a GPU if you have 4k content; Iâm assuming you have HDR content & someone will eventually want to play it on an SDR device & not have it look washed.
That is my question. Will a dedicated graphics card work better/the same or worse than using Intel Quick Sync which uses the 770 UHD on board graphics?
I use a 3050 - works great. But then again, depends on how many users youâre expecting at the same time. Other folks would say that intel ARC GPUs are an even more attractive options for transcoding (I was too early, so canât comment).
I have 2 systems built around the 13500T, original in Windows 11 running Hyper-V hosting a few VMs, with Plex running on the host not in a VM. It is a low power CPU and as a result is unlikely to have suffered the issues that the 13/14th gen had.
Have now built a second using another 13500T in Truenas in a 10 inch rack format. These are avaiable from 6U to 12U off the shelf from Amazon. I really like the form factor and there is a lot to be said for the flexibility if you can make it work (ie not for you as standard, with your motherboard requirement). 3D printed drive enclosures using a SATA/SAS backplane give great expansion potential. Running Plex as an APP within Truenas seems to be working well for now.
14900K is a lot of CPU to be sitting around doing not a lot, the iGPU on the CPU is more than capable of transcoding 4 or 5 streams at once. If all you are doing is running a NAS and Plex, do you really need to go to that level would be my question.
I will be moving everything, including VMs into the Truenas setup, working through the wrinkles at the moment, Will not be porting over the Intel Arc A380 I had in the Windows box, as it has (for me) added nothing in general usage. Have now printed a deeper 10 inch rack that will accomodate mATX, rather than the mini-ITX the 10 inch racks are usually set up to hold.
I suspect that there are some misconceptionsâŚ
Xeon W-1370P is nothing more than a Core i7-11700K with ECC. Then Intel dropped the trifurcation between Core, Xeon E and Xeon W-1000 that they had just introduced and enabled ECC on Core (upper tier of i5 and above) from Alder Lake onwards. So option 2 is superior to option 4 on all technical aspects, in particular the newer encoding engine. (I would, however, avoid âKâ).
Option 2 and 4 will both beat option 1 on idle power. (And why, oh why, an X3D for a NAS?)
I also do not understand why you discuss QuickSync that much, and then pick a Nvidia dGPU for options 1 and 3 rather than an Intel Arc.
Please define âgoodâ.
QuickSync is arguably better than a Nvidia/AMD dGPU for transcoding because it is highly optimised for energy efficiencyâpossibly at the expense of quality, but then best transcoding quality is achieved by using the CPU, power bill be damned.
If you do not understand SLOG, it is 99.9% certain that you do NOT need itâŚ
Any small and cheap SSD. Say, a second-hand 128 GB SSD sold for pocket change by someone who has upgraded his laptop.
If a rack is acceptable, then go for a rack case with a proper SAS backplane.
And you may then actually go for a complete refurbished server.
Generally think about your needs (any use other than Plex?). And climb down on the CPU tier: As described, you do NOT need an X3D, an i9 or a 2699v4.
N=1 and all that but i have never had an issue with it. From what i read, it can sometimes drop out to software and if that is to happen, best to be on linux and not windows. So Truenas is covered
From the OPâs perspective it is an easy entry point into it, if there is an issue, easy to drop in an Intel Arc later (or GPU flavour of your choice). My windows box has an A380 in it, i noticed no difference at all, in the before and after, I originally bought it for AV1 but ultimately did nothing with it.
