Which is these CPUs is suitable for Plex encoding?

[Elliot B.]

I'm going to buy a small system and make it a Plex server.

 

I've found various NUCs, SFF systems etc. and they have the CPUs below.

 

My video files are x264 and x265. Mostly 1080p x265 but soon enough, I'll transition to 4k x265.

 

Transcoding is often used.

 

Two clients maximum at any one time (two Chromecasts).

 

Which of the following do you think will do the job?

 

[Circaflex]

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201774043-What-kind-of-CPU-do-I-need-for-my-Server-

 

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CPU Requirements

The most basic thing to remember is that the more Plex apps you have playing content at the same time, the more CPU power you'll need. Generally speaking, if you have two Plex apps requiring transcoded content at the same time, that will require about twice the CPU processing power compared to if there was only one app playing content.

If you want very basic minimum suggestions:

No transcoding: Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz (NAS devices based on ARM or PowerPC processors should also be capable of at least one stream with no transcoding)

Single 720p transcode: Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz

Single 1080p transcode: Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz

If you'll need to support more than one simultaneous transcode, you'll need a more powerful processor.

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The Guideline

Very roughly speaking, for a single full-transcode of a video, the following PassMark scores are a good guideline for a requirement:

1080p/10Mbps: 2000 PassMark

720p/4Mbps: 1500 PassMark

The CPU Benchmark website is a good resource to see what sort of PassMark score a particular processor received.

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You can also try doing a search such as "Core i5 4440 passmark" on Google or similar to help you find information for a particular processor.

Actual processing requirements can vary dramatically even between content which may seem like it should be similar. Typically, transcoding 720p (or lower) video will take fewer resources than 1080p video, though that won't always be the case.

Warning!: This guideline should not be used as a concrete measurement. Instead, it can be used to help give you a rough idea of what you may require.

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https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200375666-Plex-Media-Server-Requirements

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CPU requirements can vary dramatically, depending on how exactly you want to use Plex, which particular Plex apps you'll be using, properties of your media, how many people will be using Plex at the same time, and more.

As a minimum, we recommend:

Intel Core i3 (or equivalent) or faster

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Generally, any modern computer should meet that minimum. However, if you will have multiple people accessing content simultaneously and you'll sometimes require transcoding of content during playback, then you may well need something faster than the minimum.

If your computer's CPU is not powerful enough to keep up with transcoding your media, you will notice pausing or buffering as the app waits for the server to catch up. We have additional information to help you figure out what kind of processor you might need for your own particular usage.

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