HW options for 2000$ budget

[T.J.Hammer]

Hi all,

I recently build my first truenas server and after so much problems due to lack of knowledge and tons of help from this forum I finally have something up and running.
my current build:
I have I7-9700
Z390 aorus extreme
32GB DDR4 2666
750W gold Antec HCG power supply
6X 4TB WD HDD's (4 red, 2 black)

after trying to stream 4K movies with plex plugin I got a lot of buffering and it was unwatchable so I got myself a GTX 970 and now there is no buffering.
the problem is when I try to stream for 2 or more devices in parallel.
so I upgrade to scale (I had truenas core) and now I got to a situation when I stream 2 4K movies but the CPU is on 80% use and the GPU is on 0% (?!)

I already ordered 4 X 6TB red plus (CMR) drives but now I want to upgrade the CPU, GPU and the motherboard.
I heard that the I5 12600 is a great CPU for this use and I need to get a mini ITX motherboard so it could fit to my new case (Fractal Design Node 304)

can you please assist in finding a CPU, mini ITX MB and a GPU that will fit? budget is around 2000$ for it.
I would like to stream to 5-6 devices 4K movies using the plex plugin on truenas scale.

thanks!!

 

[DigitalMinimalist]

Does the i7-9700 has an integrated iGPU?
(It doesn’t if the CPU has an „F“ in the name)
The i7 iGPU has Quicksync, which should be good for at least 1-2 4K streams…
I suspect a software config issue…

 

[ChrisRJ]

Why do you want to upgrade?

 

[T.J.Hammer]

Does the i7-9700 has an integrated iGPU?
(It doesn’t if the CPU has an „F“ in the name)
The i7 iGPU has Quicksync, which should be good for at least 1-2 4K streams…
I suspect a software config issue…

Its the regular i7, not F and he can do 1 stream but the second one is killing it..
SW problem is a very good option as I have no real idea what im doing but still 2 streams is low I want to have the option of 5 at least.

Why do you want to upgrade?

Because I want to stream at least 5 4k movies at a time and right now 2 is not eaven an option..

 

[NugentS]

Do you have plexpass, or just using the freeplex?
PLexPass is needed to hardware transcoding I believe

 

[T.J.Hammer]

Do you have plexpass, or just using the freeplex?
PLexPass is needed to hardware transcoding I believe

Hi,
Yes I do have it and I turned on the HW accelorarion but nothing really changed...

 

[ChrisRJ]

Because I want to stream at least 5 4k movies at a time and right now 2 is not eaven an option..

If I understand correctly, you are getting this result with the GPU being completely idle. If that is the case, there is very little chance that a hardware change will help. You would first need to saturate the GPU.

 

[T.J.Hammer]

If I understand correctly, you are getting this result with the GPU being completely idle. If that is the case, there is very little chance that a hardware change will help. You would first need to saturate the GPU.

Yes, the gtx 970 is on 0% use when I stream.
The gtx 960 was on 27% use but both cant stream 2 4k movies at the same time.
What is saturate and how can I do it?

 

[NugentS]

Well clearly you are not using hardware transcoding.

I seem to recall from another thread that some older cards, and some newer cards don't have driver support in TN - but I have no idea how to find out

Whats the result of nvidia-smi ?

 

[T.J.Hammer]

Well clearly you are not using hardware transcoding.

I seem to recall from another thread that some older cards, and some newer cards don't have driver support in TN - but I have no idea how to find out

Whats the result of nvidia-smi ?

its always on 0% and 52C

 

[rvassar]

When you say "stream", do you mean live, or pre-recorded? Can you not simply store 4k transcoded media? My current position is the space vs. CPU question almost always favors space. Transcode it in the background, and run with it...

 

[T.J.Hammer]

When you say "stream", do you mean live, or pre-recorded? Can you not simply store 4k transcoded media? My current position is the space vs. CPU question almost always favors space. Transcode it in the background, and run with it...

Its all saved on the nas and by using plex I stream it to my tv.
All the files are 4k and I am not converting anything but when I try to watch 2 movies at the same time (lets say I want to watch a movie in the living room tv ans my wife want to watch her show in the badroom) its buffering and unwatchable..

 

[rvassar]

Its all saved on the nas and by using plex I stream it to my tv.
All the files are 4k and I am not converting anything but when I try to watch 2 movies at the same time (lets say I want to watch a movie in the living room tv ans my wife want to watch her show in the badroom) its buffering and unwatchable..

Ok, so your requirement is watching two 4k streams simultaneously. I have trouble assuming the NAS is the culprit if there's no transcoding going on, but... That's got a lot of variables. It may be transcoding from one 4k container to another, which you might be able to fix in the Plex configuration. Otherwise, you're probably going to have to do some bandwidth analysis and find your bottleneck. It could be something you're not observing directly, like WiFi, network bandwidth, distance, adjacent channel interference, etc...

 

[T.J.Hammer]

Ok, so your requirement is watching two 4k streams simultaneously. I have trouble assuming the NAS is the culprit if there's no transcoding going on, but... That's got a lot of variables. It may be transcoding from one 4k container to another, which you might be able to fix in the Plex configuration. Otherwise, you're probably going to have to do some bandwidth analysis and find your bottleneck. It could be something you're not observing directly, like WiFi, network bandwidth, distance, adjacent channel interference, etc...

the thing is I want to have at least 5 streams simultaneously and I can clearly see the CPU on 80% use with 2 streams and my network use is around 20% so I cant see any other problem then HW...
I already ordered the I5 12600K with Z690I auros and it will arrive with the new disks I ordered.
hopefully ill understand how to change all this hardware and keeping my files haha.

 

[Davvo]

GPU at 0% and CPU at 80% means you are not using the dedicated GPU.
If you want to have multiple streams (5-6 as you said) you need first to make use of a dedicated GPU before thinking of any upgrade because you need more power.
Solving the config/software issue should be your first priority imho.

 

[T.J.Hammer]

GPU at 0% and CPU at 80% means you are not using the dedicated GPU.
If you want to have multiple streams (5-6 as you said) you need first to make use of a dedicated GPU before thinking of any upgrade because you need more power.
Solving the config/software issue should be your first priority imho.

how can I make use of it?
I installed it and its recognized.
here is how it looks on the plex app:

here is the nvidia-smi command:

here is the plex settings:

what am I missing?

 

[DigitalMinimalist]

I have no clue, but did you try NOT to allocate the Intel GPU?
Gut feeling: it prioritizes the Intel GPU vs. nvidia

 

[Davvo]

As a test you can disable the iGPU in the BIOS. Make sure you have a way to rollback the configuration since from the nvidia-smi command looks like the dedicated GPU isn't working.

 

[T.J.Hammer]

I have no clue, but did you try NOT to allocate the Intel GPU?
Gut feeling: it prioritizes the Intel GPU vs. nvidia

I cant leave it blank and the only option is to allocate 0 so that's what I did.

As a test you can disable the iGPU in the BIOS. Make sure you have a way to rollback the configuration since from the nvidia-smi command looks like the dedicated GPU isn't working.

I connected a screen to it and its working so I am not sure why the plex isn't using it...


Is there any action needed to be taken beside installing the GPU and allocate it to plex?

 

[Davvo]

Is there any action needed to be taken beside installing the GPU and allocate it to plex?

I don't use Plex so I don't know.
You can probably force it to use the dedicated GPU by, as I wrote in my previous post, deactivating the iGPU in the BIOS.
But if your VGA doesn't work you are left with no screen, and then the only option you have is probably a BIOS reset.