which AMD Ryzen CPU/MOBO for htpc/plex server?

Forums › Desktop computing › which AMD Ryzen CPU/MOBO for htpc/plex server?

floydie

474 posts

Ultimate Geek

#247799 23-Feb-2019 20:01

need to upgrade the 9 year old HTPC and add plex server ability to it as its our main Media source...

looking at getting a Ryzen cpu mobo combo but no idea on the latest hardware..

MUST have an optical audio out port.

Full size ATX is ok as its on a large case out of sight

gbwelly

1243 posts

Uber Geek

#2186039 23-Feb-2019 20:20

Intel with quicksync hw accelerated transcoding could be an option as you can go for a low end i3 assuming you don't need subtitle burning. Feel free to ignore as this isn't answering your question but thought I should throw the option out there.

nzkc

1571 posts

Uber Geek

#2186059 23-Feb-2019 20:42

Any reason the motherboard has to have optical out? Could you get a discrete sound card with optical out instead? Think you'll probably find it easier to get one of those and they're probably outputting better sound. Plus easier to upgrade later if you go from 5.1 to 7.1 to whatever comes in the future etc.

As for the CPU anything modern will be fine. I'm running Plex in a VM on Ubuntu which happens to be a Ryzen 5 1600. Doesnt register any CPU basically ever! Even when transcoding. Though most of the time its doing direct streaming with no transcoding. A low end Ryzen 3 would be fine. And if you go the discrete sound card then any motherboard that suits your other needs.

michaelmurfy

meow
13241 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2186062 23-Feb-2019 20:52

If you're running Plex I would recommend an Intel processor due to hardware transcoding. For example, my server (which has an Intel Xeon) can transcode upwards of 10 streams without a CPU hit.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? Please consider supporting us by subscribing.
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

davidcole

6034 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2186067 23-Feb-2019 21:13

Why not keep your existing 9yo hardware as a Plex client...and then seperate the plex part to another machine. No issues with optical then. And it can become a server (bigger case, full of drives etc).

Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight

OmniouS

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2186072 23-Feb-2019 21:49

+1 for Quick Sync. If you're going to be doing any sort of transcoding with Plex now or in the future, CPUs with Quick Sync will provide the best performance by far, with the lowest power consumption

Any i3, i5 CPU 5th gen or above will perform well with Plex. Some earlier gen CPUs have Quick Sync as well but there are some drawbacks with these.

Remember to purchase a Plex Pass, which then allows you to enable Hardware Transcoding.

If you did end up with a Ryzen build, you could add a GPU later on if required. There are some gotchas around features available under different Operating Systems, and transcoding limits available with consumer vs professional cards etc.

I'm personally running my Plex server as a VM in a recent Xeon system which doesn't have integrated graphics, but I was lucky enough to score a free Quadro P2000 graphics card which I have made available to the VM (this card allows for unlimited transcodes).

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2186155 24-Feb-2019 08:59

Sorry to hijack... how new does an Intel CPU need to be to do hardware transcodes? Would a 6400 i5 be OK?

OmniouS

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2186156 24-Feb-2019 09:19

OmniouS: Any i3, i5 CPU 5th gen or above will perform well with Plex. Some earlier gen CPUs have Quick Sync as well but there are some drawbacks with these.

chevrolux: Sorry to hijack... how new does an Intel CPU need to be to do hardware transcodes? Would a 6400 i5 be OK?

That is a 6th gen Skylake part (i5-6xxx) so yes, it should be fine (unless you're dealing with HEVC 10-bit/VP9 media - not very common at this stage). Here's what you get with each version of Quick Sync.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

hashbrown

463 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2186239 24-Feb-2019 11:32

I'll start by saying I know nothing about Plex, but have been toying with building a Ryzen 2200G based lounge HTPC/gaming machine. A quick google suggests there are a few threads already looking at it's performance with Plex for you to read up on.

Anyway, from my research so far the takeaways so far are;

1. The extra performance from the 2400G isn't worth the price bump.

2. Older MBs will support G-series but may require a BIOS upgrade, which you'll need an older AM4 processor to complete.

3. Dual channel memory is a must to get the performance out of the APU. Also, faster memory matters, and this starts to eat into some of your cost savings over say an i3-8100 plus GT-1030.

floydie

474 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2186279 24-Feb-2019 13:42

thanks guys..

i was going to go with a ryzen as id read several builds that recommended them...

basically the PC is our main hub/HTPC/server and its needs to be able to stream netflix while acting as a server for three other streams while its doing its background imdb stuff... id rather go overkill as im sick of buffering/stalling etc

i put plex on my 9 year old e4300/GT9600 build and it wont stream netflix even with no plex clients streaming as its updating databases etc.

im currently passing audio to my onkyo reciever via optcal as i had all sorts of issues with HDMI audio from the old build... changing would require complete reprogramming of the receiver and logitech remote activities...(big time waf disapproval factor as i should be doing other stuff).

openmedia

3325 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2186337 24-Feb-2019 14:30

I'm using an Athlon 200GE in my recent HTPC build

Low power and sufficient GPU for most common video formats. Not really enough grunt if you need to perform lots of transcoding.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

davidcole

6034 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2186456 24-Feb-2019 18:55

openmedia:
I'm using an Athlon 200GE in my recent HTPC build

Low power and sufficient GPU for most common video formats. Not really enough grunt if you need to perform lots of transcoding.

Yeah, if you’re not opening up your plex library to millions, there’s not a lot of transcoding needed for most modern clients.

floydie

474 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2186472 24-Feb-2019 19:44

oh forgot to mention itll have two HD security cameras hanging off of it also...so intel is the way to go?

looking at a $200ish cpu so that linits me to an (i3 8100?)... is that enough?(edit again i read that the 7100 was better due to motherboard options???)

will be at 8gb ram probably.

any particular chipsets/audio drivers i should be looking at on the motherboard for an intel build?