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Plex help.
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Plex help.

Hi everybody!

I currently have Time4VPS M-plan for Plex, which has 2 x 2.40 GHz dedicated CPU, and 2 GB ram. Recently I've started having a problem, where I'm watching something with my phone, the video lags, and it shows a message, which says "This server is not powerful enough to convert video". Now, this only happens with some videos, even though it's transcoding all of them, but that doesn't matter, I want to view any type of video without it lagging.

Today I opened htop, while watching a video, and the CPU is maxed out.

https://lut.im/hbknuj4w/3D51aaXQ

I was wondering what would the best choice to achieve smooth playback. Should I upgrade to the L-plan, which has 3 x 2.40 GHz dedicated CPU, or should I pay more, and get a KS-3 or something else? I'm currently paying 10 € a month for the M-plan, and 1TB storage plan. KS-3 would be something like 18 € (after VAT).

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Comments

  • The KS-3 will get you one 1080p stream and nothing more, so depends on your requirement's for your server, need around 2000-3000 CPU Benchmark per a stream, depends on content bitrate.

    We do offer plan's designed for Plex use, however depending on your storage requirement's may be slightly out of your budget @ https://zxplay.co.uk

    Thanked by 1drazilox
  • Or just lower the bitrate. On a phone you can get away with very low bitrate and itll look fine.

  • @joereid said:
    Or just lower the bitrate. On a phone you can get away with very low bitrate and itll look fine.

    Well, 1.5 mpbs @ 480p shouldn't be too much, but it is. That isn't very high quality either. Ideally, I would like to be able to stream 1080p (or atleast 720p) from my TV. KS-3 would probably be beefy enough to handle one stream like that.

    AshleyUk said: The KS-3 will get you one 1080p stream and nothing more, so depends on your requirement's for your server, need around 2000-3000 CPU Benchmark per a stream, depends on content bitrate.

    We do offer plan's designed for Plex use, however depending on your storage requirement's may be slightly out of your budget @ https://zxplay.co.uk

    KS-3 is starting to sound nice. And yeah, you're right, storage doesn't work for my needs/budget.

  • Or just get content in MP4/h264/AAC and you won't need to transcode. This would be the best solution for mobile.

    Thanked by 2drazilox ATHK
  • Or use Popcorn Time, I replaced my Plex with that. They even have an Android app I think (not sure..).

  • @doughnet said:
    Or just get content in MP4/h264/AAC and you won't need to transcode. This would be the best solution for mobile.

    Seems like too much hassle, but might be worth looking at. There probably isn't easy way to do batch, when all the files can be different.

    @joodle said:
    Or use Popcorn Time, I replaced my Plex with that. They even have an Android app I think (not sure..).

    Doesn't have all the content I want, not enough seeds and other problems. It does have an android app. Also there's the problem that you could get in trouble. With plex, I can use a seedbox and download the content from there, and then watch it, whenever I like. If I'm using popcorn time, I'm exposed, and sharing the content I'm watching.

    Thanked by 1vfuse
  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    @doughnet said:
    Or just get content in MP4/h264/AAC and you won't need to transcode. This would be the best solution for mobile.

    Except subtitles

  • @netomx said:
    Except subtitles

    don't recall seeing in his topic that he needed subtitles.

  • draziloxdrazilox Member
    edited August 2015

    @netomx said:
    Except subtitles

    Yeah subtitles is a must. Even if the content is in English, I like to use subtitles. And often it might not be.

    doughnet said: don't recall seeing in his topic that he needed subtitles.

    Yeah I maybe should have mentioned that. Although, it was so obvious to me I didn't even think about it.

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • @doughnet said:

    Subtitles are even a must for some movies & series. Otherwise, have fun understanding Spanish in Breaking Bad or the Dothraki language in GoT.

  • I hardcode subtitles that are necessary. Aside from that, it's not necessary. I wouldn't consider that to be "obvious" but I think 2 steps ahead and hardcode them into the MP4. Works great for my plex server streaming.

  • TarZZ92TarZZ92 Member
    edited August 2015

    @drazilox

    look for a sandy bridge/ivy bridge/haswell E3 CPU (3Ghz+), 2.4Ghz is probably a L series or E5 which are terrible for transcoding, you need to be looking at very good single threaded CPU (see http://browser.primatelabs.com/) in the region of 3000+ (score)

    For my home use i use the G3258 Pentium that can easily do 3 streams @ 1080p

    @AshleyUk will recall, i had 5 cores and was still having problems.

  • I had this same issue recently. Depending on your version you may need to turn the "Experimental" player off. Once I did that I was able to get a full 1080 stream working with no issues. The most recent update are supposed to have fixed that but I have yet to re-enable the experimental player.

    Thanked by 1drazilox
  • @TarZZ92 said:
    drazilox

    look for a sandy bridge/ivy bridge/haswell E3 CPU (3Ghz+), 2.4Ghz is probably a L series or E5 which are terrible for transcoding, you need to be looking at very good single threaded CPU (see http://browser.primatelabs.com/) in the region of 3000+ (score)

    For my home use i use the G3258 Pentium that can easily do 3 streams @ 1080p

    AshleyUk will recall, i had 5 cores and was still having problems.

    Depends when you was using our service & what you was trying to use it for (concurrent wise), when we first started we did not have the CPU power we provide now.

    We use Dual E5-2620V3 & E5-2660V3 on all our new servers, and have quite a lot of users with large concurrent stream requirements.

  • AshleyUk said: We use Dual E5-2620V3 & E5-2660V3 on all our new servers

    that's what you was using. they are terrible for single threaded work loads. but great for multi core stuff. the i7 you first used was much better for transcoding.

    you even have problems transcoding 720p stuff.

  • @TarZZ92 said:
    drazilox

    look for a sandy bridge/ivy bridge/haswell E3 CPU (3Ghz+), 2.4Ghz is probably a L series or E5 which are terrible for transcoding, you need to be looking at very good single threaded CPU (see http://browser.primatelabs.com/) in the region of 3000+ (score)

    For my home use i use the G3258 Pentium that can easily do 3 streams @ 1080p

    AshleyUk will recall, i had 5 cores and was still having problems.

    The problem probably is finding one for my budget, which is under 20€/mo. It also has to be in europe.

    @jamesrat said:
    I had this same issue recently. Depending on your version you may need to turn the "Experimental" player off. Once I did that I was able to get a full 1080 stream working with no issues. The most recent update are supposed to have fixed that but I have yet to re-enable the experimental player.

    Thanks! I need to try that.

  • TarZZ92TarZZ92 Member
    edited August 2015

    drazilox said: The problem probably is finding one for my budget, which is under 20€/mo. It also has to be in europe.

    am unsure in that case, but vultr could be an option (if you manage to get a 3Ghz+ core)

    or even contabo (make you you ask them for a "old server" which run 3Ghz + and are typically 4730K's or E3 Series

    Edit: infact i have a contabo one spare if you want to rent that?

  • @TarZZ92 said:

    Again down to the codec used, most can make use of ffmpeg multithreaded, however some I am aware can only use one core per a transcode.

  • draziloxdrazilox Member
    edited August 2015

    TarZZ92 said: am unsure in that case, but vultr could be an option (if you manage to get a 3Ghz+ core)

    or even contabo (make you you ask them for a "old server" which run 3Ghz + and are typically 4730K's or E3 Series

    Edit: infact i have a contabo one spare if you want to rent that?

    Problem with Vultr, would be the disk. Contabo's current offers are way over my budget. How much would the rent be? I'm afraid over 20€ is just not worth it for me, because I'm the only one watching.

    1080p would be nice, but even 720p will do. I wouldn't think I need super high specs for one 720p stream :/

  • @drazilox said:
    1080p would be nice, but even 720p will do. I wouldn't think I need super high specs for one 720p stream :/

    How much storage do you need?

  • drazilox said: Problem with Vultr, would be the disk. Contabo's current offers are way over my budget. How much would the rent be? I'm afraid over 20€ is just not worth it for me, because I'm the only one watching.

    i run a plex server on the VPS "M" outputs 1080p perfectly.

  • AshleyUk said: Again down to the codec used, most can make use of ffmpeg multithreaded

    whatever plex uses :)

  • @AshleyUk said:
    How much storage do you need?

    1TB or more.

    @TarZZ92 said:
    i run a plex server on the VPS "M" outputs 1080p perfectly.

    Time4VPS M?

  • @TarZZ92 said:
    whatever plex uses :)

    Ever file has a different codec, some require a lot more CPU time, don't support multithreading in ffmepg which is what Plex uses.

  • Thanked by 1drazilox
  • TarZZ92TarZZ92 Member
    edited August 2015

    AshleyUk said: Ever file has a different codec, some require a lot more CPU time, don't support multithreading in ffmepg which is what Plex uses.

    Well i always force encoding to make it all compatible. so same as i said above, and as you know i run data deduplication too which is cpu heavy.

    Thanked by 1AshleyUk
  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    Check out @ikoula offers

    Thanked by 1drazilox
  • Wow, those are pretty tempting. How long have you been a customer? How has it been, any complaints?

    @netomx said:
    Check out ikoula offers

    Thanks, but none of their plans seem to match my needs.

  • drazilox said: Wow, those are pretty tempting. How long have you been a customer? How has it been, any complaints?

    for some time 6 months maybe. the server i can give you has the 4930k (rather than the E5's they use) and its set for cancel on 26th so be quick if you are interested.

    Thanked by 1drazilox
  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    @drazilox said:
    Thanks, but none of their plans seem to match my needs.

    I meant offers. I got a i3 with 1TB and 4 (or 8?) GB of RAM for 12 euros/m

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