plex server

[mentos]

i hope this is the right forum, if not please move.

im looking for a dedicated plex server and found this:

http://www.ncix.com/detail/qnap-ts-251-us-2-bay-personal-cloud-25-100363-1244.htm

does anyone know if it can stream 4k content? i've searched all over and the information is conflicting.

if not, is there an alternative unit that is capable? i would not want to pay more than $400 for a system. no hardrives would be required.

thanks for any responses!

 

[XavierMace]

I wasn't even aware Plex does 4k. But, there's no way that's got enough CPU grunt to transcode 4k streams.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Depends on the encoding (don't even think about h.265) and how much it needs to transcode. Are you streaming to devices capable of handling the native content, or will the server need to transcode it to a lower bitrate? Are mobile devices in play?

Last I knew, the QNap and Synology NASes really could not transcode very much. You need one with a pretty hefty CPU in it, and I believe that NONE of the ARM NASes are able to transcode. Use their forums and website. They have an entire excel spreadsheet for this.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...RtCkgUxU0jdj3tmMPc/edit#gid=314388488&vpid=A3

That seems to say the plus version will struggle with high bitrate 1080p content, and the non-plus version barely does 1080p. Forget 4k.

 

[JeffMD]

You don't need a whole lot of cpu for a descent 1080p transcode. The dual core budget pentiums should beable to do it. I have an old q6600 that has no problem doing that and dts converting on the side.

As for 4k, if what ever client you were using can take it bit streamed without conversion then you would be fine, but transcode is right out.

 

[RampantAndroid]

You don't need a whole lot of cpu for a descent 1080p transcode. The dual core budget pentiums should beable to do it. I have an old q6600 that has no problem doing that and dts converting on the side.

As for 4k, if what ever client you were using can take it bit streamed without conversion then you would be fine, but transcode is right out.

See my post with Plex themselves saying that this NAS won't do it

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you already have a bunch of HDDs and a $400 budget, something like this would work.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C8YmwP

Upgrade to an i5 or i7 if you need to do a bunch more simultaneous streams. Drop the BD-R if you are already ripping on a separate box.

I think 4GB is probably enough RAM. Should definitely not need more than 8GB for a PLEX server though.