Best CPU for Plex...?
Best CPU for Plex...?
Hello everyone, I'm exploring options for setting up a new home server. I'm unsure which CPU to choose—balancing performance, compatibility, and energy costs. I need it to support UnRaid with ZFS, Home Assistant, PhotoPrism in Docker, PiHole, NextCloud, WireGuard, and various operating systems like MAC OS and Linux (though availability may vary). For Plex, I require handling one 4K stream plus 1-2 simultaneous 1080p streams. I'm considering T-series Intel CPUs and AMD integrated graphics chips, prioritizing power efficiency and smooth operation.
I’ll evaluate Truenas Scale for its ZFS administration strengths compared to Unraid, its capacity to manage VMs and containers, and its performance with high-end CPUs like i3 12100 or i5 12400. I’ll favor GPUs suited for encoding with low power consumption. Avoid budget options; they consume similar power and allow DPDL adjustments on standard profiles if required.
The main concern is those virtual machines. They might need just a few cores occasionally, but you can increase resources when necessary.
Overprovisioning is acceptable for this task. Those virtual machines aren't particularly resource-heavy and don't need many cores.
Truenas scale could work well with ZFS, while Unraid offers a simpler and more intuitive experience overall. I’d prefer to stick with ZFS only for NextCloud and PhotoPrism. It seems 12th generation Intel CPUs and Quicksync aren’t fully supported with Plex hardware encoding yet, and some issues persist. The 10th generation Intel iGPU still performs best with Plex, but does this hold true now?
Yes, you can set up scheduled backups. They offer a feature to automate snapshot creation at regular intervals.
It might not be included by default, but there are likely scripts available or it can be created easily.