Well, a plex server essentially needs a CPU as most servers will use a CPU for transcoding. Bringing a GPU into the mix will help with hardware-accelerated transcoding for heavy tasks like remote transmission of 4K stream to different display sizes. So how does one select the right CPU for a plex server?
Is Plex transcoding necessary?
There are also situations where transcoding is required even if your media is otherwise compatible with your playback device. This can be the case when: Using Subtitles: For many Plex apps, subtitles have to be “burned in” to the video stream by the server. That requires transcoding to accomplish.Feb 28, 2019
Does GPU matter for Plex?
You don't NEED one. Plex will run just fine without one. If you need your server to do any serious transcoding you will be happy if you have one installed. The better the gpu the happier you will be.
AMD has their own hardware acceleration that support Plex too, the AMD VCE technology is also capable to help the Plex for its transcoding tasks. Theoretically both NVIDIA and AMD graphic card are able to help transcoding, but comparatively, NVIDIA performs a better efficiency than AMD's hardware transcode support.Jan 25, 2021
Does graphics card matter for Plex?
The Plex will transcode your media files on server side to the playable format for your client , which dramatically burdens the system by it's procedure. Thus, a powerful GPU, like NVIDIA's GPU & AMD's discrate graphic card is very important to Plex streaming.Jan 25, 2021
What GPU is good for Plex?
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Nvidia Quadro P2200 5GB 4K (68Mbit) to 1080p (8Mbit) 4
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti OC 4K (68Mbit) to 1080p (8Mbit) 3
Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 4K (68Mbit) to 1080p (8Mbit) 13
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB FTW 4K (68Mbit) to 1080p (8Mbit) 6
Does GPU matter for watching videos?
Yes. If you have a modern graphics card, it will take the load off your CPU. You'll be able to stream much higher quality video. Both AMD and Nvidia cards are good at this so pick anyone you like.Nov 1, 2015
Can I use 2 different GPU at the same time?
As long as you have two slots to take the cards, you can install two video cards. If you want to do SLI/Crossfire, then they'll need to be a matching pair (at least the same model, not necessarily the same manufacturer) and have the connectors to do this.