Big but old server, will it software transcode 4K?

[TheDreadPirate]

Let me put it this way. I have 12 Zen 3 cores (Ryzen 5900X) that turbo higher. If my server ran on this system, I MIGHT be able to manage two 1080p transcodes with the CPU. At a faster preset I could probably do three transcodes. But with serious quality penalties.

My actual Jellyfin server with a 10w Intel Atom class CPU (J4205) can GPU transcode 3-4 streams (1080p -> lower resolution) with shockingly good quality.

GPUs are pretty much not optional for transcoding. Even an Intel iGPU is a huge step up.