GPU Recommendation for transcoding

[s-vaan]

Hello!
I'm currently migrating from a self-hosted env with ubuntu to a new server running truenas scale.
I own a GTX 1060, which I was using in the old machine, runs fine but I was wondering if would it be recommended to switch to something like a P600. I read it can handle multiple streams, but I'm unsure if it's better than a GTX 1060.
I'm guessing that in terms of advantages, it should drain less power. At the moment I'm using a GTX 950 in the meantime I transfer all the files I need from the old machine before moving the GTX 1060.
I usually consume h264, h265 encoded content, and at max I could guess I could be having 5 streams concurrently.
Is a P600 better than a GTX 1060 for this case?

[TheDreadPirate]

Honestly, the GTX 1060 is still a very capable card. If you install the NVENC patch to remove the 5 stream limit it will be almost equivalent to the P600. The 1060 supports 10-bit HEVC so it can tone map HDR to SDR.

If you must upgrade, I would get an Intel Arc instead of an old Nvidia GPU. The entire Arc line has the same media engine, so getting a low end Arc A310 will get you the same capability and performance as an A770.

[Beardyman]

I kinda agree with this, stick with the 1060. It's perfectly fine for several streams, especially with the stream limit removed.

This might be a good source for checking how capable your Nvidia GPU is with nvenc transcoding: https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

[goerdi]

Honestly, the GTX 1060 is still a very capable card.  If you install the NVENC patch to remove the 5 stream limit it will be almost equivalent to the P600.  The 1060 supports 10-bit HEVC so it can tone map HDR to SDR.

If you must upgrade, I would get an Intel Arc instead of an old Nvidia GPU.  The entire Arc line has the same media engine, so getting a low end Arc A310 will get you the same capability and performance as an A770.

Hi !

so this is also a "good" one ?
Sparkle Intel Arc A310 ECO, 4GB .... this uses only one slot (i have not mor space in my case...

Ciao Gerd

[TheDreadPirate]

The entire Arc line up is great for transcoding.

[ThisIsMyITAccount901]

The entire Arc line up is great for transcoding.

I want to try an Arc so bad in my Unraid server. But I'm running a Lenovo P520 and I'm not sure if an Arc will let the system post without buying one. Can't find any confirmation online that its compatible. Do you think an RTX 3070 would work for 3-4 local streams in 4k?

[TheDreadPirate]

unRaid is still on Linux kernel 6.1.###, IIRC. The problem is that Arc REQUIRES Linux kernel 6.2 and newer. Because of that, Arc GPUs just aren't an option for unRAID.

The 3070 is plenty for 3-4 users.

[flymetothemoon]

I think the cheapest intel arc card, there is one 50 watts for 100$, seems to support everything for media server which is cool, you can use any system with it, any old cpu that isn't a bottleneck

[Swindiff]

Hi, I have an old GTX1080ti in my JF server. I have only just stared using it as a WAN server with transcoding. Is this plenty capable enough, or would it benefit from upgrading to a different type of GPU. Not really come across the ARC range before.
CPU is an i5-13600KF, 128GB RAM

[TheDreadPirate]

Only if you care about AV1 encoding. The 1080Ti still has good codec support, even for HDR content.