How fast CPU for server and client HTPC? (2 Viewers)

[marttoma]

Hello,

I would like to ask you for your opinion about suitable CPU for TV Server and MP client.

Some data as input would be as follow:

1. TV Server

• • 4 DBV C/C2 cards + 1 CAM module for live TV or recording
  • 1x SSD disk for Win 10 only
  • up to 4x HDs (~ 2TBs) for data
  • up to 3 fix MP clients (1 in living room, 1 in bedroom, 1 in kinder room)
  • up to 2 mobile clients (Android or iPhone)
  • LAN connectivity between TV Server and MP clients
  • TV Server available 24/7 hours with WOL
  • Windows 10 x64

2. MP client​

• • 1x SSD disk for Win 10 only
  • Video: HDMI output with Full HD video support
  • Audio: Dolby Home Theater (analogue output)
  • LAN connectivity to TV Server
  • Windows 10 x64

What would be optimal CPU PassMark value for CPU (https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php) for:

• TV Server
• MP client?

Is it better CPU with 4 cores instead of 2 cores with same CPU PassMark value?

Is it better 2 core CPU for MP client and 4 core CPU for TV server?

Aditional questions?

• What is strategy for CPU selection for MP client and TV server?
• What is strategy for video card for Full HD video - do I need strong video card in TV Server or in client to play Full HD?
• Would you recommend to use only LAN between TV Server and MP clients or Wifi should be ok as well and how fast the Wifi should be?
• Would you recommend to use NAS software on TV Server as well or would you recommend dedicated NAS?
• Which NAS software would you recommend?

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

marttoma

 

[powermarcel10]

Hi,

In short, MP is not using multicore architecture. A dual core cpu will be enough. MP itself is not using that much cpu power, so every modern cpu will work fine. A faster cpu will not giving you a better MP experience. Something like an i3 would be excellent as it had more than enough power and is not using much energy.

The gpu on the server doen t matter for the video quality on your cliënts. That Being said, on the cliënt side its no problem aswell as every modern nvidia/AMD/Intel gpu/apu is more than capabele enough to play full HD video without a problem. Just ensure that you are using the right codecs (I prefer LAV wich can be installed with the MP installer.)

I recomand to use a solide LAN connection from your server to your cliënt(s). A full HD videosteam will require a big and stable bandwith. A WiFi connection can work, but with a LAN connection you know for sure it will work.

I have no experience with using NAS software, but personally I don't think you have to make use of it for MP.

I hope this helps!

Please let us know if you need some more advice.

Cheers
Marcel

 

[Skywizard]

I am running MePo, client and server on an i5 3.2gig with on chip graphics and 8 gig ram of which it is using about 2.3 gig in Win 10. I have 2 dual tuner TV cards and one USB Digital TV/digital radio. I an using a USB stick for time shifting and using wireless ac currently connected at 877 mbps. I have one disk for Rec TV and another disk for Music and DVDs.
I have no problems running this config even with blu ray CDs ripped as an ISO.

 

[HTPCSourcer]

• Would you recommend to use NAS software on TV Server as well or would you recommend dedicated NAS?
• Which NAS software would you recommend?

That's not an easy question to answer. My TV Server nicely runs under a Windows Server 2012 Essentials OS. Keep in miond though tthat there is a certain sensitivity of TV stgreams being constantly written to and read from timeshift files. These streams are time-crticial on the machine itself and present data load on the LAN connection to the clients. Now a server OS, and that's why I am running it, will perform backup operations of clients, which may interfere with TV. While that's no issue for Live TV, it can affect recordings and increase the amount of video/audio drops in the ts file, which gets written to hard disk.

Otherwise I am very happy with my Server 2012 system

 

[regeszter]

My suggestion for Client and TV Server: Asrock Q1900DC

• Intel® Quad-Core Processor J1900 + Mini-ITX Motherboard
• Supports DDR3/DDR3L 1333 memory, 2 SO-DIMM slots
• 1 PCIe 2.0 x1, 1 mini-PCIe
• Graphics Output Options : D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI
• Built-in Intel® 7th generation (Gen 7) graphics, DirectX 11.0, Pixel Shader 5.0
• 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
• 2 SATA3, 2 SATA2, 4 USB 3.0 (2 Front, 2 Rear), 4 USB 2.0 (2 Front, 2 Rear)
• 1 x Print Port Header, 1 x COM Port Header, 1 x DC-In Jack (Compatible with the 9~19V power adapter)

 

[marttoma]

In short, MP is not using multicore architecture. A dual core cpu will be enough. MP itself is not using that much cpu power, so every modern cpu will work fine. A faster cpu will not giving you a better MP experience. Something like an i3 would be excellent as it had more than enough power and is not using much energy.

Thank you. Do you think such motherboard with integrated CPU http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4747#ov should be powerfull enough for both MePo client and TV Server?
Do you think such motherboard with C1037U 2 core CPU will be similar from performance point of view in comparison to i3 CPU?
Such CPU C1037U has CPU benchmarking 1738.

From my experience when I was testing motherboard with integrated AMD CPU E-350, I would say this CPU power is not enough as MP client was quite slow.

I would be glad to see your view...

Cheers,
marttoma[DOUBLEPOST=1440279946][/DOUBLEPOST]

My suggestion for Client and TV Server: Asrock Q1900DC

• Intel® Quad-Core Processor J1900 + Mini-ITX Motherboard
• Supports DDR3/DDR3L 1333 memory, 2 SO-DIMM slots
• 1 PCIe 2.0 x1, 1 mini-PCIe
• Graphics Output Options : D-Sub, DVI-D, HDMI
• Built-in Intel® 7th generation (Gen 7) graphics, DirectX 11.0, Pixel Shader 5.0
• 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
• 2 SATA3, 2 SATA2, 4 USB 3.0 (2 Front, 2 Rear), 4 USB 2.0 (2 Front, 2 Rear)
• 1 x Print Port Header, 1 x COM Port Header, 1 x DC-In Jack (Compatible with the 9~19V power adapter)

Do you recommend it for both MP client and TV server? How fast the system is?
Is it better 4core CPU or 2core CPU (if both CPU has same CPU benchmarking)?

 

[regeszter]

Do you recommend it for both MP client and TV server? How fast the system is?
Is it better 4core CPU or 2core CPU (if both CPU has same CPU benchmarking)?

The TvServer does not need powerful CPU except if you want to transcode the stream to mobile clients. The J1900 CPU can transcode one HD stream without issues. The main issue is that if you need PCI slots for 4 DBV C/C2 cards.

The MP1 client does not need powerful CPU too. The IGP of the J1900 is enough to decode the h264/fHD stream.

 

[HTPCSourcer]

The main issue is that if you need PCI slots for 4 DBV C/C2 cards.

There exist solutions that require only one PCIe slot for four or even eight tuners. Take a look at Digital Devices for example.

 

[marttoma]

The TvServer does not need powerful CPU except if you want to transcode the stream to mobile clients. The J1900 CPU can transcode one HD stream without issues. The main issue is that if you need PCI slots for 4 DBV C/C2 cards.

Let me ask you one thing here, the J1900 CPU is 4 core CPU, does it transcode one HD stream or more without issues? If you use this J1900 CPU for TV server and you want to stream TV to 3 MP client simultaneosly, still TV Server needs just 1 core form this CPU? Is in this case CPU strong enough to stream 3 HD streams in parallel?

I have Digital Devices TV cards, where I need just one PCIe slot, so this is fine.

 

[HTPCSourcer]

Hi @marttoma ,

Before jumping into buying material please consider a few other points:

• MP is not always good in multi-threading, hence a 8 or 16core CPU will not by default perform better than a simple dual core
• Modern CPUs (e.g. Intel with in-built GPUs) can stream DVB-S signals without significant CPU load
• The MP streaming process in a multi-client/Server environment is much more sensitive to LAN timing than having a powerful CPU.
  • Almost every CPU can do the job.
  • However, if your server is also used for other things, then it is becoming more interesting. This doesn't mean that you need a TVServer-only machine, but keep in mind that LAN is by default an asynchronous medium where each package is treated in the same way.
  • The TVServer will probably also be used as NAS. There can be situations where stream transfer might be affected but in practice I am not seeing this in my own environment that uses UNC to Timeshift on Server RamDisk.
• Last not least the hardware for the server will be much more subject what else you are planning to use it for.
• The hardware for the client can be really basic. I recently bought a Baytrail Win 8.1 system (which I upgraded to win 10) for ca. 125 EUR. MP is running perfectly on it. Note that graphics power is not needed by MP itself, but solely by the skin. For details of said Mini-PC look here: https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/justop-g-pc-quad-core-windows-8-1-mini-pc.131388/

This hardware is just an example. You an get similar hardwre from different vendors.