CPU load average during Plex playback

1. offizieller Beitrag

    I am trying to figure out if this is safe or not. On my Samsung TV, the only way I can get the audio and video to sync thru the Plex app is to choose direct streaming. Every other option causes the audio and video to be misaligned during playback. I have no problem doing direct streaming, but I want to make sure my load averages are in a safe range. In reading on how to interpret the numbers, I think i'm okay, but wanted the feedback of people with more knowledge.


    I have an i5-4440 processor which I think is 4 cores. The blu-ray rips i'm trying to play are using the vc1 codec. The H.264 rips are fine. During direct streaming playback, my load averages are roughly around 1.5 for all three numbers. It varies of course, but i'd say that's about average. Now in reading up on what the numbers mean, if I was averaging near 4, i'd be in trouble because i'd be maxing out all 4 cores, but a mid one simply means i'm using somewhere between 25-50% of my four cores. Plenty safe. Here's where I get a but confused. I also read on a plex forum that transcoding vc1 codec only uses one core. So now i'm looking at my numbers and thinking I am overusing one core if my load average is above 1.


    Could someone help me understand this better or at least tell me if my load average numbers are safe during a plex playback with my current cpu. Thanks...

    • Offizieller Beitrag

    I've done direct streaming exclusively w/ my Celeron G1610, and have for.. probably at least 4-5yrs since I built this NAS. Like you, all of my stuff is at least .264, 720p but I have a bunch of 1080p as well.


    I usually am between the 20-30% range on CPU use. If it was a problem I think I'd have figured it out in 5yrs. Transcoding... while it can be done w/ this CPU... it's pretty rough and like you, I have a lot of issues w/ audio and video syncing properly.


    I do find I have a better experience w/ Kodi than w/ Plex, even with direct play... but that's a whole different conversation.

    Zitat von flyinjoe13

    Now in reading up on what the numbers mean, if I was averaging near 4, i'd be in trouble because i'd be maxing out all 4 cores

    Nope, 'average load' especially on Linux is a concept mostly not understood by almost all people talking about. On Linux it also contains 'waiting for IO' (greatly oversimplifying) and the best way to deal with 'average load' is to either ignore it or to really get into details (and as a result starting to ignore afterwards with one simple exception mentioned below *): http://www.brendangregg.com/bl…/linux-load-averages.html


    TL;DR: Don't care about average load, look at CPU utilization instead:
    sudo apt install htop
    htop


    * When does looking at average load makes some sense? If you're an sysadmin trying to diagnose stuff and logging freshly into a server. You run uptime and look at the 1min and the 15min value. If 1min is higher than 15min then the problem with an overwhelmed system still exists and the 'load' even increases, if it's the opposite you know things are already on its way back to normal. Details (but please keep in mind that he's talking there about Solaris and situation with Linux is different!)

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