This calculator estimates how many Plex streams your NAS or server can handle. Tell it how many streams play directly and how many need transcoding, what the files are, and which NAS or CPU you have. It gives a software transcoding range from Plex's own PassMark guideline with a confidence level, Plex's answer on hardware transcoding for your NAS, and separate checks for your home network, nbn upload, Plex Relay and drives, naming the limit that binds first. For setup or comparison help, see the Plex hub and Plex vs Jellyfin.
Most buffering comes from one of three places: a stream your app cannot play directly, so the server transcodes it; a CPU without enough room for those transcodes; or an upload too slow for remote viewers. Plex calls its CPU guideline rough, so the result is a range, not a guarantee. Hardware transcoding gets no stream count, because no vendor publishes one. Rates are in decimal units (1 Mbps is 1,000,000 bits a second; 8 Mbps is 1 MB/s).
1. Streams playing at the same time
Direct Play: the app plays the file as it is. Count Direct Stream (the app plays the video and audio but not the container) here too. Transcoded: the server converts the video, because the app cannot play it, the bitrate is too high, or image subtitles are burned in. If you are not sure, the Plex dashboard shows which each stream is while it plays.
2. The files and what they are transcoded to
3. Your NAS or CPU
4. Network and drives
Plex's list answers the hardware question for the TS-464: Yes, Plex lists hardware transcoding for this model; 4K HEVC: H.264 Output (decoded in hardware, encoded to H.264). With Plex Pass the two transcodes go to the hardware engine, and the calculator shows no stream count for it because no vendor publishes one; the network and drive checks still apply. Turn hardware off and the software estimate for its Intel Celeron N5095 (4,004 PassMark) is 1 to 2 of Plex's 1080p H.264 example. Open this example
Plex's list says No to hardware transcoding on the DS425+, even though its Intel Celeron J4125 has Quick Sync, so both transcodes are software. Its 2,926 PassMark carries 1 of Plex's 1080p H.264 example at about 2,000 each; two need about 4,000, which is over the CPU's score. Open this example
A remote viewer whose app could Direct Play a 10 Mbps 1080p file, connected through Plex Relay instead of Remote Access: Relay caps the stream at 2 Mbps, so Plex transcodes it down and the CPU now has one transcode to do. Relay binds first: the file needs 500% of the cap. Open this example
One 4K HDR HEVC 10 bit file at 50 Mbps, transcoded to 1080p 10 Mbps for a TV that cannot show HDR, on an Intel Core i5-13400 (23,888 PassMark) in software. Plex's guideline for this workload is about 17,000, so the range is 1, and confidence drops from High to Medium because Plex publishes no CPU figure for tone mapping. Open this example
Plex's own answer for each NAS, from its NAS compatibility list as checked on 2026-10-07. Plex says its hardware columns refer to Intel Quick Sync Video and need Plex Pass. A model Plex does not list is shown with what the CPU maker states. The CPU is the NAS maker's own spec. There is no stream count column: no vendor publishes a hardware stream count.
| NAS | CPU | Plex hardware transcoding | AU market price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Synology DS225+ | Intel Celeron J4125 (spec) | No, Plex lists no hardware transcoding for this model. Plex noted on 31 July 2025 that it should be compatible but is not, and that it is investigating (source) | $599 |
| Synology DS425+ | Intel Celeron J4125 (spec) | No, Plex lists no hardware transcoding for this model. Plex noted on 31 July 2025 that it should be compatible but is not, and that it is investigating (source) | $899 |
| Synology DS725+ | AMD Ryzen R1600 (spec) | No, Plex lists no hardware transcoding for this model (source) | $999 |
| Synology DS925+ | AMD Ryzen V1500B (spec) | No, Plex lists no hardware transcoding for this model (source) | $1,099 |
| Synology DS1525+ | AMD Ryzen V1500B (spec) | No, Plex lists no hardware transcoding for this model; Plex's row names a different CPU from the maker's spec page (source) | $1,749 |
| Synology DS1823xs+ | AMD Ryzen V1780B (spec) | Not on Plex's list; AMD lists no integrated graphics for the V1780B (source) | $3,266 |
| QNAP TS-264 | Intel Celeron N5095 (spec) | Yes, Plex lists hardware transcoding for this model; 4K HEVC: H.264 Output (decoded in hardware, encoded to H.264) (source) | $999 |
| QNAP TS-464 | Intel Celeron N5095 (spec) | Yes, Plex lists hardware transcoding for this model; 4K HEVC: H.264 Output (decoded in hardware, encoded to H.264) (source) | $1,100 |
| QNAP TS-464C | Intel Celeron N5095 (spec) | Yes, covered by Plex's 'TS-464 (all variants)' row; 4K HEVC: H.264 Output (decoded in hardware, encoded to H.264) (source) | Check current retailer prices |
| UGREEN DXP4800 Plus | Intel Pentium Gold 8505 (spec) | Not on Plex's list. Its Intel Pentium Gold 8505 has Quick Sync, which Plex uses for hardware transcoding, but Plex's compatibility list does not include this model yet, so check before buying. (source) | Check current retailer prices |
| UGREEN DXP4800 Pro | Intel Core i3-1315U (spec) | Not on Plex's list. Its Intel Core i3-1315U has Quick Sync, which Plex uses for hardware transcoding, but Plex's compatibility list does not include this model yet, so check before buying. (source) | $1,086 |
| UGREEN DXP2800 | Intel N100 (spec) | Not on Plex's list. Its Intel N100 has Quick Sync, which Plex uses for hardware transcoding, but Plex's compatibility list does not include this model yet, so check before buying. (source) | Check current retailer prices |
| ASUSTOR AS5402T | Intel Celeron N5105 (spec) | Yes, Plex lists hardware transcoding for this model; 4K HEVC: H.264 Output (decoded in hardware, encoded to H.264) (source) | $545 |
| TerraMaster F2-425 | Intel Celeron N5095 (spec) | Not on Plex's list. Its Intel Celeron N5095 has Quick Sync, which Plex uses for hardware transcoding, but Plex's compatibility list does not include this model yet, so check before buying. (source) | Check current retailer prices |
Prices are the AU market price of each NAS, last changed 23 October 2026: the typical going rate across the Australian retailers we track, checked daily. A model stocked by too few retailers shows no price. Confirm the price with the retailer before you buy.
| What the app can play | What Plex does | What it costs the server |
|---|---|---|
| The file as it is | Direct Play | Almost nothing; only network and drives (Plex) |
| The video and audio, not the container | Direct Stream: repackaged on the fly | Very little processing (Plex) |
| Everything but the audio | Audio transcoded, video sent untouched | Not costed separately here (Plex) |
| Not the video codec or bitrate | Video transcode | The CPU by Plex's PassMark guideline, or the hardware engine (Plex) |
| Not the image subtitles (PGS, VOBSUB) | Video transcode with the subtitles burned in | A full video transcode; Plex publishes no extra CPU figure (Plex) |
| Not HDR | HDR to SDR tone mapping during a transcode | In software, 4K may struggle; hardware needs a Kaby Lake or newer Intel CPU (Plex) |
| A remote stream through Plex Relay above 2 Mbps | Transcoded down to fit the Relay cap | A transcode for each such stream (Plex) |
Software transcoding uses Plex's own PassMark guideline: four example files, each with a rough PassMark score for ONE full transcode. Plex says to multiply by the number of transcodes. The high end of the range is that arithmetic, the CPU's PassMark average divided by the guideline; the low end keeps part of the score free, for the NAS's other work and because Plex calls the guideline rough (an NTK planning assumption, listed under Assumptions NTK made below). A source Plex does not publish uses the nearest example, says so, and is Low confidence.
| Source file (Plex's example) | Transcoded to | PassMark for one transcode | Evidence class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4K HDR HEVC 10 bit at 50 Mbps | 1080p at 10 Mbps | about 17,000 | Plex's published guideline, which Plex calls very rough (Plex, checked 2026-10-07) |
| 4K SDR HEVC 8 bit at 40 Mbps | 1080p at 10 Mbps | about 12,000 | Plex's published guideline, which Plex calls very rough (Plex, checked 2026-10-07) |
| 1080p H.264 at 10 Mbps | Not stated by Plex | about 2,000 | Plex's published guideline, which Plex calls very rough (Plex, checked 2026-10-07) |
| 720p H.264 at 4 Mbps | Not stated by Plex | about 1,500 | Plex's published guideline, which Plex calls very rough (Plex, checked 2026-10-07) |
| Anything else (1080p HEVC, AV1, 1440p and so on) | Any | Not published by Plex | NTK uses the nearest Plex example and shows Low confidence |
Hardware transcoding has no stream count. For a NAS it is Plex's answer on its NAS compatibility list; for a CPU picked on its own, what Intel or AMD states about a media engine. It needs Plex Pass. Plex's list has hardware columns for H.264 and HEVC sources only, so for an AV1, VP9, MPEG-2 or VC-1 source hardware transcoding is shown as not established and the software estimate is used. The calculator then checks the other limits, because with hardware transcoding they usually bind first.
Burned in subtitles and HDR to SDR tone mapping are done by Plex's transcoder, so when either is ticked every Direct Play stream is counted as a transcode, and the result says so. Plex publishes no extra CPU figure for either, so they lower the confidence instead of adding a cost.
Home network: the sum of every stream's bitrate (source bitrate for Direct Play, target bitrate for a transcode) plus a peak headroom, against the link. nbn upload: the same for remote streams, against your nbn tier's upload or a measured figure. Plex Relay: each remote stream above the Relay cap is transcoded down to it, which adds a transcode for the CPU. Drives: every stream reads its source file, so the read needed is the sum of source bitrates divided by 8, against your own figure or a typical single hard drive (Unraid's documentation gives typical sequential speeds of 70 to 250 MB/s for a single hard drive (depending on model, age and where the data sits) and 400 to 550 MB/s for a SATA SSD. (Unraid documentation)).
Binds first is the computable limit with the highest share used. The CPU joins only when transcoding runs in software. Hard blockers, such as a CPU that cannot carry even one transcode of the workload in software with no hardware transcoding available, are shown above the result, not folded into a score.
PassMark averages move as results are submitted, so each is dated. The last column is Plex's 1080p H.264 example in software with the same rule as the calculator.
| CPU | PassMark CPU Mark | Media engine (CPU maker) | 1080p H.264 software transcodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Celeron J4125 | 2,926 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 1 |
| Intel Celeron J3455 | 2,236 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 0 to 1 |
| Intel Celeron N5095 | 4,004 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 1 to 2 |
| Intel Celeron N5105 | 3,987 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 1 |
| Intel Atom C3538 | 1,910 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Not stated on the maker's page NTK checked | 0 |
| Intel N100 | 5,303 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 1 to 2 |
| Intel Core i3-12100 | 12,523 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 4 to 6 |
| Intel Core i3-13100 | 14,097 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 5 to 7 |
| Intel Core i5-12400 | 18,824 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 7 to 9 |
| Intel Core i5-13400 | 23,888 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 8 to 11 |
| Intel Core i7-12700 | 29,753 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 11 to 14 |
| Intel Core i7-13700 | 35,839 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 13 to 17 |
| Intel Pentium Gold 8505 | 9,008 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Intel Quick Sync Video (Intel) (source) | 3 to 4 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 5600G | 19,620 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Not stated on the maker's page NTK checked | 7 to 9 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | 24,216 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | Not stated on the maker's page NTK checked | 9 to 12 |
| AMD Ryzen Embedded V1500B | 4,513 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | No integrated graphics (AMD) (source) | 1 to 2 |
| AMD Ryzen Embedded V1780B | 7,800 (PassMark, 2026-10-07) | No integrated graphics (AMD) (source) | 2 to 3 |
Remote streams use your upload, not your download. These are nbn's upload speeds by tier and technology, checked 2026-10-07. nbn speeds are wholesale: the maximum nbn provides to internet providers. Where a tier is a range, the maximum can fall anywhere in it, and the lower figure is not a minimum speed. (nbn co (nbnco.com.au)) Through Plex Relay, each remote stream is capped at 2 Mbps whatever your upload.
| nbn tier | Technology | Upload (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|
| Home Hyperfast | FTTP | 200 |
| Home Hyperfast | HFC | 100 |
| Home Ultrafast | FTTP | 100 |
| Home Ultrafast | HFC | 100 |
| Home Superfast | FTTP | 50 |
| Home Superfast | HFC | 50 |
| Home Fast II | FTTP | 50 |
| Home Fast II | HFC | 50 |
| Home Fast I | FTTC | 20 |
| Home Fast I | FTTN | 5 to 20 |
| Home Fast I | FTTB | 5 to 20 |
| Home Standard | FTTP | 20 |
| Home Standard | FTTC | 20 |
| Home Standard | HFC | 20 |
| Home Standard | FTTN | 5 to 20 |
| Home Standard | FTTB | 5 to 20 |
| Home Basic II | FTTP | 10 |
| Home Basic II | FTTC | 10 |
| Home Basic II | HFC | 10 |
| Home Basic II | FTTN | 5 to 10 |
| Home Basic II | FTTB | 5 to 10 |
| Home Basic I | all fixed line | 1 |
| Fixed Wireless Superfast | Fixed Wireless | 10 to 40 |
| Fixed Wireless Home Fast | Fixed Wireless | 8 to 20 |
| Fixed Wireless Plus | Fixed Wireless | 20 |
| Fixed Wireless Basic II | Fixed Wireless | 5 |
| Fixed Wireless Basic I | Fixed Wireless | 1 |
Modelled for Plex only. Jellyfin's documentation says some transcoding stages (decode, tone mapping, subtitle burn in, encode) cannot be GPU accelerated because of software, hardware or driver limits, which raises CPU use. (Jellyfin) Jellyfin and Emby run on the same hardware, but which stages the GPU accelerates depends on their software, the hardware and the driver.
Method last reviewed: 2026-10-07. Plex, CPU and NAS facts last checked at source: 2026-10-07. nbn tiers last checked: 2026-10-07. NAS market prices last changed: 23 October 2026.
| Fact | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Plex CPU guideline | ||
| Plex's rough guideline for one full software transcode of an average 4K HDR HEVC 10 bit source being transcoded to 1080p 10 Mbps: about 17,000 PassMark. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex's rough guideline for one full software transcode of an average 4K SDR HEVC 8 bit source being transcoded to 1080p 10 Mbps: about 12,000 PassMark. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex's rough guideline for one full software transcode of an average 1080p H.264 source: about 2,000 PassMark. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex's rough guideline for one full software transcode of an average 720p H.264 source: about 1,500 PassMark. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says its PassMark guideline should not be used as a concrete measurement, only as a rough idea. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says single thread performance matters as well as the total PassMark score. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says to multiply the guideline by the number of simultaneous transcodes: four 1080p transcodes need about 8,000 PassMark. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says to keep extra CPU power if the computer does other things besides running Plex Media Server. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says HEVC needs significantly more processing than H.264, and 10 bit content more than 8 bit content of the same codec. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex's CPU article was last modified on 18 June 2019 (as fetched). | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex NAS compatibility list | ||
| Plex says the sheet's software columns estimate whether a NAS can do ONE software transcode of each quality, using the example average file. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says the sheet's hardware accelerated transcoding columns refer to devices that support Intel Quick Sync Video. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says hardware accelerated transcoding is a premium feature needing an active Plex Pass on the server account. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says its NAS Compatibility List is only a general guide. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex's sheet legend: Yes can transcode at least 1 video of that type without stuttering; No cannot; Some may or may not; H.264 Output can hardware decode at least 1 stream, encoding to H.264; SDR Only the same for bt709 video. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex's sheet revision log, 31 July 2025: DS225+ and DS425+ should be hardware transcoding compatible but are not; Plex is investigating. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| The latest dated revision in Plex's sheet log is 25 September 2025, Synology models updated. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says some NAS, mainly ARM based ones, have transcoding disabled altogether, and playing content that needs a transcode gives an error. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex hardware transcoding and tone mapping | ||
| Plex says hardware accelerated streaming is a premium feature that needs an active Plex Pass. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says its hardware acceleration uses Intel Quick Sync Video, found in recent Intel Core processors and some Xeon, Atom and Celeron models. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says Intel hardware encoding on Windows and Linux has no artificial limit on simultaneous videos; NVIDIA GeForce cards can have a driver limit. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says NAS users need a Jasper Lake or better CPU to reliably transcode to HEVC output. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says it falls back from hardware to software automatically if the hardware engine fails to decode or encode. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says HDR to SDR tone mapping is a Plex Pass preview feature needing an active Plex Pass on the main server account. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says hardware tone mapping with Intel needs Plex Media Server 1.29.2 or newer and a Kaby Lake or newer Intel processor. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says if tone mapping has to run in software, 4K content may well struggle in real time unless the system is very powerful. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says transcodes with burned in subtitles may need more CPU, which could reduce performance. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says tone mapping is done by its transcoder, so it does not work when video stream transcoding is disabled. | Plex | 2026-10-14 |
| Plex playback and subtitles | ||
| Plex says Direct Play sends the file to the app as is, so the server's work is almost zero. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says Direct Stream is for media whose video and audio the device handles but whose container it does not: the server repackages it on the fly. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says Direct Streaming uses very little processing power with no loss of video quality. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says when only the audio needs converting, the audio is transcoded and the original video track is sent untouched. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says a selected subtitle the app cannot show is burned into the video, which needs a full transcode of the video stream. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says for most apps, VOBSUB and PGS (image) subtitles need the video transcoded to burn them in. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says subtitles in many Plex apps have to be burned into the video, which needs transcoding. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex remote access | ||
| Plex says Relay connections are limited to 2 Mbps for streams, for Plex Pass and Remote Watch Pass subscribers alike. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says content above the Relay limit is transcoded down to fit it. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says Relay is on by default, and a direct connection (Remote Access) gives higher quality. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says remote access very often needs transcoding, because the network often cannot carry full quality. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says that since 2025-04-29, remote playback of personal video needs one of: a Plex Pass on the server admin account, a Plex Pass on your own account, or a Remote Watch Pass on your own account. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says a Plex Pass on the server admin account also allows remote playback for every other user streaming from that server. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says a Remote Watch Pass covers only the account that started it (and its Managed Accounts), not other accounts you share with, and gives none of Plex Pass's other features. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says remote streaming of music to Plexamp and photos to Plex Photos is not restricted. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex says more apps will enforce these requirements and eventually all apps and platforms will. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Plex's plans page says Plex Pass includes remote streaming for all users and hardware transcoding. | Plex | 2026-10-07 |
| Jellyfin and Emby | ||
| Jellyfin's documentation says some transcoding stages (decode, tone mapping, subtitle burn in, encode) cannot be GPU accelerated because of software, hardware or driver limits, which raises CPU use. | Jellyfin | 2026-10-07 |
CPU and PassMark sources are linked from the CPU table, Plex's NAS list rows from the NAS table. Plex's full list: Plex NAS compatibility sheet.
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