CPU/platform for cheap multiple 1080i stream transcode?

Hello! I am in a kind of a pickle and I need advice.

I am in the process of building a TV streaming server for my house. Currently experimenting.

I am using TVHeadend with 5x Astrometa DVB-T2 USB tuners to get the 1080i DVB-T signal and stream it to clients.

My problem is that the clients I bought (XIaomi Mi boxes) have an Exoplayer deinterlacing bug (probably a bug with the AMLogic chip) that causes the boxes to hang after X hours of interlaced playback.

SInce I have spent the money on 4 of these boxes, I don’t want to have to replace them, hence the need for transcoding (and deinterlacing) on the server side.

I am experimenting with my 4770K and x264 encoder (ffmpeg is included with TVHeadend). I tried using HW encoders like VAAPI with the iGPU or my AMD GPU but they honestly suck. Nvidia GPUs are limited to 2 concurrent streams unless I go for a Quadro so that is out of the question as well. The 4770K @4.2 GHz can handle up to two HD streams with ~80% utilization so it is not enough.

I am looking for a cheap CPU/Platform that does not consume lots of power to handle the task. I could use my spare DELL R410 with dual E5504 Xeons but at 190W at idle, it will be expensive in the long run.

TL;DR: Looking for a cheap + low-ish power cpu/platform to handle 4x 1080i x264 real-time transcoding jobs for my TV server.

Any ideas?

Could try something like the 1920X (they are rather cheap). Allthough someone needs to give some input on performance.

The HD Homerun does this for you I think. Unfortunately for the DVB models, they don’t have transcode. However, it does change the DVB signal into an IP stream.

https://www.silicondust.com/product/hdhomerun-quatro-eu/

I’d almost run yadif=1 on NVENC on the input with all the streams on multiple GT 1030s, with the tuners over IP to ease the tuner requirements.

A Ryzen 2600 with 3 GT 1030s on B450 would be cost efficient, just get the GDDR5 GT 1030, cause there is a massive difference.

That does not sound like a bad idea actually.

Trouble is finding a x8/x8/x4 B450 board. If that’s not on the table use a X470-F from ASUS.

The GT 1030 does not seem to have an NVENC chip…

1050s then I guess.

Part Price ($) Note
1900X 319.89 PCIe lanes F yeah!
Noctua NH-U12S TR4 69.90
ASRock X399 Taichi 323.98
2x8GB RAM 120.99 Whatever is compatible, have not checked
WD Green 240GB 49.85 Bootdrive
Fractal Design Focus G 50.27 Cheap case without walled of front
SeaSonic Focus Plus 1000W 143.31 Probably overkill
4x RX 550 79.99 AMD says they can encode

Total cost: $1398.15

PCPartpicker (with only 2 GPUs because it does not allow me to add 4):
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DdCmQZ

Now the question: Would the RX 550 work?
AMD does say the RX 550 supports H264 and H265 encoding. If it works for the software in question, I don´t know. But they are rather cheap (80 bucks a pop)