Choosing a graphics card for Jellyfin Zima OS v. 1.6.1

[dany_wilde]

Hello.

I’m brand new to the community.

I need a graphics card for transcoding on Jellyfin and Zima OS v.1.6.1, kernel 6.12.25.

I’m using a Chinese Machinist X99 B9 motherboard with a Xeon E5 2650 V4 in a Fractal Design Node 804 case.

I’m torn between an XFX Swift 105 RX 6400

and a Sparkle Intel Arc A310 ECO.

Because of their physical size.

Which one do you recommend in particular, and why?

Thanks.

note :
I’m not sure if I’m posting this in the right place.

If I’m in the wrong place, please let me know.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Burndaddy]

Hi @dany_wilde, welcome to the community.

If I’m not mistaken, ZimaOS doesn’t support AMD GPUs.

From what I’ve read, there is support for Intel Arc GPU, but not in the dashboard.

Intel Arc A310 in ZimaCube

Hey, I’m just testing my ZimaCube with an Arc A310 and it doesn’t seem to recognize the card. Does it support Intel Arc cards? It boots fine and the GPU fan is on but it doesn’t list the card in the OS, only the integrated graphics. The card is listed here as supported GPU Expansion | Zimaspace Docs Thanks

Pretty sure most users use Nvidia GPUs.
It also depends on your budget. I wouldn’t go with anything older than a GTX1660.

Hope this helps.

[James]

Hi Danny, If it helps I moved from an RTX 3050 to intel arc A380 for jellyfin as the Arc card supports more concurrent stream and encodes in AV1. now i use the rtx in another system for running LLM’s and light gaming. the intel arc is great choice for video hardware encoding/decoding.

Intel Arc GPUs are generally considered superior to the RTX 3050 for Jellyfin transcoding due to better codec support, higher efficiency, and no artificial limits on simultaneous streams.

• Codec Support: Intel Arc cards offer native hardware AV1 encoding and decoding, whereas the RTX 3050 only supports AV1 decoding and lacks AV1 encoding, requiring the older H.265 (HEVC) or H.264 codecs.

• Stream Limits: Intel Arc GPUs have no artificial restrictions on the number of simultaneous transcodes, while NVIDIA cards like the RTX 3050 are limited to eight simultaneous streams by software.

• Power Efficiency: Arc GPUs typically consume significantly less power during idle and active transcoding compared to the RTX 3050, making them more cost-effective for 24/7 media servers.

• Encoding Quality: According to Jellyfin’s official hardware selection guide, Intel’s encoding quality ranks higher than NVIDIA’s (Apple ≥ Intel ≥ NVIDIA), providing better visual fidelity at similar bitrates

I know you’re considering AMD or Intel but the intel card is a great choice if you’re just looking for something to run jellyfin.

[dany_wilde]

I think you’re mistaken.

Zima OS is compatible with AMD graphics cards, but it only uses the AMDGPU driver.

This means that very old cards, such as many HDxxxx models, which use the RADEON driver, are not supported.

Intel cards like the A310 seem to be supported by the i915 driver in the 6.12.25 kernel of Zima 1.6.1.

So I hope I won’t have any issues since I’ve already ordered the card.

I’ll take your concerns into account and hope they turn out to be unfounded.

Thanks.

[dany_wilde]

Thank you for your very constructive feedback.

As I mentioned earlier (in my reply to burndaddy), I just ordered the Intel Arc A310.

Because of its size, it barely fits in my case (Fractal Design Node 804).

ChatGPT is giving me mixed reviews, and I’ve noticed some people are concerned about whether this graphics card will work properly with my motherboard (Machinist X99 B9, AliExpress).

I hope I don’t run into any issues. The card is supposed to arrive on May 8, 2026. Wish me luck.

[James]

I’m also using fractal design node 804 with intel xeon E3 1270 and supermicro X11 motherboard.

fits nicely and drivers for intel cards are built into the zima kernel. you don’t see gpu usage on dashboard as yet but it works in my system without issue. I’ve seen other folk use X99 chipset with arc cards I doubt you will encounter issues.

Best of Luck Dany, but I’m sure you will be fine to be honest.

[dany_wilde]

what do you mean when you write this : ?

“ you don’t see gpu usage on dashboard as yet “

do the local console works perfectly ? the transcoding too ?

the ssh with no problem ? and the screens in firefox also with no soucy ?

[James]

I just mean the graph that shows the percentage of gpu use isn’t displayed but the card is working as normal.

[James]

Transcoding and anything that uses the gpu is working and there’s no need to worry, Just waiting on the icewhale team fixing the gpu graph on dashboard.

gpu graph looks like this but Icewhale haven’t fixed it being displayed yet