Which GPU for HTPC?

[AusWolf]

Hi all,

I have an old, garbage secondary rig that I use for home theatre purposes. A few days ago I noticed that it didn't play some of the newest movies that I have. As it turned out, the H.265 codec is unsupported by the GPU, and the CPU isn't strong enough to handle it in 4K (I wouldn't mind watching them in 1080p, but I only have them in 4K unfortunately). I guess upgrading the CPU would be useless, as it would not only increase power consumption, but it's also becoming harder to find a 2nd gen Core i5 or i7 on the market.

So my question is, is there a video card that is relatively cheap, energy efficient, and supports H.265 hardware decoding? I've looked at the GeForce GT 1030, but it's a bit too expensive to just watch a few movies on.

The system spec are as follows:
- Gigabyte something mini-ITX motherboard
- Core i3-2120T CPU (2.6 GHz, 2C, 4T, 35W)
- 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz RAM (single channel)
- GeForce GT 610 1 GB
- Corsair SF450 power supply that I'm thinking about selling and swapping out with my old Coolermaster G550M that I'm currently replacing in my main rig with a more efficient unit

Thanks for the tips.

 

[xman2007]

They can be had for about £50 on ebay, but if that's too much there are 730's and 710's though not too sure how the latter would handle 4k

 

[TheLostSwede]

Get an Amazon FireTV 4K dongle and install Plex or Emby installed on it?
Or even an RPi 4 with LibreELEC?

 

[AusWolf]

They can be had for about £50 on ebay, but if that's too much there are 730's and 710's though not too sure how the latter would handle 4k

It's not that it's too much, but I'd rather not spend money on the system that the entire PC isn't worth. I'll take a look at the 730, see if it does H.265.

Get an Amazon FireTV 4K dongle and install Plex or Emby installed on it?
Or even an RPi 4 with LibreELEC?

Just checked, the FireTV 4K sells for £50 in the UK. For that money, I'd rather get a decent graphics card. But again, it would be nice if I didn't have to spend so much just to watch a few movies.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Just checked, the FireTV 4K sells for £50 in the UK. For that money, I'd rather get a decent graphics card. But again, it would be nice if I didn't have to spend so much just to watch a few movies.

It tends to be on sale every so often from Amazon. Friend of mine got me one in the US for $25. Only problem, Prime Video doesn't work on it outside the US...
Netflix, Emby, etc. works just fine though.

 

[xman2007]

It tends to be on sale every so often from Amazon. Friend of mine got me one in the US for $25. Only problem, Prime Video doesn't work on it outside the US...
Netflix, Emby, etc. works just fine though.

I've always watched Prime on the FireTV, UK, why would their own service not work on their own devices?

 

[TheLostSwede]

I've always watched Prime on the FireTV, UK, why would their own service not work on their own devices?

It does in the US, but I don't live in the US, so Prime Video doesn't work on it...
If you go read the fine print on the UK model, it also mentions that several services won't work outside of the UK.
Amazon wants me to buy the international version regular Fire TV dongle instead, which is pants in comparison hardware wise.
Yet I can use Amazon Prime Video where I live just fine... It even works on my Samsung TV and my old Roku 3 from the UK. However, a lot of the UK apps don't work on that any more.
It's all about selling ads and limiting content to one geographic area...

I'm currently stuck in Sweden and my Netflix content is quite different here from Taiwan, which is kind of annoying, as I want to watch some of the Swedish shows in Taiwan.

 

[xman2007]

Sorry for OT. Must be certain countries due to some local laws that conflict with Amazon's EULA perhaps? Couldn't think of what other reason there would be not to stream their own service o the FireTV Although the main reason most people have prime is for the free deliveries as the video service is amongst the weakest IMO and there's more student films/micro budget art house films than there are big name studios or blockbusters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Video#Devices

Some info there and say's the Prime service was stopped in 2013 in sweden denmark and norway, but then says the service launched worldwide in 2018 except China, Iran and a couple of other dodgy countries so maybe you can stream prime there now?

 

[TheLostSwede]

I got Prime Video only, as Prime is not available in Taiwan.
There were a few shows I wanted to watch and was willing to pay a bit for, but I will cancel the service now anyhow, since those shows are over for the time being.

It's not a matter of the service not being available, the app on the Fire TV 4k simply won't start, as I'm in the wrong region. Amazon has, for some strange reason, very regional products, even when it comes to their hardware it seems.

 

[bug]

Hi all,

I have an old, garbage secondary rig that I use for home theatre purposes. A few days ago I noticed that it didn't play some of the newest movies that I have. As it turned out, the H.265 codec is unsupported by the GPU, and the CPU isn't strong enough to handle it in 4K (I wouldn't mind watching them in 1080p, but I only have them in 4K unfortunately). I guess upgrading the CPU would be useless, as it would not only increase power consumption, but it's also becoming harder to find a 2nd gen Core i5 or i7 on the market.

So my question is, is there a video card that is relatively cheap, energy efficient, and supports H.265 hardware decoding? I've looked at the GeForce GT 1030, but it's a bit too expensive to just watch a few movies on.

The system spec are as follows:
- Gigabyte something mini-ITX motherboard
- Core i3-2120T CPU (2.6 GHz, 2C, 4T, 35W)
- 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz RAM (single channel)
- GeForce GT 610 1 GB
- Corsair SF450 power supply that I'm thinking about selling and swapping out with my old Coolermaster G550M that I'm currently replacing in my main rig with a more efficient unit

Thanks for the tips.

This might help you figure out what you need: https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-decode-gpu-support-matrix
I haven't been able to find this info from the red camp, but I'm sure it's available somewhere.
From the blue camp, everything since Skylake with an iGPU should do the trick.

I got Prime Video only, as Prime is not available in Taiwan.
There were a few shows I wanted to watch and was willing to pay a bit for, but I will cancel the service now anyhow, since those shows are over for the time being.

It's not a matter of the service not being available, the app on the Fire TV 4k simply won't start, as I'm in the wrong region. Amazon has, for some strange reason, very regional products, even when it comes to their hardware it seems.

I don't think it's the hardware, but the licensing. When Netflix launched over here they didn't have "Blacklist", because they already licensed it to a local TV. They essentially locked out their own show for a year or two

 

[xman2007]

Can't you downscale/encode to 1080p and spend £0

 

[AusWolf]

Just checked,he fireTV 4

This might help you figure out what you need: https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-decode-gpu-support-matrix
I haven't been able to find this info from the red camp, but I'm sure it's available somewhere.
From the blue camp, everything since Skylake with an iGPU should do the trick.

This is helpful, thanks! According to the table, a used 750 (Ti) might do the trick, if I can get my hands on one.

Can't you downscale/encode to 1080p and spend £0

Maybe I could... just have to figure out how.

 

[xman2007]

Just checked,he fireTV 4

This is helpful, thanks! According to the table, a used 750 (Ti) might do the trick, if I can get my hands on one.


Maybe I could... just have to figure out how.

Am sure plex or any other media server can do this

 

[bug]

Just checked,he fireTV 4

This is helpful, thanks! According to the table, a used 750 (Ti) might do the trick, if I can get my hands on one.

Careful there. 750Ti is 1st gen Maxwell and doesn't do H265.

 

[xman2007]

Careful there. 750Ti is 1st gen Maxwell and doesn't do H265.

Also same or more expensive than a used GT 1030

 

[bug]

Also same or more expensive than a used GT 1030

Yeah, the 750Ti was an odd beast. Launched alone and superseded in a few months.
Though I imagine loking at something similar from AMD would be truly painful, seeing as one line up of theirs always includes cards from ~3 generations. That's probably why that info is not so easy to find

 

[xman2007]

Yeah, the 750Ti was an odd beast. Launched alone and superseded in a few months.
Though I imagine loking at something similar from AMD would be truly painful, seeing as one line up of theirs always includes cards from ~3 generations. That's probably why that info is not so easy to find

Not sure where AMD came into the conversation, I see you're one of those guys

 

[bug]

Not sure where AMD came into the conversation, I see you're one of those guys

No, please don't go there, I didn't mean it that way. I meant when I posted that I tried to get the same info from all the manufacturers and I couldn't find it from AMD so easily.

 

[basco]

i put filter for h265 in so ya can quickly see which gpu supports it:

Grafikkarten PCIe mit Besonderheiten: H.265 encode/decode Preisvergleich Geizhals EU

Preisvergleich und Bewertungen für Grafikkarten PCIe mit Besonderheiten: H.265 encode/decode

geizhals.eu

 

[newtekie1]

This is helpful, thanks! According to the table, a used 750 (Ti) might do the trick, if I can get my hands on one.

Careful there. 750Ti is 1st gen Maxwell and doesn't do H265.

The first 750/750Ti was first gen maxwell, and doesn't do H265. There was a 750 that was 2nd gen Maxwell and does do H265, but it was an OEM only card and is hard to find. It even hard to figure out if you are getting a first or second gen 750.

I'd be better to just search for a used 950 or 960. Just be careful, because most of the cheap ones on ebay are fake. It would be best to post on the B/S/T section here or on r/hardwareswap to try to find something.