HTPC GPU

[hornetstinger]

I've upgraded the GPU in the gaming PC to a ATI 480 8GB. Playing back a HEVC.x265 on this PC is fine, although it is a quad core computer.

On the desktop it's a dual core, but the GPU is a few years old, a ATI 5450 or something like that (£30 or so) with the same file HEVC.x265 is a bit juddery at times. Is H265 more demaning on hardware? H264 played fine even upto 1080p I think.

Do the new GPUs support H265? Also if I upgrade to a freesync monitor I'd like both to output at the supported 144hz or higher than 60hz for windows desktop. What budget ATI card has freesync, passive and H265 hardware decoding?

 

[Davedree]

Rx 460

 

[hornetstinger]

Passive though? Have no need for 3D gaming features.

 

[Davedree]

Yeah there's an xfx passive rx460 bur it's not cheap,
Any reason you couldn't buy a 460 that has fan spin down at low temps?

 

[lude1962]

why do want a htpc to output greater than 60hz, or am I missing something?

 

[hornetstinger]

for the pc monitor, it's connected to TV and monitor, so for windows I'd like to use higher than 60hz. Seems a lot smoother on the faster refresh.

 

[lude1962]

4k tv?

hevc is decoded by the cpu if gpu has no hw decoding, though kabylake, 1q 2017 should handle it all, thats why your old dual core has juddery playback , though it may depend upon which playback software you are using.

 

[hornetstinger]

yeah most likely ati 5450 has no hw decoding for that new video formats, ati 480 probably has as CPU usage is virtually nil - obviously quad core but even so very low, compared to 95-100% CPU on the dual. Bit like last time, H263 720p was ok on integrated GPU but 1080p was not, getting dedicated ati 5450 reduced that to 25%.

 

[hornetstinger]

Nothing new? Want to keep my HTPC up to date, with 4K hardware decoding, H265 struggles a bit so a new GPU would be useful.

 

[Brazo]

There's a passive 1050ti