Is this CPU capable for HTPC?

[Lither]

I have a spare AMD Phenom II X2 545 with 4GB RAM and was wondering is the CPU capable of playing 1080p/4k movies with MPC-HC as I'm thinking of turning it into a HTPC for the living room (just need a GPU).

 

[Panos]

I have a spare AMD Phenom II X2 545 with 4GB RAM and was wondering is the CPU capable of playing 1080p/4k movies with MPC-HC as I'm thinking of turning it into a HTPC for the living room (just need a GPU).

Do you have the rest of the hardware otherwise why not buy a Ryzen APU?

 

[Lither]

Do you have the rest of the hardware otherwise why not buy a Ryzen APU?

Yes, I have the rest of the hardware (motherboard, power supply, hard drives and case).

 

[Panos]

Yes, I have the rest of the hardware (motherboard, power supply, hard drives and case).

Then shouldn't be an issue.

 

[DragonQ]

Are you using a GPU for hardware decoding? If so, you barely need anything CPU-wise. I used to have a Sandy Bridge Celeron and it worked fine for anything up to 1080p60 AVC because I had a separate GPU.

 

[hornetstinger]

If you get a modern passive GPU with h264 and h265 acceleration CPU usage is nil.

I downclocked my and 245e and to 1ghz per core and 1080 works fine. Nvidia gt1030

 

[Lither]

Are you using a GPU for hardware decoding? If so, you barely need anything CPU-wise. I used to have a Sandy Bridge Celeron and it worked fine for anything up to 1080p60 AVC because I had a separate GPU.

I don't have a GPU yet but MPC-HC video player has the option to use hardware accelerated decoding and I will only be playing 1080p movies for now and 4k in the future when I get a 4k TV.

If you get a modern passive GPU with h264 and h265 acceleration CPU usage is nil.

I downclocked my and 245e and to 1ghz per core and 1080 works fine. Nvidia gt1030

Is the GT 1030 the best low profile card you can get?

 

[DragonQ]

I don't have a GPU yet but MPC-HC video player has the option to use hardware accelerated decoding and I will only be playing 1080p movies for now and 4k in the future when I get a 4k TV.

I have no idea if LAV Filters (which is what MPC-HC uses) supports hardware decoding on the integrated GPUs included with some of AMD's 7 or 8 series chipsets.

Is the GT 1030 the best low profile card you can get?

I know both the GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti are available in low profile models. Those are the minimum you need for UHD realistically because of the low VRAM on the GT 1030. For HD, an old GT 430 or GT 520 would work fine.

 

[Lither]

I have no idea if LAV Filters (which is what MPC-HC uses) supports hardware decoding on the integrated GPUs included with some of AMD's 7 or 8 series chipsets.

I know both the GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti are available in low profile models. Those are the minimum you need for UHD realistically because of the low VRAM on the GT 1030. For HD, an old GT 430 or GT 520 would work fine.

Yeah, I'm looking to get a GPU for hardware decoding during the Black Friday sale but will post a thread in the GPU section to see what are my options.

Also, 4GB system RAM is enough?

 

[DragonQ]

Yes 4 GiB is enough.

 

[Lither]

Yes 4 GiB is enough.

I have just checked the 4GB RAM and they are DDR2 as the motherboard (Foxconn A7VMX-K) doesn't support DDR3, will that be a drawback?

 

[Avalon]

I have just checked the 4GB RAM and they are DDR2 as the motherboard (Foxconn A7VMX-K) doesn't support DDR3, will that be a drawback?

It will make zero difference - it's an HTPC that will be utilising a GPU to do hardware decoding, memory bandwidth is about as relevant as the colour of the case.