Graphics card for Home Cinema

[Tech_Confused]

Hello everyone,

 

I have some spare parts and we thought with my wife to build a small home cinema - pc.

 

We have a 4k HDR 65' inch TV but I am really not sure what are the demands for a 4k home cinema. I read some guides and there are many people who rely on their integrated GPU, others propose a GTX 1030 and other even a GTX 1050ti. As it becomes understood this is a big leap (from integrated to a 1050ti).

 

What do you propose for a 4k home cinema pc?

 

 

[Haro]

If your only going to use it for Netflix / YouTube etc, then the igpu us enough 

Anything that has VP9 to de code should be more than enough. 

[Biomecanoid]

You don't need a PC you can use a small Android TV Box

[Tech_Confused]

Yes my main goal for this system is to watch Netflix/Amazon Prime or movies in general.

 

I have an old AMD FX-8350 and a spare NVIDIA 1030 and for this reason I was wondering if it is enough. Because I got a lot of conflicting info regarding this and I am not sure anymore, I read people mentioning an NVIDIA 730 would be also enough while other recommend an GTX 1060. Thats why I am asking for help because we are talkig about worlds apart in terms of mentioned GPUs

[Haro]

3 minutes ago, Tech_Confused said:

have an old AMD FX-8350 and a spare NVIDIA 1030 and for this reason I was wondering if it is enough

Yes for the most part.

 

3 minutes ago, Tech_Confused said:

read people mentioning an NVIDIA 730 would be also enough

Afaik it doesn't have VP9, so not necessarily the best option.

[Tech_Confused]

4 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

Yes for the most part.

 

Care to elaborate more? Sorry for asking too much

[Haro]

1 minute ago, Tech_Confused said:

Sorry for asking too much

It's all good.

 

1 minute ago, Tech_Confused said:

Care to elaborate more?

Well the 1030 has VP9 which is used to de code what ever your watching , like YouTube for example ( if they use that format, which they do ). 

Anything really that has VP9 will be enough for watching content.

[Aragorn-]

While what you have will work... If its really just netflix and youtube, just go get a FireTV stick for £30.

 

By the time you sort out a decent remote solution for an actual PC, you'll have spent the same money, and you dont have a hulking great PC sitting there. Its also far more user friendly.

 

I have a PC connected to my TV for gaming. Its modern, powerful, has a wireless keyboard etc etc. I still use a Roku for "normal" TV consumption, as it Just Works.

If you really do want a PC, you'd be far better off selling the old bits you have and buying something modern with a decent iGPU, wether thats a Ryzen 2200g or one of the many intel options. I have a 2200g which i run with Kodi and its great. Either do a nice ITX build, or better still, pickup a Ryzen equipped Lenovo M715q (or M710q if you want Intel) from ebay.

[Haro]

7 minutes ago, Aragorn- said:

If you really do want a PC, you'd be far better off selling the old bits you have and buying something modern with a decent iGPU, wether thats a Ryzen 2200g

OP already has the parts 

And Vega 8 is around the performance of a 1030 

Your not gaining, your losing as it will be more expensive.

[Tech_Confused]

15 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

OP already has the parts 

And Vega 8 is around the performance of a 1030

Exactly this is why I want to create the home cinema pc with the items we have left. I don't have to spend any money on it, I just wanted to know if my GPU is going to be enough because I read a Reddit post that a 1030 is not sufficeint due to its RAM limitation. According to the user 2 GBs are not enough for 4k netflix only if you have downloaded the media file in uir hard drive.

[Haro]

Just now, Tech_Confused said:

read a Reddit post that a 1030 is not sufficeint due to its RAM limitation

It's good enough.

[Aragorn-]

10 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

OP already has the parts 

And Vega 8 is around the performance of a 1030 

Your not gaining, your losing as it will be more expensive.

I'm not really talking about performance specifically though. Its a media box, it doesnt need tonnes of performance really. But having an old, large PC build just really isnt ideal, and if he can sell the bits off, and buy a new setup for similar money, thats neat and compact will use less power and whatnot, thats certainly what i would do. Those Lenovos are great wee boxes, pretty much silent, upgradable with socketed CPU/RAM/SSD etc, and usually come up pretty cheap, though thats somewhat region dependant.

So your gaining space, aesthetics, power consumption, at hopefully similar cost.
My Wifes fairly tolerant of random PC crap all over the lounge, but even so, my lounge gaming PC is an ITX build thats as small as i could make it (within sensible bounds), rather than a massive tower case etc.

Anyway, my original point still stands, buy a TV stick. It comes with a remote, a decent interface and it Just Works.

[Aragorn-]

3 minutes ago, Tech_Confused said:

I read a Reddit post that a 1030 is not sufficeint due to its RAM limitation. According to the user 2 GBs are not enough for 4k netflix only if you have downloaded the media file in uir hard drive.

There appears to be some suggestion that the DRM scheme Netflix uses on Nvidia cards for some reason requires 3GB+ of VRAM. I dont know if this is a legacy issue and as been fixed though, as many of these posts are older. Its not that the card itself cant accellerate the 4k files, more a quirk (either intentional or otherwise) of the implementation of the DRM.

[Haro]

Just now, Aragorn- said:

But having an old, large PC build just really isnt ideal, a

If OP is okay with it 

Then that's the important thing, and you do realize you can change the case without changing the parts ?

1 minute ago, Aragorn- said:

and if he can sell the bits off, and buy a new setup for similar money

It'll be more expensive with similar performance.

[Tech_Confused]

3 minutes ago, Aragorn- said:

I'm not really talking about performance specifically though. Its a media box, it doesnt need tonnes of performance really. But having an old, large PC build just really isnt ideal, and if he can sell the bits off, and buy a new setup for similar money, thats neat and compact will use less power and whatnot, thats certainly what i would do. Those Lenovos are great wee boxes, pretty much silent, upgradable with socketed CPU/RAM/SSD etc, and usually come up pretty cheap, though thats somewhat region dependant.

So your gaining space, aesthetics, power consumption, at hopefully similar cost.
My Wifes fairly tolerant of random PC crap all over the lounge, but even so, my lounge gaming PC is an ITX build thats as small as i could make it (within sensible bounds), rather than a massive tower case etc.

Anyway, my original point still stands, buy a TV stick. It comes with a remote, a decent interface and it Just Works.

Exactly i have a small case for my this pc parts from when I was using it, my 1030 is a low profile one (fanless) and the cpu cooler is of low profile type as well.

 

Thanks for your advice but my wife is fine with it as it won't be that visible

 

I am mostly interested in performance than aesthetics (and to build it as cheaply as possible or in this case 0 cost).

[Aragorn-]

Just now, TofuHaroto said:

If OP is okay with it 

Then that's the important thing, and you do realize you can change the case without changing the parts ?

It'll be more expensive with similar performance.

Sure, but its limited to what those components are. Clearly hes not fitting a full ATX AM3 board into a tidy ITX media centre case... Similarly if hes using a full size GPU etc etc.

 

And i fully agree, its his choice. I'm just giving my side. I've been there, done that. Tried many different options. And after many different schemes, i use a Roku to watch netflix because it just works with minimal hassle.

Sometimes a little bit of expense is worthwhile for a better end result.

[Aragorn-]

1 minute ago, Tech_Confused said:

Exactly i have a small case for my this pc parts from when I was using it, my 1030 is a low profile one (fanless) and the cpu cooler is of low profile type as well.

 

Thanks for your advice but my wife is fine with it as it won't be that visible

 

I am mostly interested in performance than aesthetics (and to build it as cheaply as possible or in this case 0 cost).

I suppose all the questioning is moot then... Why not just build it and try it out? If you have all the parts, the cost is Zero, you'll build the machine in half an hour. If it works, it works.

If it doesnt, you can instead post with the actual issues your having and decide wether its worthwhile upgrading.

[Tech_Confused]

1 minute ago, Aragorn- said:

I suppose all the questioning is moot then... Why not just build it and try it out? If you have all the parts, the cost is Zero, you'll build the machine in half an hour. If it works, it works.

If it doesnt, you can instead post with the actual issues your having and decide wether its worthwhile upgrading.

Good point. I will do it and post the results.

 

I was just overwhelmed by all the info I got and usually in the past I got great advice through LTT's forums, so I thought to ask here first to see what people with more experience than me in this sector have to say. Thank you for your answers and time.

[Aragorn-]

Its an NVIDIA limitation:

 

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4583/~/4k-uhd-netflix-content-on-nvidia-gpus