Video Card in HTPC

[Stephg2525]

Hi i want to build i HTPC but i dont want to game on it and asking myself if i need a videocard.

I'm gonna use it for streaming movie in 4K 

So do i need videocard for watching 4K movie ? or my 6600K Intel HD Graphics 530 is good ? 

 

I know i5-6600k is overkill for HTPC but that what i have. 

 

Thank's

[The Sloth]

yes, IGPU is good enough 

[ARikozuM]

You'll need a video player that supports 4K like PowerDVD as well. 

[johnt]

The 6600k has no support for HEVC decoding. Your iGPU is going to run 4k movies like a sloth. It won't run 4k Netflix or Amazon. For that you will need Kaby Lake. Or a dedicated video card like the Pascal series GPUs.

[ARikozuM]

13 minutes ago, JohnT said:

The 6600k has no support for HEVC decoding. Your iGPU is going to run 4k movies like a sloth. It won't run 4k Netflix or Amazon. For that you will need Kaby Lake. Or a dedicated video card like the Pascal series GPUs.

This guy is [in]correct.

 

https://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/spec_en_US.html

[AshleyAshes]

7 minutes ago, JohnT said:

The 6600k has no support for HEVC decoding.

 

Just now, ARikozuM said:

This guy is correct.

 

https://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/spec_en_US.html

Actually, Sky Lake has hardware decoding for 8bit HEVC and offers a GPU accelerated (As in Compute, rather than a dedicated part of the ASIC) for HEVC 10bit decoding.

[ARikozuM]

3 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

 

Actually, Sky Lake has hardware decoding for 8bit HEVC and offers a GPU accelerated (As in Compute, rather than a dedicated part of the ASIC) for HEVC 10bit decoding.

You're all confusing the hell out of me. 

[AshleyAshes]

Just now, ARikozuM said:

You're all confusing the hell out of me. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video#Quick_Sync_development

 

Quote

Version 5 (Skylake)

The Skylake microarchitecture adds a full fixed-function H.265/HEVC main/8-bit encoding and decoding acceleration, hybrid and partial HEVC main10/10-bit decoding acceleration, JPEG encoding acceleration for resolutions up to 16,000×16,000 pixels,

 

[Stephg2525]

ok ill try with no videocard, and if it's not like i want ill upgrade my main card pc.

[johnt]

1 hour ago, ARikozuM said:

You're all confusing the hell out of me. 

Don't be confused. Regardless what Skylake can handle on the edge of its limits, 4k streaming on PC still requires Kaby Lake.

[ARikozuM]

18 minutes ago, JohnT said:

Don't be confused. Regardless what Skylake can handle on the edge of its limits, 4k streaming on PC still requires Kaby Lake.

I know streaming requires Kaby, but your post made it sound like 4K movies, in general, would be futile.

[johnt]

42 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

I know streaming requires Kaby, but your post made it sound like 4K movies, in general, would be futile.

Heh... 8 bit 4k? Makes no sense. Most are 10 bit. It's also worth checking if Skylake supports HDCP2.2. If not, then you won't even be able to play 4k discs (at some point) at 4k resolution.

[AshleyAshes]

8 hours ago, JohnT said:

Heh... 8 bit 4k? Makes no sense. Most are 10 bit. It's also worth checking if Skylake supports HDCP2.2. If not, then you won't even be able to play 4k discs (at some point) at 4k resolution.

HDCP and other features may not be a concern.  The OP didn't clarify which services they'd actually be using.

 

Without knowing the OPs specific service needs, suggesting a new CPU while making incorrect statements on CPU features is pretty careless.

[paddy-stone]

I hate that the word "streaming" has become synonymous with certain online services like netflix. If people don't actually mention a service, then shouldn't we assume they just mean local streaming instead?, so from another PC/NAS?  That's what I would assume, unless informed otherwise.

 

 

[johnt]

28 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

HDCP and other features may not be a concern.  The OP didn't clarify which services they'd actually be using.

 

Without knowing the OPs specific service needs, suggesting a new CPU while making incorrect statements on CPU features is pretty careless.

HDCP2.2 sort of goes hand-in-hand with HDMI 2.0 standards, which is necessary for all 4k streaming (particularly with HDR10 and DV), 4k blu-rays, and 4k refresh rates over 30 Hz. The last one is more of a bandwidth issue and may not be a factor for the Op, except for some Youtube videos.

 

So I don't agree. HDCP2.2 is a minimum requirement for the Op to consider. Netflix is the biggest streaming service and they have flat out made it clear you need Kaby Lake to stream 4k or HDR content when using a PC.

 

I'm not trying to sell Intel chips here. Just sharing what I know about the streaming world. I'm a huge movie/streaming buff, and I actually do not recommend using an HTPC to stream content. SmartTV built-in apps are the best way thus far. They offer the best compatibility. Followed by Amazon Fire TV.

[AshleyAshes]

Just now, JohnT said:

HDCP2.2 sort of goes hand-in-hand with HDMI 2.0 standards, which is necessary for all 4k streaming (particularly with HDR10 and DV), 4k blu-rays, and 4k refresh rates over 30 Hz. The last one is more of a bandwidth issue and may not be a factor for the Op, except for some Youtube videos.

Funny, I'm doing 4K HEVC Playback on an i7 3770K, with a Radeon HD 7950 (Software decoding, obviously) and driving my screen at 4K@60hz with that hardware all while having no HDCP2.2.

[johnt]

1 hour ago, AshleyAshes said:

Funny, I'm doing 4K HEVC Playback on an i7 3770K, with a Radeon HD 7950 (Software decoding, obviously) and driving my screen at 4K@60hz with that hardware all while having no HDCP2.2.

Through HDMI?

[AshleyAshes]

Just now, JohnT said:

Through HDMI?

DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapter.  They're a thing, ya know?   I figured I COULD buy a whole new graphics card for the HTPC the same day I got the TV, but then I decided that a $20 adapter would make more sense.  Also for 4K gaming on that card.

[johnt]

29 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapter.  They're a thing, ya know?   I figured I COULD buy a whole new graphics card for the HTPC the same day I got the TV, but then I decided that a $20 adapter would make more sense.  Also for 4K gaming on that card.

DP1.2 is more than capable of 4k at 60Hz. Televisions don't come with DisplayPort

[AshleyAshes]

Just now, JohnT said:

DP1.2 is more than capable of 4k at 60Hz. Televisions don't come with DisplayPort

I can't tell if you didn't understand what was meant by 'DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapter.' or if you simply decided to respond to this thread with a random factoid...

[Stagea]

7 hours ago, JohnT said:

 

So I don't agree. HDCP2.2 is a minimum requirement for the Op to consider. Netflix is the biggest streaming service and they have flat out made it clear you need Kaby Lake to stream 4k or HDR content when using a PC.

 

It's PlayReady 3.0 support that is present in Kaby Lake and Pascal that makes Netflix 4k possible. An on-board LSPCon would be nice for Kaby Lake to support the latest standards (most boards with Thunderbolt would have this), though this can be added externally (as long as a Displayport output is available).

[Zodiark1593]

Beyond HDCP 2.2 and HEVC hardware (and software) decode , PlayReady 3.0 exists independent and is also a requirement to stream 4K from services such as Netflix and to play 4K Blu Ray.

 

It matters not whether your PC can decode 4K HEVC or not. The PlayReady 3 requirement is fulfilled only by Intel's consumer Kaby Lake and successors, and Nvidia's Pascal series. Even if you have the hardware decoding capability for 10 bit HEVC (like say GTX 960 owners), without PlayReady 3.0, it is completely moot and useless for the above purposes.