Risking a storm. Dell Optiplex 5050 and wanting to play 4K Bluray

[0vertime]

Hi guys,

I picked up a Dell Optiplex sff 5050 for a second PC in my gaming room, for friends over...  ok, right, I picked it up because it was just so cheap ($75) and was new enough I wanted to try to using it to play 4K Discs on a 4K TV without impacting my personal rig.  I'm in the middle of upgrading it to be useful, but don't want to spend for a dedicated Graphics card.  It runs an i5 6600K and I am considering replacing the drive with a 4K BD to run my 4K discs.  I know this would really be dependent on the iGPU, but the 5050 can be upgraded to 7th Gen.  Is it possible to make this PC do what I want it to do?  or should I find a different use for it?  Jellyfin perhaps?

 

All responses will be appreciated.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

12 minutes ago, 0vertime said:

Hi guys,

I picked up a Dell Optiplex sff 5050 for a second PC in my gaming room, for friends over...  ok, right, I picked it up because it was just so cheap ($75) and was new enough I wanted to try to using it to play 4K Discs on a 4K TV without impacting my personal rig.  I'm in the middle of upgrading it to be useful, but don't want to spend for a dedicated Graphics card.  It runs an i5 6600K and I am considering replacing the drive with a 4K BD to run my 4K discs.  I know this would really be dependent on the iGPU, but the 5050 can be upgraded to 7th Gen.  Is it possible to make this PC do what I want it to do?  or should I find a different use for it?  Jellyfin perhaps?

 

All responses will be appreciated.

Should work as it has a 200 series chipset that launched with 7th gen. 

 

Should be capable of 4K video playback using just the integrated graphics. I've played 4K60 on my old work laptop that had a Mobile 7th Gen i7 with no hiccups. And it had no dGPU so it all ran off the iGPU. 

[0vertime]

30 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Should work as it has a 200 series chipset that launched with 7th gen. 

So, are you saying, I should upgrade the CPU? or will the 6600K work?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

8 minutes ago, 0vertime said:

So, are you saying, I should upgrade the CPU? or will the 6600K work?

The 6600K will also work for that board. 4K video playback should be no problem for that HD 530 graphics as well. 

[Zodiark1593]

30 minutes ago, 0vertime said:

So, are you saying, I should upgrade the CPU? or will the 6600K work?

Page 32 of this datasheet indicates support for HEVC 8-bit, and other sources indicate a partial support for 10-bit HEVC decode.

 

file:///C:/Users/cclar/Downloads/332687_SKL%20Datasheet%20Vol%201_rev010.pdf

[Alex Atkin UK]

Personally I'd recommend getting a proper Bluray player.  I've compared both and the picture quality on a hardware player is vastly superior, software can also induce micro-stutter.  Plus there's extra cost if you want to play them legitimately rather than ripping them first with MakeMKV.

[0vertime]

24 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Personally I'd recommend getting a proper Bluray player. 

My plan was to add a BU40N.  Do I still need to rip it off?  That kind of defeats the purpose of what I was thinking of doing.  If I need more horse power, I might decide to go a different route.  I have options of more powerful computers, but don't want to spend the power to run them....  I already run 3 VMware servers in a cluster and a 100TB NAS.  I will have to regulate those to a 'when I use them' format as temps peak over the summer.  The Optiplex will "sleep" and sip power even when I play Blu-ray.  I would rather spend the $40 to upgrade the CPU if needed.

[Alex Atkin UK]

6 hours ago, 0vertime said:

My plan was to add a BU40N.  Do I still need to rip it off?  That kind of defeats the purpose of what I was thinking of doing.  If I need more horse power, I might decide to go a different route.  I have options of more powerful computers, but don't want to spend the power to run them....  I already run 3 VMware servers in a cluster and a 100TB NAS.  I will have to regulate those to a 'when I use them' format as temps peak over the summer.  The Optiplex will "sleep" and sip power even when I play Blu-ray.  I would rather spend the $40 to upgrade the CPU if needed.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/606652/4k-blu-ray-support-is-dying-on-the-pc-makemkv-can-help.html

 

There are way to integrate MakeMKV libraries with vlc to play Bluray, probably works with 4K too, but its technically a little iffy given they aren't licensed to decode the DRM.

Also if I recall correctly, only specific drives work with MakeMKV as it effectively has to use custom firmware to put the drive into the mode to read UHD Bluray.  I specifically bought a case that fit a full-sized drive to get that support as I do not believe any small form factor drives work.  I generally rip my Blurays just to confirm they are good as I do not watch them immediately and I've found a lot of later disks are not as robust as the early pressings so prone to scratches in transit.

[dalekphalm]

@Overtime

4K Blu-Ray on PC is a whole big bag of worms. If you want a seamless experience, this won't be it.

 

For starters, Player software is very hit or miss these days. Your typical players like VLC won't be able to play a 4K disc out of the box, and even if you get it working, it'll be hit or miss still.

 

Best bet on the PC would be something like Cyberlink Powerdvd (You'd need the Ultra tier for 4K playback):

https://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/features_en_CA.html?r=1

 

MakeMKV is excellent, but it's primary purpose is ripping media, and it does not play media itself. I have no idea if the BU40N is a good one - but it does appear in the 4K Blu-Ray flashing guide, so that's a good start.

 

https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19634&sid=7c53af9c05eb0a91df40cd0af9dede3b

 

You might find that you need a specific firmware for it to play all your discs.

 

BTW when @Alex Atkin UK said you should get a "proper Bluray player", I think what he meant was a dedicated set-top 4K Blu-Ray player. Not a PC Optical Drive. These work far far better than Optical Drives inside a PC. Obviously no ripping if you use a Player though.

[Alex Atkin UK]

5 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

BTW when @Alex Atkin UK said you should get a "proper Bluray player", I think what he meant was a dedicated set-top 4K Blu-Ray player. Not a PC Optical Drive. These work far far better than Optical Drives inside a PC. Obviously no ripping if you use a Player though.

Yup, I have both.  A Panasonic UltraHD Bluray player and an ASUS BW-16D1HT for ripping/verifying no defects.  The former is much better picture quality.