Video encoding, Strong CPU, weak GPU vs weak CPU, Stong GPU

Father Dougal · September 3, 2016

I've been given a tax rebate from the Queen to the tune of £750 so I'm looking at building a dedicated home threatre server / video encoding machine. I have lots of anime, movies and TV shows that are all in 1080p+ MKV format but since I'm a trucker I spent a lot of time on the road with my iPad. Thanks to Apple just being Apple I have to encode everything I want to put on my iPad in MP4 format and 720p to save on space which takes forever on my Macbook using Handbrake.

I want this to be a HTPC as well as a video encoding machine so I'm currently trying to weigh up the pro's and cons of having say a i7 6700K with say a GT950 or an i3 with a cheap 980.

TheSuspect · September 3, 2016

23 minutes ago, Father Dougal said:

i7 6700K with say a GT950 or an i3 with a cheap 980.

Or i5 6500/4590 with a 1070?

Father Dougal · September 3, 2016

1 minute ago, TheSuspect said:

Or i5 6500/4590 with a 1070?

I'm not looking to game on this machine at all. I want the very best for the encoding process as well being able to stream it around my house. One thing to add, this coming Black Friday or whatever they have here in the UK I'll be looking to grab a 4K TV so I'll need HDMI 2.0.

TheSuspect · September 3, 2016

Just now, Father Dougal said:

I'm not looking to game on this machine at all. I want the very best for the encoding process as well being able to stream it around my house. One thing to add, this coming Black Friday or whatever they have here in the UK I'll be looking to grab a 4K TV so I'll need HDMI 2.0.

I honestly don't know which would do better. Instead of a low cpu+high gpu (which I would take), or high cpu+low gpu, why not mid cpu+mid gpu? Also,what programs are you going to use?

Father Dougal · September 3, 2016

3 minutes ago, TheSuspect said:

I honestly don't know which would do better. Instead of a low cpu+high gpu (which I would take), or high cpu+low gpu, why not mid cpu+mid gpu? Also,what programs are you going to use?

Handbrake and XBMC or Kodi as its called now. I'm reaching Handbrakes GPU hardware accelaration now and it doesn't seem to benifet all that well from it so I'm learning more towards a higher end CPU. I do have some leeway with the budget as I already own a good PSU thats knocking about doing nothing as well as a spare copy of Windows.

TheSuspect · September 3, 2016

14 minutes ago, Father Dougal said:

Handbrake and XBMC or Kodi as its called now. I'm reaching Handbrakes GPU hardware accelaration now and it doesn't seem to benifet all that well from it so I'm learning more towards a higher end CPU. I do have some leeway with the budget as I already own a good PSU thats knocking about doing nothing as well as a spare copy of Windows.

What is the budget? And what components do you need?

Father Dougal · September 3, 2016

20 minutes ago, TheSuspect said:

What is the budget? And what components do you need?

Not much more than £900. Already have a PSU, Windows and one storage drive already. Will need a wireless KB/M, CPU, Mobo, RAM and a boot drive. Will also need a case.

TheSuspect · September 3, 2016

5 minutes ago, Father Dougal said:

Not much more than £900. Already have a PSU, Windows and one storage drive already. Will need a wireless KB/M, CPU, Mobo, RAM and a boot drive. Will also need a case.

Cooler?