Minimum System Requirements H.265 HEVC

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
LordEricX

LordEricX

Honorable
Sep 21, 2012
10
0
10,510
My current HTPC seems to of finally met its match when playing H.265 @ 720 or 1080. I'm using the current version of VLC, the audio is fine but the picture is gray most of the time w/ pixelated color images.

AMD Opteron 185 Dual Core
Asus A8N-E Socket 939
2GB OCZ Gold PC4000
XFX 9800 GT

I'm looking to build a "new" system that can handle H.265 playback @ 720 or 1080. I do not want to spend more than $300 on the rig since it will only be playing movies. I'm thinking of this list of parts below:

Intel G3470
MSI HD 6950 (unlocked to 6970 specs)
any H87 or H97 motherboard
any 8GB 1600 memory

I know Nvidia 900 series video cards has some or full hardware decoding for H.265 but that would put the system out of my price range.
 
Solution
fxv300
I think the NVIDIA GTX960 has an onboard HEVC decoder but not too sure of the spec for HEVC as the streams can be 8,10,12 bit colour.

I too have the same issue when trying to decode Satellite download 4K@50Hz via ASTRA 28.2. My app tries to decode HEVC using the CPU and fails miserably. SKYLAKE HVC deoder is only 8 bit I was led to believe but info is vert scarce.
Sort by date Sort by votes
LordEricX

LordEricX

Honorable
Sep 21, 2012
10
0
10,510
I'd like to keep to the 1150 since my main system is the same type. Having a separate system of the same type makes for a good test bench.

Is the LGA 1150 enough for decode of H.265?

Is the decoding of H.265 done on the CPU, GPU or a combo of both? (via software)

Does anyone know the Minimum Requirements for H.265?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
LordEricX

LordEricX

Honorable
Sep 21, 2012
10
0
10,510
My original search into this subject yielded very limited information on H.265 / HEVC. One post on a REDDIT forum had users state what CPU they were using and if they had any issues with H.265 files. From that forum post and others I have come to understand...

A: Software decoding of H.265 is done via the CPU.
B: LGA 1155 / AM2 and newer can decode / play H.265.
C: as of now (May 2016) only the newest CPUs and GPUs will have hardware decoding of H.265 build into the chips.
D: H.265 is still under development and refinement.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
fxv300

fxv300

Distinguished
Jun 9, 2010
112
0
18,690
I think the NVIDIA GTX960 has an onboard HEVC decoder but not too sure of the spec for HEVC as the streams can be 8,10,12 bit colour.

I too have the same issue when trying to decode Satellite download 4K@50Hz via ASTRA 28.2. My app tries to decode HEVC using the CPU and fails miserably. SKYLAKE HVC deoder is only 8 bit I was led to believe but info is vert scarce.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
A

apk24

Reputable
Aug 6, 2015
420
0
4,960
Without GPU support for the specific codec (unless the playback software can leverage GPU compute for software decoding), the decoding is done on the CPU. I doubt that any older or budget GPU will support HEVC or VP9 codecs and the brunt of the work will be on the CPU. That said, at 720p 23fps even my (OC'd) Raspberry Pi is capable of CPU based HEVC playback (8 bit). Any Pentium from a recent socket should be more than enough. I have no clue as to how the load on the CPU scales as I have not really attempted 1080p 23 fps HEVC or higher on anything other than my primary system (GTX 960).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
fxv300

fxv300

Distinguished
Jun 9, 2010
112
0
18,690


I'm referring to 4K UHD @50Hz as off the ASTRA Satellite 28.2E broadcast (UK).
My PC with an AMD R9 270x does Youtube VP9 4K pretty easy but I suspect that is done via CPU and not GPU.
Looks like Polaris will include HEVC decoders as someone else posted on here.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
R

robert600

Distinguished
Jan 19, 2012
1,257
44
19,840
Min sys requirements for HEVC is impossible to answer - it depends on so many factors not the least being the player you use. You mention VLC - it is a notoriously poor choice for HEVC (great for x264). Try Potplayer - don't fool around with the settings - just download it and open it - your old system might be fine.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
fxv300

fxv300

Distinguished
Jun 9, 2010
112
0
18,690
I beleive the Radeon RX480 and NVIDIA GTX 1080 both support HEVC (10 Bit).
The RX480 will be available to-morrow and fits the specs required.

The Radeon RX series includes support for next-generation HDR gaming and video on new HDR monitors and TVs. The Radeon RX series also supports HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 supporting the new generation of high-resolution HDR and high-refresh displays. The Radeon RX series features accelerated H.265 encoding and decoding, enabling streaming or recording of 10-bit Ultra HD video at 60 FPS.

Hopefully the LAV decoder will be able to integrate with this GPU
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom