Upgrade Graphics for 4k h.265 (Upgrade from R9 280)

[andreas.schwibach]

Hey,

this is pretty straight forward.
I would like to get a graphics card for my htpc (regular ATX form factor) that can handle 4k h.265 videos. Playback with the R9 280 is choppy.

I only play games very occasionally on this machine, so it's not critical.

I don't really want to give a budget as I'm looking for the best bang for the buck, wherever that may land.
Thanks guys!

 

[BFG-9000]

Your 2nd gen GCN card cannot even hardware accelerate H.264 in 4k60. Supposedly 3rd gen Fiji (Fury/Nano) could do that and hardware assist H.265, and 4th gen Polaris is even better.

Bang for the buck though is a $79 Pascal GT1030 which can fully hardware accelerate all versions of H.265 in 4k60: Main, Main 10 and Main 12. And VP9.

For used, the later Maxwell 950 and 960 could do Main and Main 10, plus VP9. The original Maxwell 750Ti only had partial assist for H.265.

 

[theunsgk]

You could look at my review of the Msi gtx 1080 ti armor with the url below.

http://goodattech.siterubix.com/msi-gaming-gtx-1080-ti-armor-oc

The gtx 1080 ti is a real monster when it comes to 4k!
Hope I helped!

 

[The Paladin]

1. 4K playback video (ie online streaming or playing from a NAS) doesn't require a 900$ video card (ie GTX 1080) that is just silly.
2. BFG-9000 is on the right path, but you do mention "I only play games very occasionally on this machine," maybe tell us what game you do play when you do to better tweak the GT 1030 suggestion that so far seems like a very reasonable one in my eyes

things that do effect playback of 4K, is your online service and how much ram your using. could you also provide that information and while at it, what's your cpu your running on that box ?