Need cheap graphics card for 4K at 60hz , No gaming

[GeezerMan]

no gaming, and I dont want to mess with displayport adapters, HDMI adapters, etc. . Just want a card with HDMI that can handle a 4K tv set at 60hz
I saw this HP OEM part. My understanding is the 550 is a tad better than a Nvidia Geforce GT 1030?
thanks

AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB HP 940269-001 Graphics Card

Gigabyte GV-N1030D4-2GL GeForce GT 1030 Low Profile D4 2G Computer Graphics Card

 

[mikeymikec]

An additional point that I'd consider checking if I were you is which video codecs you're likely to use and whether those will be GPU hardware accelerated with the graphics card you're thinking of using.

I went about this recently for another thread by searching for the series of graphics card (e.g. GeForce 700 series) on wikipedia, that should tell you which revision of UVD / PureVideo HD the cards support, then looking up the wikipedia article for that technology will describe what was introduced with each revision.

I can't remember off the top of my head which codec YouTube typically uses these days, I think it might be H.265. My old laptop doesn't support H.265 hardware decoding so I use Firefox with an add-on that forces YT to use H.264 which is supported by my laptop.

 

[tcsenter]

I just added this card to my Ebay Watchlist a few days ago because I was thinking about an upgrade from an older DX11 Radeon HD 8500 Series (rebranded HD 7500 part) that chokes on H.264 above 2K. Ebay keeps bombarding my inbox to remind me about it.

Radeon RX550 Specs

-HDMI 4K60 Support
-4K H264 Decode
-4K H264 Encode
-H265/HEVC Decode
-H265/HEVC Encode

 

[GeezerMan]

Note to myself. Next time buy a CPU with modern integrated GPU and be done with it..I watched a 4K youtube video and it is choppy. Using a 3700X cpu and an older Quadro NVS-510 that is rated for 4K at 60hz, but I am not sure if the displayport adapter to HDMI is rated for 60hz.

I'm thinking that refresh rate problems could look just like hardware decoding problems?

from what I read, youtube uses VP9, and one really needs a card to decode VP9. I was thinking that the 3700X should have plenty of power to decode using the CPU?

 

[blckgrffn]

Note to myself. Next time buy a CPU with modern integrated GPU and be done with it..I watched a 4K youtube video and it is choppy. Using a 3700X cpu and an older Quadro NVS-510 that is rated for 4K at 60hz, but I am not sure if the displayport adapter to HDMI is rated for 60hz.

I'm thinking that refresh rate problems could look just like hardware decoding problems?

from what I read, youtube uses VP9, and one really needs a card to decode VP9. I was thinking that the 3700X should have plenty of power to decode using the CPU?

I would think so. That’s nuts.

That said, I would aim for as new as possible. The oldest cards I would aim for would be Kepler based when Nvidia stepped up the encoder/decoder a lot.

So I would recommend an inexpensive GTX 1060 3GB because they are often as cheap or cheaper than the 1050/1030 cards and have enough oomph for everything. I would probably stick with Nvidia too as they seem to get better decoder support in software, likely due to their dominant market share.

Or return/flip your 3700x and get a 5600G/4600G and skip it altogether.

 

[kschendel]

One thought re the RX550, the fan noise can be pretty awful on some of the cards. I have a Gigabyte RX550 in a non-gaming rig, and I have it set to run fan-off until it hits something like 70C, because the fan sounds like a cat with its tail on fire. Just something to watch out for.

 

[tcsenter]

I watched a 4K youtube video and it is choppy. Using a 3700X cpu and an older Quadro NVS-510 that is rated for 4K at 60hz, but I am not sure if the displayport adapter to HDMI is rated for 60hz.

NVS-510 was a low-end Kepler PCI-E 2.0 part from 2012/2013, roughly equivalent to GT220. This is really just for business graphics display output to multiple monitors.

 

[blckgrffn]

Shoot, I meant Maxwell.

GTX 950 or the Quadro Equivalent M2000 would be a personal baseline. I would use a nice DP to HDMI cable probably and skip the adapter for 4Kp60.

Looks like Quadro options on eBay can be about $50.

 

[GeezerMan]

I used and sold the NVS-510 for a long time . The NVS-510 is rated for 4K60hz. I would pull them out of HP and Dell workstations and get them for free.

The NVS-510 is fine in our other rig with AMD 5600X and a 2560 x 1440 display and a $5 adapter. Playing youtube videos at 1440 is nice and smooth. But that's not a demanding 4K load.

I was a happy camper in my 1080/1440 world. Then 4K comes along and slaps me in the face with a nasty wake up call.

I read that Youtube uses the VP9 codec for 4K, and if the card cant decode that, then the CPU will. People report low end CPUs that can't keep up with the workload, but that's not the case with the 3700X. The CPU load jumps up to 9% while playing 4K, but it's choppy. That got me thinking the adapter can't handle the resolution and/or refresh rate .


Thank you everyone for your input. I appreciate it.

 

[GeezerMan]

Video Encode and Decode GPU Support Matrix

this chart shows a GT 1030 decodes VP9/ About 80.00 for a new one on Amazon, DDR4 version

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...le_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1#customerReviews

 

[tcsenter]

Well we shall see, I just ordered two RX 550 cards (from the OP). Should be here before the weekend I'll report back after testing.

 

[GeezerMan]

yes, tcsenter, please report back on the card

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've got a few more mined-on used RX 6600 cards going fairly cheap (but AS-IS) on FS/FT. They do 4K VP9 in H/W, I think.

RX 550 is probably still cheaper, especially used, but I don't know if Polaris can actually hardware decode VP9. I think Polaris uses it's shaders.

 

[GeezerMan]

I'm trying to understand the process here. If the graphics hardware cant decode VP9, then the CPU handles it. My 3700X is at 12% use, and I still get choppy youtube 4K. Some videos are better than others though. Here's one that is choppy:

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've got a pair of GTX 1660 Supers in this box, along with a 5900X and 64GB of DDR4-3200.

Playing that clip, full-screen, on my 4K desktop screen (yes, I have a real 4K TV as a monitor), I get 3-4% CPU usage, and nearly 50% GPU video decode usage, maybe a little below, on one of the GPUs.

It appeared to play perfectly smooth, although I did not check "stats for nerds".

 

[GeezerMan]

virtual larry, dude, you have been around here since the dawn of time.Always willing to help too.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I'm not salways helpful, but I try to do what I can. There are lots of more knowledgable people around here, I'm more of a generalist. Like, I couldn't tell you what the "hottest" new LCD / OLED monitor is, for example.

And @DAPUNISHER is always there to help correct me when I stray down a wrong-way system-integration path.

Edit: BTW, thank you for the kind words.

 

[GeezerMan]

I play this video here, and it's smooth for me. Maybe youtube does not always use the VP9 codec

 

[blckgrffn]

I'm trying to understand the process here. If the graphics hardware cant decode VP9, then the CPU handles it. My 3700X is at 12% use, and I still get choppy youtube 4K. Some videos are better than others though. Here's one that is choppy:

Fwiw, I bet it’s single threaded. So your 12% core load is 100% loading one core then you are dropping l frames. Is it going to full turbo frequency or sitting low (2Ghz or less)?

If full turbo that core just can’t do it.

 

[GeezerMan]

I usually have PBO turned off to save 20 degrees of heat. Sad to say that most of the time I am doing simple tasks. With hardware acceleration turned off, and playing 4K videos, one of the cores flashes to 44% use. i like blckgrffn idea of a 5600G. I can get a 5700G for 170.00. If I could sell my 3700X for near that, I would probably do it

 

[tcsenter]

Well we shall see, I just ordered two RX 550 cards (from the OP). Should be here before the weekend I'll report back after testing.

Well delivery estimate is now Saturday. Went with the free 'best way' shipping of course.

 

[Shmee]

I would go with a 5700G, it should be a good upgrade for both CPU tasks as well as graphics, as long as your motherboard supports it and has the required HDMI out. Remember output support will also depend on the motherboard, in fact some AM4 boards have no display outs, such as mine. Also remember not all HDMI is the same.

So, what is your current motherboard?

As for the 3700X, you should be able to get around $100 for it I suspect.

 

[Pohemi]

I just ordered an Intel Arc A380 6GB card, it's made for video encode/decoding, but not gaming. I have an Intel i5-12600 and wanted something stronger for video. The integrated works fine for my 4K display(s) and desktop, but playing 4K video works it pretty hard.

Sorry I can't give more complete info at the moment as I'm on my phone, but you can take a look here:

Intel Arc A380 Review - Runs Fine on AMD Ryzen

Intel Arc A380 is the first graphics card that the Blue Team is releasing this year. It's based on the new Xe "Alchemist" architecture, which includes support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing. In our in-depth review of the A380 we check rasterization performance, RT performance, power, heat...

www.techpowerup.com

I paid $89 for it.

 

[GeezerMan]

When I got my current board the Gigabyte B550M AORUS PRO-P, I wanted onboard video ports in case I went with a G series CPU. The 5700G is still a consideration. The 5700G has less L3 cache. 5700G uses the PCIe 3.0, which does not matter to me in this case

1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@60 Hz
* Support for HDMI 2.1 version, HDCP 2.3, and HDR.
1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 5120x2880@60 Hz
* Support for DisplayPort 1.4 version, HDCP 2.3, and HDR.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm trying to understand the process here. If the graphics hardware cant decode VP9, then the CPU handles it. My 3700X is at 12% use, and I still get choppy youtube 4K.

What's the graphics hardware usage? Task Manager on =>Win10 should tell you. If it doesn't, download process explorer from Microsoft, elevate its privs, click on one of the performance graphs then click on the GPU tab (IIRC).