# GPU for HTPC with hardware decoding for HEVC (h265) 10 bit



## ssb1551 (Sep 17, 2016)

Hi All,

I intend to convert my rig 2 in my signature to an HTPC. But my current CPU+GPU (Athlon II X4 635 + Radeon HD4650) struggle to play 10 bit HEVC (h265) - quite understandably since they are 6 years old. Can someone please help me to opt for a GPU with h265 decoding capabilities? I know GTX 960 was the 1st GPU to have full hardware decoding and encoding for HEVC. But I dont wanna pay 16k for a card that will be used as an HTPC component. Does a GTX 950 have the full hardware decoding for h265? Also can a RX 460 do the job? Since I found one  at primeabgb for less than 10k.
Buy Online | HIS RX 460 iCooler OC 2GB Graphic Card HS-460R2SCNR | Price in Indi

Or if anyone can suggest some other cheaper option I will be thankful.


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## whitestar_999 (Sep 17, 2016)

Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 Review | TechSpot Indi
AMD Radeon RX 460 Review: Built for E-sports and Low Power Systems but Terrible in Price? : Trending News : University Heral
Both GTX950 & RX460 have h265 decoding & i doubt a cheaper option.


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## ssb1551 (Sep 18, 2016)

^^Ok. I guess it makes sense to go with the cheapest GPU for the job i.e. RX 460. I dont think spending northwards of 10k will make any sense.


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## quicky008 (Sep 18, 2016)

Try using potplayer -its very efficient and keeps cpu usage to moderate levels even while playing high quality hevc files.Using potplayer i've played 1080p hevc files on an older dual core rig smoothly with no issues whatsoever-as you've a quad core cpu,you should get even better results on your system.


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## Minion (Sep 18, 2016)

@OP Do you have a 10 bit monitor?If no then getting GPU for 10 bit HEVC is waste you will not see any visual difference between 8 bit and 10 bit if your monitor doesn't support 10 bit.


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## ssb1551 (Sep 18, 2016)

quicky008 said:


> Try using potplayer -its very efficient and keeps cpu usage to moderate levels even while playing high quality hevc files.Using potplayer i've played 1080p hevc files on an older dual core rig smoothly with no issues whatsoever-as you've a quad core cpu,you should get even better results on your system.



Hey thanks for the info. Didn't know about pot-player. I fiddled around with kodi. But even in kodi forums people are of the opinion that one needs a GPU with hardware decoding for HEVC in order to play the files smoothly without the CPU usage spiking to northwards of 50-60%.

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Minion said:


> @OP Do you have a 10 bit monitor?If no then getting GPU for 10 bit HEVC is waste you will not see any visual difference between 8 bit and 10 bit if your monitor doesn't support 10 bit.



I don't know that piece of information. Let me find it out from the official website of BenQ. 

Update : Its an 8-bit panel. Then why does MPC use more than 60-70% while playing a HEVC movie file? Do you guys think its the processor?


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## ZTR (Sep 18, 2016)

Imo just upgrade your CPU to a i3 as all new I series CPU have iGpU which have native HEVC decoding
And yeah 10Bit doesn't give much difference over 8Bit and all those 10Bit rips aren't even actual 10Bits
They are just 10Bits for better compression and not for better picture quality

Sent from my Redmi Note 3


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## Minion (Sep 18, 2016)

ssb1551 said:


> Hey thanks for the info. Didn't know about pot-player. I fiddled around with kodi. But even in kodi forums people are of the opinion that one needs a GPU with hardware decoding for HEVC in order to play the files smoothly without the CPU usage spiking to northwards of 50-60%.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> ...



Radeon 4650 doesn't support native decoding of HEVC that is why when you play HEVC they are being decoded with CPU a simple solution to this would be buy a low end latest GPU or download movies in H.264 formats. HEVC is already CPU intensive and 10 bits are even more CPU intensive. 

I would go with later option since in your case there will be no difference in PQ as you are using 8 bit monitor.


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## ssb1551 (Sep 18, 2016)

ZTR said:


> Imo just upgrade your CPU to a i3 as all new I series CPU have iGpU which have native HEVC decoding
> And yeah 10Bit doesn't give much difference over 8Bit and all those 10Bit rips aren't even actual 10Bits
> They are just 10Bits for better compression and not for better picture quality
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 3


I already assembled 1 Skylake rig (i5 6500) so dont wanna go for an i3 6th gen. Moreover I gotta buy a Motherboard for it - which I dont wanna. Not to mention the fact that Zen might run on my MSI 970A-G43. Thats why I am looking at only GPU option.

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Minion said:


> Radeon 4650 doesn't support native decoding of HEVC that is why when you play HEVC they are being decoded with CPU a simple solution to this would be buy a low end latest GPU or download movies in H.264 formats. HEVC is already CPU intensive and 10 bits are even more CPU intensive.
> 
> I would go with later option since in your case there will be no difference in PQ as you are using 8 bit monitor.


Yeah HEVC came 2-3 years after 4650 was launched. None of the low end latest GPUs have hardware decoding for HEVC.The lowest and cheapest ones are GTX 950 and RX 460. So I gotta pick between 2 of those. Hence I opened the thread if anyone knows any other cheaper GPU with hardware decoding for HEVC.


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## jodo_c (Sep 18, 2016)

I can easily play HEVC files with vlc player on my AMD Athlon II X2 260 and I don't have a discrete GPU btw.


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## ZTR (Sep 19, 2016)

ssb1551 said:


> I already assembled 1 Skylake rig (i5 6500) so dont wanna go for an i3 6th gen. Moreover I gotta buy a Motherboard for it - which I dont wanna. Not to mention the fact that Zen might run on my MSI 970A-G43. Thats why I am looking at only GPU option.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> ...



Zen will use AM4 not am3 so won't run on your motherboard

Also even I have a 955 and 7770 ( see my signature) and my rig can play all HEVC files nicely

Will update with 10 bit ones in a while

Sent from my Redmi Note 3


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## quicky008 (Sep 19, 2016)

jodo_c said:


> I can easily play HEVC files with vlc player on my AMD Athlon II X2 260 and I don't have a discrete GPU btw.



are you talking about 720p or 1080p files?


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## ssb1551 (Sep 19, 2016)

ZTR said:


> Zen will use AM4 not am3 so won't run on your motherboard
> 
> Also even I have a 955 and 7770 ( see my signature) and my rig can play all HEVC files nicely
> 
> ...



Yeah Zen will be based on AM4 but from what few articles I have read on the net I have got an idea that Zen will be backwards compatible with AM3+ Boards. Hence I am keeping my fingers-crossed hehe lol

You have a Phenom II X4 which is way powerful than my Athlon II X4. Maybe thats why you are able to play the 1080p HEVC files smoothly.


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## jodo_c (Sep 19, 2016)

quicky008 said:


> are you talking about 720p or 1080p files?



Mostly 720p TV series and movies I guess.


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## ssb1551 (Sep 19, 2016)

jodo_c said:


> Mostly 720p TV series and movies I guess.



I usually play fHD.


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## ZTR (Sep 19, 2016)

So just tried with 1080p 10 Bit and it also works fine with 30% CPU usage

IMO change your player 
I use MPC HC


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## supergamer (Sep 19, 2016)

9 year old intel quad here. 
Running 'Big Hero 6' 1080p 10bit hevc RIP.
CPU usage 
15-30% in VLC
and only 10-15% in MPC-HC

Encoding HEVC on CPU is still a nightmare though. There aren't and proper GPU encoders so far.


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## ssb1551 (Sep 20, 2016)

ZTR said:


> So just tried with 1080p 10 Bit and it also works fine with 30% CPU usage
> 
> IMO change your player
> I use MPC HC



Me too - I use MPC. Guess there was something wrong with the file/files. I'll download some other HEVC files, check and update.


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## whitestar_999 (Sep 20, 2016)

Lots of myths here in this thread so going to clear a few:

1.One doesn't need a 10bit monitor to benefit from a 10bit h265 properly encoded file(10bit allows better compression which helps in more headroom for employing various techniques to improve encoding quality while maintaining same bitrate).

2.It is not the codec but the bitrate that matters more.A low bitrate 1080p 10bit h265 can be played by a 9 year old intel quad core processor but a high rate 720p h265 can make an i3 work overtime.

3.both MPC-HC & Potplayer use variation of ffmpeg video decoder by default so if everything else is working correctly there should not be any difference or very little difference between their playback performance regarding cpu usage.


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## ssb1551 (Sep 20, 2016)

^^ Really liked the 1st 2 points. So will a GPU with hardware decoding for HEVC help at all or should I just buy a FX 8350?


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## quicky008 (Sep 20, 2016)

supergamer said:


> 9 year old intel quad here.
> Running 'Big Hero 6' 1080p 10bit hevc RIP.
> CPU usage
> 15-30% in VLC
> ...



which intel quad core cpu do you have?


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## supergamer (Sep 20, 2016)

IMO you absolutely need a 10bit panel to see 10bit RIP in its full glory. 
Most TN gaming panels are only 6bit and cheap IPS,VA these days are 8 bit panels. These panels will the replace the colors they can't display with their closest neighbor color in the spectrum... sort of like dithering.
And no, a 10bit Panel will not let you play HDR content. For HDR you need Dolby Vision or HDR10 certified displays.

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quicky008 said:


> which intel quad core cpu do you have?


q9400 at stock.


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## whitestar_999 (Sep 20, 2016)

[MENTION=98840]ssb1551[/MENTION], i suggest getting RX460.It can be used for hardware decoding of HEVC 8/10bit as well as for other purposes like gaming,video post-processing,hardware based video encoding etc.


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## ssb1551 (Sep 20, 2016)

^^ Thanks Man!! Was waiting for someone to recommend a GPU haha .


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## BhargavJ (May 22, 2017)

I'm confused. I have a 2015 Dell laptop, the display of which is probably 8 bits. Will there be a noticeable difference playing 10 bit video on that display compared to an 8 bit video? I've played a few clips, both 8 bit and 10 bit, and I can't observe any difference.


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## whitestar_999 (May 22, 2017)

The display of that laptop is almost certainly 6-bits.Trying to observe differences between similar bitrate 8bit & 10bit videos on that screen is like asking a person with -8 reading glasses number & without wearing his glasses,whether iphone 7 screen is better than samsung galaxy s8.


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## BhargavJ (May 22, 2017)

whitestar_999 said:


> The display of that laptop is almost certainly 6-bits.



 
Is there any way to find how many bits the display has, like a utility or small app? The Dell website just says it's an LED Backlit Display with Truelife and HD Resolution (1366 x 768)


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## whitestar_999 (May 22, 2017)

No such utility as the only sure way to confirm a panel's bit depth is by disassembling it(whether laptop,monitor or TV).By default though,most laptops come with 6bit TN panel & any laptop which has a 8bit IPS panel should advertise it quite clearly & boldly as it is a rarity in laptop market.


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## ssb1551 (Jun 18, 2017)

Finally got a Galax 1060 6GB EXOC variant. Pics in "post Your latest purchase" thread.


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