Selecting the best GPU

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BBercun

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Jan 7, 2021
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Hi all. I am new here, and joined solely because I was fortunate enough to have stumbled upon the ServeTheHome Youtube Channel, and watched
"Lenovo ThinkStation P330 Tiny Review". I darn-near fell out of my chair while watching this video, because it seemed that ServeTheHome would be exactly the resource I have been looking for for about 2 years now.
My issue seems simple, but now matter how many different resources I ask, I never get the same answer twice.
I am looking for the best graphics card for a PC to display the highest quality 4K UHD HDR to my QLED Smart TV.
Now here's the major point: I AM NOT A GAMER. Never have been, never will. I want to stream, watch, download, purchase (whatever) video from services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, You Tube etc on my PC and view them in the highest quality possible (of course to the limits of the display's capabilities). I have been buying a new Smart TV every 1.5 to 2 years, and expect that to continue well into the future. Therefore the quality and capabilities of these future displays will advance.
My current and wayfully under equipped PC is a Dell Inspiron 3668 (Win 10) i5 7400 CPU (Kaby Lake), and the absolutely horrible Intel HD 630 integrated graphics. While it will provide the 4K, it will not support HDR.
I want to purchase a new PC as soon as I can get a reliable answer to this question:
What is the best graphics card I could buy to view the highest quality 4K UHD HDR sources, as well as doing some light video editing. NO ONE has been able to give me a suitable answer.
I went to the geniuses working (don't want to name names), at a store that sounds amazingly like Best Buy), told the comatose salesman what I was looking for, and took the unit home. I promptly returned the unit that day when I checked the specs out, and it was a gaming PC, no more than 1080 output.
I gave them a second chance, why not, and this time spoke to a second (recently embalmed) salesman who sold me a laptop which did display 4K HDR, but only to the laptop's screen, despite having a video output on the unit. I am hoping for the best.
Thank you.
 

i386

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Mar 18, 2016
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I want to stream, watch, download, purchase (whatever) video from services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, You Tube etc on my PC and view them in the highest quality possible (of course to the limits of the display's capabilities).
What is the best graphics card I could buy to view the highest quality 4K UHD HDR sources, as well as doing some light video editing.
Using streaming services & watching videos and editing videos are two different requirements.
For the first one get cheapest gpu of the current generation, you don't need a lot of vram, shaders etc for playing videos, only the hardware acceleration for video codecs (avc, hevc, av1, vp8/9 etc.). Look at Video Encode and Decode GPU Support Matrix [NEW] and choose a gpu which has as many possible checked/green boxes as possible.
Video editing: This depends highly on your workflow and there is no general answer for that.
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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Without having any specific knowledge my first thought was that you might want to get a cheap Nvidia Quadro Card (P620/2200). Those are designed for reliability and driving lots of external displays. Also they run mostly silent/cool.

However, then I wondered, if you're buying new TVs every couple of years - whats your expected utilization frame for the PC?
Bysically wondering why a 7400 is not good enough any more? You just could plug in the GPU in that.

Are you expecting higher resolution requirements any time soon (8k), or not this round (of the pc) ?
 

BoredSysadmin

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Mar 2, 2019
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HDR on the PC desktop is fairly new, so your best bet would be to go with the latest video card.
If you looking a bit for future proof, I'd go at least with GTX1650 due to HDMI 2.0b and DP 1.4a versions.
 

BBercun

New Member
Jan 7, 2021
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Without having any specific knowledge my first thought was that you might want to get a cheap Nvidia Quadro Card (P620/2200). Those are designed for reliability and driving lots of external displays. Also they run mostly silent/cool.

However, then I wondered, if you're buying new TVs every couple of years - whats your expected utilization frame for the PC?
Bysically wondering why a 7400 is not good enough any more? You just could plug in the GPU in that.

Are you expecting higher resolution requirements any time soon (8k), or not this round (of the pc) ?
Thank you for taking the time the help me. Yes, if only I were able to stick a new GPU into the PC. Unfortunately, this Dell PC's form factor makes it only about 1/3 the height from the motherboard to the top of the case (and there really aren't any graphics cards out there of this size to begin with). The power supply's output wattage is way too low to support a separate video card.

Thanks again for your time.



hat could be , and I am told that
 

BBercun

New Member
Jan 7, 2021
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HDR on the PC desktop is fairly new, so your best bet would be to go with the latest video card.
If you looking a bit for future proof, I'd go at least with GTX1650 due to HDMI 2.0b and DP 1.4a versions.
HDR on the PC desktop is fairly new, so your best bet would be to go with the latest video card.
If you looking a bit for future proof, I'd go at least with GTX1650 due to HDMI 2.0b and DP 1.4a versions.
I have no plans on purchasing a dedicated computer monitor. All video goes to my 55" QLED Smart TV.
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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...Unfortunately, this Dell PC's form factor makes it only about 1/3 the height from the motherboard to the top of the case (and there really aren't any graphics cards out there of this size to begin with). The power supply's output wattage is way too low to support a separate video card
Sometimes you can use a riser to use one (similar to a1U server), but I assume you checked that.


And I dont think @BoredSysadmin was pointing to a monitor but only out that HDR is a functionality that you still explicitly have to look for in GPUs
 

BBercun

New Member
Jan 7, 2021
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Using streaming services & watching videos and editing videos are two different requirements.
For the first one get cheapest gpu of the current generation, you don't need a lot of vram, shaders etc for playing videos, only the hardware acceleration for video codecs (avc, hevc, av1, vp8/9 etc.). Look at Video Encode and Decode GPU Support Matrix [NEW] and choose a gpu which has as many possible checked/green boxes as possible.
Video editing: This depends highly on your workflow and there is no general answer for that.
Thanks so much for your speedy reply. I will check out the link you sent me for more info.
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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There you will also find the Quadro's I suggested
1610269836384.png

They are more expensive, have less 3d power, but should be more reliable and potentially best of all for a small pc, sometimes are available in 2U
 

BBercun

New Member
Jan 7, 2021
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Sometimes you can use a riser to use one (similar to a1U server), but I assume you checked that.


And I dont think @BoredSysadmin was pointing to a monitor but only out that HDR is a functionality that you still explicitly have to look for in GPUs
Absolutely. Whenever I check out a PC in person, I always go to the Settings -> System -> Display -> Displaying HDR in Windows 10, to see if the unit will stream HDR. A riser would be nice solution, but the issues of an inferior power supply, lock this PC's fate.
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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If there is space for a riser'd card (in in the back of the box) then its likely that a larger psu is available for those models being sold with a populated riser.