GTX 950 full 18Gbps 4K support?

[gus6464]

According to the nvidia forums the card supports HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 but can't find any info on whether it can put out the full 18Gbps through HDMI for HDR so I can use as an HTPC gpu to get ready for 4K BD.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Why not wait until we have 4K Blu Rays next year? Will be cheaper by then if it's still the best option.

It is the best card we currently have. Well it or a 960.

 

[gus6464]

Why not wait until we have 4K Blu Rays next year? Will be cheaper by then if it's still the best option.

It is the best card we currently have. Well it or a 960.

Ahh ok. I was kinda hoping to get started on the HTPC build as I have quite a bit of current BDs I would like to rip and get going.

 

[RussianSensation]

According to the nvidia forums the card supports HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 but can't find any info on whether it can put out the full 18Gbps through HDMI for HDR so I can use as an HTPC gpu to get ready for 4K BD.

IMO, as with most new technology, it's almost always better to wait until it actually launches. In your case, there are way too many obstacles to buy a 950 for 4K BluRay:

#1 - sometimes new tech gets delayed so why buy something for that specific tech when it's not yet out?

#2 - it takes time before you can take advantage of this new tech even after it comes out. How many 4K movies will we have when 4K BluRay is announced? Will it take 3-6 months for the supply of 4K BluRay movies or will there be 100s of movies on day 1 of launch?

#3 - you still need a 4K BluRay drive for your PC, right? Correct me if I am wrong but how else are you going to be playing 4K BluRay media on your PC? When are those 4K BluRay drives coming out and how much will they cost? My point is until you can buy a 4K BluRay Player or a PC drive, what's the point of getting a GPU for 4K BluRay specifically right now?

Chances are by the time 4K BluRay makes a splash, you would be better off picking up a $100-120 Pascal card with the latest features, lower power usage, etc.

However, if you have to buy now and cannot wait, 950 or 960 are your only options.

Ahh ok. I was kinda hoping to get started on the HTPC build as I have quite a bit of current BDs I would like to rip and get going.

Why do you need a 950 to start ripping existing BDs?

 

[gus6464]

Why do you need a 950 to start ripping existing BDs?

I don't. I just thought that if there was a card out there that supported 4K already I would get that. I have all the parts for the HTPC already except for a GPU.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I bet the integrated GPU you have will work fine for current 1080p Blu Rays. What is it?

 

[gus6464]

I bet the integrated GPU you have will work fine for current 1080p Blu Rays. What is it?

No IGP. It's an AMD FX6300 and MSI 970A-G43 I got for real cheap a while back. And I while back I mean it's been sitting in a box for over a year. Was supposed to be a server that never materialized. Also have 3x 3TB Toshiba HDDs, 2x4gb sticks, corsair cx430, etc.

 

[poofyhairguy]

No IGP. It's an AMD FX6300 and MSI 970A-G43 I got for real cheap a while back. And I while back I mean it's been sitting in a box for over a year. Was supposed to be a server that never materialized. Also have 3x 3TB Toshiba HDDs, 2x4gb sticks, corsair cx430, etc.

Make it into a server like you originally intended with something like FreeNAS or Unraid, and then stream the Blu Ray rips stored on that server via your home network to a device that can play them with the full Kodi or Plex experience on your TV. Unless you live in an apartment flat with two rooms you want that loud and large desktop with an old AMD cpu and spinning hard drives to stay away from the same viewing area where you expect to hear Blu Ray dialogue. That system needs to be a mediaserver in a closet or under a desk somewhere- in fact that is perfect hardware for Freenas I am pretty sure.

Your in the living room next to the TV HTPC should be a device that is small, silent, and cheap so that way it can easily be replaced with something better when we get 4K Blu Rays. You were thinking of spending, what $130-ish for a GTX 950? A much much much better purchase for now is a FANLESS Pi 2 for $55-ish (once you add a case and SD card) that I can tell you from personally testing a library of over 2000 rips will play every 1080p Blu Ray mkv you can throw at it when Openelec plus codecs are installed on there. Then in two or three years when 4K Blu Ray is established you can replace that with another $50-ish box that will play all of those rips in perfect 4k. In that plan the server lives on serving media, maybe to many tvs one day. Heck in you want you could even get a Shield instead of Pi 2 that can do 4K and stuff like Netflix and Hulu.

That is a much much more solid plan than trying to blindly swing at playing a media format none of us can touch for a while with old parts except an otherwise overpowered GPU.

 

[ViRGE]

According to the nvidia forums the card supports HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 but can't find any info on whether it can put out the full 18Gbps through HDMI for HDR so I can use as an HTPC gpu to get ready for 4K BD.

Yes, it supports full HDMI 2.0 bandwidth. HDR on top of that does not require more bandwidth (it's just some extra metadata), it just requires supporting transmitting the metadata as per HDMI 2.0a.

From a technical perspective NVIDIA shouldn't have any trouble supporting 2.0a, but at the moment they don't. Nor have they said anything so far about if and when they'd add support.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Chances are by the time 4K BluRay makes a splash, you would be better off picking up a $100-120 Pascal card with the latest features, lower power usage, etc.

I'm honestly a bit curious about that comment. Do you really think that a sub-$200 Pascal card will even exist? Given that both dGPU makers are abandoning the low end entirely, and newer generations only go UP in price, rather than down, and the GTX950 is a minimum of $140... I guess I just don't see any version of Pascal going for less than $200. Especially if it has new features, HDMI 2.0, etc.

Edit: I would love to be wrong. I'm still "waiting" for a true low-profile ready HTPC card from NV with HDMI 2.0. Something passive, that would be just used for decoding videos / 4K / Blu-Ray / etc. Something cheaper than a card used for 3D gaming.

So far, the GTX930/940 have just been rumors.

 

[Blue_Max]

Some of the newest Intel IGP's (520,Iris 540) have been making 4k blu-ray playback claims, haven't they?

Since you don't seem big into gaming, it's worth a look and could save you some money.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Some of the newest Intel IGP's (520,Iris 540) have been making 4k blu-ray playback claims, haven't they?

Problem with current Intel GPUs for the future is that they lack a native HDMI 2.0 port with HDCP 2.2 support like GTX 950/960 has.

 

[gus6464]

Well I actually have a audio gear closet. The only thing in my TV stand is the receiver. I have 4 amps in a closet with my DSP as well. I was just planning on stuffing the htpc in there and running a 25ft HDMI cable like the rest of my speaker/sub wires.

 

[therealnickdanger]

Well I actually have a audio gear closet. The only thing in my TV stand is the receiver. I have 4 amps in a closet with my DSP as well. I was just planning on stuffing the htpc in there and running a 25ft HDMI cable like the rest of my speaker/sub wires.

Interesting setup, you must have a pretty AVR to look at. Assuming you bought some decent HDMI cables, they will work fine for 4K60 4:4:4. I stuffed all my goodies back into a closet rack, the only cables coming out of it are for speakers and one HDMI cable for display. I had to buy a new AVR since my previous AVR wouldn't pass 4K.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Well I actually have a audio gear closet. The only thing in my TV stand is the receiver. I have 4 amps in a closet with my DSP as well. I was just planning on stuffing the htpc in there and running a 25ft HDMI cable like the rest of my speaker/sub wires.

How do you plan to control the HTPC?

If you just want to get going a cheap $25 GeForce 210 can play 1080p Blu Ray rips easily:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130880&cm_re=210-_-14-130-880-_-Product

Then when 4K stuff is settled buy whatever sub-$100 card we have then that can handle them easily.

 

[gus6464]

Interesting setup, you must have a pretty AVR to look at. Assuming you bought some decent HDMI cables, they will work fine for 4K60 4:4:4. I stuffed all my goodies back into a closet rack, the only cables coming out of it are for speakers and one HDMI cable for display. I had to buy a new AVR since my previous AVR wouldn't pass 4K.

It's a Marantz which to me are the sexiest looking AVRs around.

How do you plan to control the HTPC?

If you just want to get going a cheap $25 GeForce 210 can play 1080p Blu Ray rips easily:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130880&cm_re=210-_-14-130-880-_-Product

Then when 4K stuff is settled buy whatever sub-$100 card we have then that can handle them easily.

I was either going to try the kore kodi android remote or if it sucked I was just going to run the IR emitter cable to my TV stand. And for backup use a logitech K400 since it's dirt cheap at 20 bucks.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I was either going to try the kore kodi android remote

Yatse is the best Kodi remote app FYI.

 

[gus6464]

Yatse is the best Kodi remote app FYI.

Ohh cool thanks I will try that out.

 

[therealnickdanger]

It's a Marantz which to me are the sexiest looking AVRs around.

I'm partial to Yamaha myself, but think my next upgrade with be McIntosh... if I can swing it. I've got an old Mac 1900 to listen to analog sources, I love it.