[kgura]

I'm not willing to shell out the cash for a hardware hevc decoding GPU. I am looking to play 1080p HEVC smoothly, without screen tears or other problems on Linux with Kodi with a few low impact background tasks running as well.

I was thinking that maybe a cheap video card like the GeForce GT 610 would do fine with the Noveau drivers for the desktop environment and other video decoding.

Since HEVC would be software decoded, the main question I have is what CPU do I need? It has to be AMD. Will the AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor be enough to software decode 1080p HEVC, with a few background tasks running as well?

[smitopher]

Uhm... my braswell nuc handles h265 hardware decoded content just peachy.
Now granted I'm running a dev build of Kodi and stability is not... err... perfect, I enjoy it greatly.

A braswell Pentium mobo should fulfill your requirements with no external graphics card needed, unless you just hate Intel.

[kgura]

Intel isn't an option. What are the specs on your Braswell, for general comparison. You meant "software decoded" right?

[smitopher]

Let me google that for you

Nope, hardware decoded. http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=231955

[kgura]

Let me google that for you

Nope, hardware decoded.

I've just been reading that Skylake will be the first chip to support graphics that have hardware decoding of HEVC.

Edit:
I see your Kodi link now. Either way, I am focused on software decoding, because expensive GPUs are not in the budget and Intel isn't an option.

[Soulbind]

Skylake has been out for some time now, months. Braswell supports 4K HEVC 8 bit fine, let alone 1080p HEVC.

And yes, to answer you original question, the AMD FX-8350 is enough to decode 1080p HEVC easily, if you fancy using 125W of energy and the subsequent heat and noise that comes with it for something that a 6W CPU with its integrated GPU can do.

[kgura]

Skylake has been out for some time now, months. Braswell supports 4K HEVC 8 bit fine, let alone 1080p HEVC.

And yes, to answer you original question, the AMD FX-8350 is enough to decode 1080p HEVC easily, if you fancy using 125W of energy and the subsequent heat and noise that comes with it for something that a 6W CPU with its integrated GPU can do.

Thanks. Planning on encoding too, thus the AMD FX-8350.

[Soulbind]

Thanks. Planning on encoding too, thus the AMD FX-8350.

If you encode, yeah, the FX makes sense, that's another story. The Braswell Pentium would be to weak for x264/x265 encoding at decent speeds.