Hi i am at a crossroads w.r.t HEVC like many here and i have some questions:
Suppose to date i have up to 1080p/8 bit HEVC (no 4K/10 bit) stored in my hdds : what is the minimum processor that could play these smoothly? My past experiences have taught me Core 2 Duos and Athlon X2s are not up to the task but i thought i'd clear this up in this forum ^^ Suppose i have two options (basically spare CPUs/boards)
1) Phenom II X3 720BE and
2) Core 2 Quad Q8400
would either or both be enough for up to 1080p/8 bit HEVC? Also i google and stumble across H.265/HEVC "benchmarks" but there is never an explanation on what these values mean? As in what value equates to a CPU smooth enough for X resolution HEVC/H.265 playback
Lastly my plan is to stick to 1080p/8 bit HEVC and later upgrade to a 4K capable display along with 4K/10bit HEVC files and then simply add a discrete GPU (prolly Polaris/Pascal)
Any Intel Skylake cpu can play that back since it has HW acceleration for 8-bit HEVC. But based on most of your post your not talking about minimum power or where the processor falls on the roadmap...
Your looking for the cheapest / laest powerful LGA775 or Socket AM3 CPU that is up to the task?
Does 10 bit and 12 bit HEVC actually require more CPU performance when decoded in software? I didn't think so, at least not significantly. The issue with 10 and 12 bit is that the dedicated decoder that some processors and GPUs have won't support it, thus having to fall back to the CPU to do it in software.
IIRC any current Atom should also be able to decode 8 bit HEVC, right?
Why do you want to go for such an oldtimer? What is the purpose of the computer? Modern computers are more efficient.
Btw., my 1080p HEVC files almost can play back in software on my Z3745 Android tablet. Not much is missing.
10 bit content requires a bit more processing than 8 bit because the samples are no longer byte-aligned. There have been some ffmpeg optimisations to speed this stuff up on some platforms - but not sure if they are in the version used by Kodi yet. (Link here to blog post about the subject :
http://www.obe.tv/about-us/obe-blog/item...onversions )
(2016-02-06, 13:48)Stereodude Wrote: [ -> ]Any Intel Skylake cpu can play that back since it has HW acceleration for 8-bit HEVC. But based on most of your post your not talking about minimum power or where the processor falls on the roadmap...
Your looking for the cheapest / laest powerful LGA775 or Socket AM3 CPU that is up to the task?
Yep minimum power is not an issue - just wondering either of these 2 chips that i have on hand would be able to do 1080p/8 bit HEVC
(2016-02-06, 15:01)kadajawi Wrote: [ -> ]Why do you want to go for such an oldtimer? What is the purpose of the computer? Modern computers are more efficient..
Just for an office/home use and to play HEVC files 1080p/8bit currently on a centralized home server
(2016-02-06, 15:43)noggin Wrote: [ -> ]10 bit content requires a bit more processing than 8 bit because the samples are no longer byte-aligned. There have been some ffmpeg optimisations to speed this stuff up on some platforms - but not sure if they are in the version used by Kodi yet. (Link here to blog post about the subject : http://www.obe.tv/about-us/obe-blog/item...onversions )
Sorry request you dumb that link down for me
(2016-02-06, 15:51)pinelights Wrote: [ -> ] (2016-02-06, 15:43)noggin Wrote: [ -> ]10 bit content requires a bit more processing than 8 bit because the samples are no longer byte-aligned. There have been some ffmpeg optimisations to speed this stuff up on some platforms - but not sure if they are in the version used by Kodi yet. (Link here to blog post about the subject : http://www.obe.tv/about-us/obe-blog/item...onversions )
Sorry request you dumb that link down for me
kadajawi was asking if 10/12 bit content required more processing than 8 bit. The link above discusses the issues in storing and manipulating 10 bit video samples in memory that is inherently 8 bit aligned. In some cases you can use more CPU time shuffling the 10 bit content around 8 bit memory-aligned storage than is actually needed to decode the video. So in some cases 10/12 bit video can take quite a lot more processing than 8 bit, though the work in the link covers massive improvements in the efficiency of this processing on some CPU architectures (Intel in this case I think)
(Open Broadcast Encoder is an x264/ffmpeg based encoder solution aimed at broadcast encoding for TV stations and VoD operations.)
(2016-02-06, 15:48)pinelights Wrote: [ -> ]Yep minimum power is not an issue - just wondering either of these 2 chips that i have on hand would be able to do 1080p/8 bit HEVC
Your best bet is probably to try it and see.
(2016-02-06, 17:59)Stereodude Wrote: [ -> ] (2016-02-06, 15:48)pinelights Wrote: [ -> ]Yep minimum power is not an issue - just wondering either of these 2 chips that i have on hand would be able to do 1080p/8 bit HEVC
Your best bet is probably to try it and see.
I was hoping that there is a database or benchmark that could provide me with the answer before i fish a motherboard in the used market for the CPU that do the job
I've been running a Core2Duo E6550 in my HTPC for years now with no problems till I hit 1080p HEVC. It would bring the CPU to it's knee's and wouldn't play and be watchable. I switched the CPU for a Q6600 Quad Core and now even 10bit 1080p hevc plays fine. CPU usage with the 6600 is about 60% on 10bit. I was surprised there was that much difference.
(2016-02-07, 05:33)lobsta Wrote: [ -> ]I've been running a Core2Duo E6550 in my HTPC for years now with no problems till I hit 1080p HEVC. It would bring the CPU to it's knee's and wouldn't play and be watchable. I switched the CPU for a Q6600 Quad Core and now even 10bit 1080p hevc plays fine. CPU usage with the 6600 is about 60% on 10bit. I was surprised there was that much difference.
It's nice to know that the Q6600 can handle HEVC, especially since it's a very plentiful and cheap chip to get off the used market. It would be helpful to have a measure of what CPUs are suitable from that though a more reliable test should be done where the most 'extreme' versions of such a format should be used to test it. Ya know, crank up every whizbang feature enabled in the encoder and use a disgusting bitrate like 50mbps.
(2016-02-07, 05:33)lobsta Wrote: [ -> ]I've been running a Core2Duo E6550 in my HTPC for years now with no problems till I hit 1080p HEVC. It would bring the CPU to it's knee's and wouldn't play and be watchable. I switched the CPU for a Q6600 Quad Core and now even 10bit 1080p hevc plays fine. CPU usage with the 6600 is about 60% on 10bit. I was surprised there was that much difference.
Ya i was in the same boat : E5200 Intel and Athlon II X2 240 both could do 720p HEVC/8 bit but 1080p was problematic lol My mate iddn't have issues with a Phenom II X4 925 IIRC By the way that is comforting news as i am fairly certain if Q6600 was good to go then my Q8400 ought to be fine ^^
(2016-02-07, 04:45)pinelights Wrote: [ -> ]I was hoping that there is a database or benchmark that could provide me with the answer before i fish a motherboard in the used market for the CPU that do the job
I didn't realize you were missing motherboards for those CPUs...
(2016-02-07, 18:47)Stereodude Wrote: [ -> ] (2016-02-07, 04:45)pinelights Wrote: [ -> ]I was hoping that there is a database or benchmark that could provide me with the answer before i fish a motherboard in the used market for the CPU that do the job
I didn't realize you were missing motherboards for those CPUs...
Ya the mobos died a while back but the chips were in good working order