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HTPC 4K Low Profile GFX Card

Associate
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18 Oct 2002
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Bristol
I firstly want to apologise, I'm sure this may have been posted a bunch of times before but I'm really struggling to find the card I need.

I have a Silver Stone HTPC case with a Mini ATX Motherboard from which I am using the onboard HDMI out to connect to my TV. Ive got a Sony 4K TV that supports 4K at 60fps, I wouldn't say I'm too worried about getting the 60fps to work, 4K at 30fps would be fine by me.

Problem is that even though my ASUS motherboard claims to be able to support 4k res and output it to my TV it just doesn't, as soon as I set the resolution to 4k at 30hz it just flickers and goes blank.

Basically I really want to find a single slot low profile gfx card that will give me the 4k output I need out of the HDMI port so I can get 4k media playing on my HTPC setup, I can't seem to find the right card online.

Anyone got any help please?
 
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Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 Low Profile 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card sounds like it would fit the bill for you depending on budget. Has HDMI-2.0b*1 (Max Resolution: 4096x2160 @60 Hz), single slot and low profile which is what you want.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-19b-gi.html £65.99

There are other GPU's in the 1030 range if you prefer different vendor, styling etc. that would also work.
 
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OP
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Cheers mate.

Am I reading the spec wrong....

Specification:
- Streaming Processing Unit (SP): 384
- Base Clock (MHz): 1227
- Boost Clock (MHz): 1506
- Memory: 2048MB
- Memory Interface Width: 64-bit GDDR5
- Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 48
- OpenGL: 4.5
- Bus Support: PCI-E 3.0
- Maximum Digital Resolution: 1900x1200
- Display Connectors: DVI-D, HDMI
- Dimensions: H=14.67 L=149.88 W=68.9 mm
- Minimum System Power Requirement (W): 300W





1900 x 1200?
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Mar 2013
Posts
5,430
Cheers mate.

Am I reading the spec wrong....

Specification:
- Streaming Processing Unit (SP): 384
- Base Clock (MHz): 1227
- Boost Clock (MHz): 1506
- Memory: 2048MB
- Memory Interface Width: 64-bit GDDR5
- Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 48
- OpenGL: 4.5
- Bus Support: PCI-E 3.0
- Maximum Digital Resolution: 1900x1200
- Display Connectors: DVI-D, HDMI
- Dimensions: H=14.67 L=149.88 W=68.9 mm
- Minimum System Power Requirement (W): 300W





1900 x 1200?

That card won't do 4k. Go for the cheapest 1050

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/zota...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-10b-zt.html
 
Soldato
Joined
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Location
Edinburgh
Yep, that will do you nicely. More on the GT 1030 can be found here:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/geforce-gt-1030-gp108-rumours.18776931/

There are also passively cooled versions but they tend to be either full height single slot, or low profile 2 slot designs. Inno3D however have a model (N1030-1SDV-E5BL) which is a low profile 1.5 slot design. You might be able to squeeze that in if you are lucky.
 
Soldato
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Location
Billericay, UK
Cheers mate.

Am I reading the spec wrong....

Specification:
- Streaming Processing Unit (SP): 384
- Base Clock (MHz): 1227
- Boost Clock (MHz): 1506
- Memory: 2048MB
- Memory Interface Width: 64-bit GDDR5
- Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 48
- OpenGL: 4.5
- Bus Support: PCI-E 3.0
- Maximum Digital Resolution: 1900x1200
- Display Connectors: DVI-D, HDMI
- Dimensions: H=14.67 L=149.88 W=68.9 mm
- Minimum System Power Requirement (W): 300W

1900 x 1200?

It's wrong. It has HDMI 2.0 which does 4k 60hz (although DVI would be limited to 1920x1200)

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-geforce-gt-1030-2gb,review-33949.html
 
Associate
OP
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1,315
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Hey thanks for the help folks. My case just has the one plate for a card. It'll have to be 1.0, anything bigger won't fit. Hopefully the linked one will be pretty quiet, if the fan is thermal activated it'll be fine as my case is nicely cooled.

Thanks again, really appreciate the help.
 
Soldato
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Location
Edinburgh
The Inno3D one is still a single backplate, the heatsink just has a little extra width. Sometimes these still will fit in small form ITX cases.

But a true single slot one, like the one linked, will be a sure bet.
 
Soldato
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11 Oct 2009
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16,548
Location
Greater London
One more thing.....

This is my motherboard.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...1150-ddr3-mini-itx-motherboard-mb-585-as.html

Says it does 4K but it just doesn't work when I set it, should this actually work and I've got a different problem?

Well I have the same board with an i3 sitting in storage but I don't have a 4K TV to test with. It will also depend on the IGP as well which is found on the CPU. Also, what model is the TV and which HDMI port have you tried using on it?
 
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Ireland
What are you connecting it with? It should do 4K over HDMI fine....but if you're using a dvi to hdmi adaptor for example, that wouldn't work.

edit: good point above - if you have a low end CPU it won't work either, it needs to be an i3 or above on that board.

So if you have a Celeron G18x0 or Pentium G32xx, it won't work.
 
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Balls, just plugged my HTPC directly into TV via HDMI without it going through my Pioneer Amp, windows tells me that 1920 x 1080 is recommended but if I change it to 3840 x 2160 it actually works.

My AMP has a 4K pass through which supports 4K at 24 25 30 50 and 60hz...so there should be no problem.

I have and I3 4130, my TV is Sony X8505 55"

Oh I'm confused now, my AMP shouldn't be stopping it!
 
Soldato
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Location
Edinburgh
The GT 1030 will give you 60Hz, hardware HEVC decode, and HDR (if your TV supports it). So still worth considering even if the on-board worked.

Are your cables up to spec both in and out of your amp?
 
Soldato
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Greater London
If it works when connected directly to the TV but not when going through the amp, it sounds like the issue is somewhere there and not your actual PC. Make sure you're using decent HDMI cables. Also make sure the amp actually has HDMI 1.4/2.0 ports.

Another option could be connect the PC to the amp via a different connection?
 
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OP
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Ive got HDMI 2.0 cables and for those who are bored

http://www.pioneer-audiovisual.eu/sites/default/files/manuals/VSX-329-K_manual_ENpdf.pdf

That's my AV, accept that it's most likely to be the problem now but considering what it claims to support I'm baffled.

Sounds absolutely stupid but perhaps the onboard GFX hasn't got the guts to pass through the amp and then to the TV.

I accept that the VSX-329 isn't the best amp in the world but it should work for this.

For reference my Virgin Media Box connected up through the AMP puts 4k res to the TV just fine.
 
Soldato
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What about lowering the refresh rate to 24Hz? Does that work or does it still flicker?

EDIT: Another option is to maybe just connect the PC to the TV directly, and then use the optical out on the TV and connect that to the amp?
 
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If I force it to 30hz it works for about 3 seconds and then craps it again and reverts to flickering.

It's weird because the virgin box works and the TV shows its at 4K res, albeit all the content isn't but then TV is still receiving 4k resolution rhroigh the amp.

Yeah optical out would be an option but the onboard GFX card clearly doesn't handle video very well. So when I connected it directly to the TV I tried to play Planet Earth at 4k in VLC and it just wouldn't play smooth at all, well in fact it barely played one little bit! Maybe I need a dedicated care, I'm certainly leaning that way!
 
Soldato
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Considering HDMI is digital I can't seem to see any reason that the Intel IGP is not "strong" enough to output 4K @ 30Hz when going through the amp. Does the TV tell you what refresh rate the VM box is outputting?

Try MPC-BE, I've had more luck playing higher resolution videos on it compared to VLC. But if it still struggles, then a GPU with proper HEVC decoding does sound like a good idea, I believe Haswell is limited to h.264.
 
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Yeah I know I was somewhat clutching at straws......I need to get a dedicated card at some point anyway.

The TV doesn't tell me what the Virgin Media box is putting out FPS wise but it does prove that the AMP is passing it through.
 
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