Video card for 4k(non-3d) desktop/video (1 Viewer)

Brennan77

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I've been out of the pc hardware game for years so I'm pretty ignorant right now. I've got an itx format htpc in the living room. It's based on an old AMD APU with built in radeon graphics. It used to perform ok for the job but now with a 4k TV and drivers that can't seem to integrate properly with windows 10, I'm left with having to run at 1080p for non-skipping video and decent desktop performance. Surely there's got to be a cheap solution for this. A brief search suggested an RX550. What do you guys think?
 
I've been out of the pc hardware game for years so I'm pretty ignorant right now. I've got an itx format htpc in the living room. It's based on an old AMD APU with built in radeon graphics. It used to perform ok for the job but now with a 4k TV and drivers that can't seem to integrate properly with windows 10, I'm left with having to run at 1080p for non-skipping video and decent desktop performance. Surely there's got to be a cheap solution for this. A brief search suggested an RX550. What do you guys think?
It'll work for 4k. I'd recommend the 4GB version.

What socket is your pc?

If it's AM4, their new APU's are awesome.
 
It'll work for 4k. I'd recommend the 4GB version.

What socket is your pc?

If it's AM4, their new APU's are awesome.

Am2. It's not a bad cpu and in theory the video part isn't bad either. I am just done trying to get a driver to work properly simply in a windows desktop environment. It basically defaults to windows drivers and 4k output gets clunky.
 
Have you tried updating the bios on the motherboard? That generation used the motherboard's chipset for onboard graphics.

If that doesn't fix it, or can't be done, the video card that you posted should do it if the motherboard can handle it.
 
Have you tried updating the bios on the motherboard? That generation used the motherboard's chipset for onboard graphics.

If that doesn't fix it, or can't be done, the video card that you posted should do it if the motherboard can handle it.

Yeah the onboard graphics were pretty good at the time. It was revolutionary because it was actually playable in some games. At some point i could no longer get the AMD drivers to actually engage while in windows. So while the pc still functions on a base level, stuff like high res video and photos viewing is a problem.

Updating the bios is a good idea. I'll give that a shot first. I'd love for the thing to just work. In theory is should be good for what I want. It's clocked at up to 4.8ghz, has 16gb of ram and is based on a samsung ssd.
 
If you can't update the bios, and video chipset with success, your safest, most affordable option would be a streaming device.

Your motherboard is 15 years old. The PCI Express lane on there might not allow the AMD RX 550 to provide the advertised performance. I'm pretty sure that pcie is backward compatible but you might not get what you expect. There are others here who know better than I but I think that your motherboard provides 25watts to the pcie slot. That card is 50watts. You might end up damaging everything.

Buying a video card for that pc might be throwing good money after bad.

Unless this is a hobby or it's your "White Whale." I take on those kind of projects sometimes. They can be expensive.
 
If you can't update the bios, and video chipset with success, your safest, most affordable option would be a streaming device.

Your motherboard is 15 years old. The PCI Express lane on there might not allow the AMD RX 550 to provide the advertised performance. I'm pretty sure that pcie is backward compatible but you might not get what you expect. There are others here who know better than I but I think that your motherboard provides 25watts to the pcie slot. That card is 50watts. You might end up damaging everything.

Buying a video card for that pc might be throwing good money after bad.

Unless this is a hobby or it's your "White Whale." I take on those kind of projects sometimes. They can be expensive.

It's 7 years old. She's got a ton of life in her yet..;)

A streaming device will not do what I need, at least not easily. I use the apps in my tv for streaming which is great, but I do use the pc from time to time. It's not worth spending a lot but I'd like to keep it around and functioning.
 
Yeah so the last time asus released a bios was in 2014. lol. I don't think this is going to work out. I may need to get a video card, or a new PC.
 
What is the processor?

I've been looking and I've found that some processors don't support 4k.
 
So this definitely seems to be the issue. I'm stuck at 29hz when in 4k mode, which obviously makes everything feel choppy and slow. To complicate matters, I'm passing the AV through my Denon AVR. I'll give these solutions a go later and hopefully it works out.
 
So this definitely seems to be the issue. I'm stuck at 29hz when in 4k mode, which obviously makes everything feel choppy and slow. To complicate matters, I'm passing the AV through my Denon AVR. I'll give these solutions a go later and hopefully it works out.
A 4k bluray should work on your processor because the overwhelming majority of them are 4k 24hz. Video is 4k 60hz which was a problem for that generation. Hopefully, you can make it work.

I can't vouch for the solution that he uses at the end of that thread but it's worth a shot.
 
A 4k bluray should work on your processor because the overwhelming majority of them are 4k 24hz. Video is 4k 60hz which was a problem for that generation. Hopefully, you can make it work.

I can't vouch for the solution that he uses at the end of that thread but it's worth a shot.

So I don't have a blu ray drive on the pc. I plan to get a 4k model on the ps5 when that comes available. I really use the PC mostly for showing photos and streaming sports. It's the latter that became a problem as refresh rates have gotten higher.

I tried the trick above and unfortunately cannot get into windows anymore. I'm trying to force a boot to safe mode but will likely have to boot from a recovery drive to reset the drivers. The timing is bad as buying a video card, even a lower end model, is ridiculous right now. The one I mentioned before is now out of stock everywhere unless you want to pay over MSRP. Oh well, it's not that big of deal. I'll get it all figured soon enough.
 

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