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[CRT]

Hi,
I am considering upgrading my HTPC that is several years old and looking for suggestions for a CPU and GPU to effectively run Red October HQ at the default settings. No gaming and my projector is 1080p. I recall originally that Red October preferred an Intel CPU. Is that still the case or would an AMD work? I like to watch movies (ripped uncompressed Blu ray mkv files) in the most pristine video quality. All media files are on a NAS. Since this is a HTPC in a home theater setting, smaller size and quiet operation is preferred. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[rec head]

For what reason are you looking to upgrade? Running 1080P content to a 1080P projector isn't that taxing.

If you are looking for higher madVR settings then a new video card is all that is needed. AFAIK Nvidia GPUs are preferred for madVR but I could be wrong.

[CRT]

I’m upgrading because my current HTPC is recently having some issues (audio drop outs, etc) and to add some headroom if I upgrade to a 4K projector. Thanks for the tip on the video card.

[tij]

From what I recall GeForce 1060 with 6GB is bare minimum for 4K ... I am running 1070 and its fine to my 2016 4K LG E6 (including 60fps 4 K)

Obviously better GPU will enable you to run higher MadVR settings (it will run more silent on same settings as lower GPU too)

In the end it’s always a budget that dictates what you get

i5 should be enough for just watching movie ... you might need i7 if you do DSD to PCM or doing some transcoding of video to serve your handhelds

[S. Pupp]

I recently upgraded to a Ryzen 5 3400G with an Asus B450M motherboard.  In addition to setting Red October HQ to best quality, I have MadVR debanding set to “high.”. It works flawlessly. HW Monitor reports the highest cpu package power consumption to be under 30W, and I have no overheating issues with my nMediaPC case.

I upgraded from an i7-4785T/Z87, which was struggling with these settings.  A discrete video card, even a GT1030, caused overheating of the hard drives in this nMediaPC case.

My TV is 1080p.

[rec head]

My HTPC is at least 7 years old. I can't remember if it is an i3 or i5 and it has 8GB of memory. With a 1060 /6GB video card I am able to do really nice upscaling from 1080 to 4K. I don't think I could notice any further improvement without working on the whole chain.

I don't transcode. And all my music listening is stereo. That old computer works fine for everything I need.

[CRT]

Thanks for the helpful information.

Regarding the Ryzen 3400G setup mentioned previously, may I ask how much RAM (and its speed) is included?

From the most recent comment re 4K streaming, I take it that an appropriate video card is much more important than the CPU for MadVR HQ. Is there a card that meets your suggested specs (1060/6GB) that works with a smaller HTPC case (mATX) and is quiet? To reiterate, no gaming is involved.

[RoderickGI]

I use the "NVidia MSI GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING X, 6GB", which as it says is a gaming card, but I picked it because it had 6GB and excellent fan control built in. Most of the time the fan doesn't even run. Only on very hot days when I am stressing the PC, which is not very often. MSI did a good job with this card.

I should note that I don't push the limits of madVR, and if I do then some interlaced video suffers a bit.

[S. Pupp]

Regarding the Ryzen 3400G setup mentioned previously, may I ask how much RAM (and its speed) is included?

I'm using two 8GB sticks of Corsair Vengeance LPX  DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16.