2 Upgrade options, which is better long-term?

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Guarana [BAWLS]

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 3, 2001
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So last year I built a new HTPC for myself, and... well... made a couple mistakes.

CPU AMD FX-8230E w 16GB RAM
Video: GTX950 2GB

So, currently it outputs 4K desktop resolution (because GTX 900's do that)

But it won't do 4K in any applications, because hard encoding.

Possible Upgrades:

i3 7300 + Board + 8GB RAM = ~275
This would keep the GTX950, and it would add 4K Hardware decoding to the CPU

Upgrade 2:

950 --> GTX 1050TI = 165 (and in stock at microcenter) - and the 10XX with 3GB+ will hardware decode 4K.

Which is the better route do you suspect?

(Or do I hold off, and see what happens with new video cards and CPUs that are coming out this quarter)
 
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Decoding on a GPU is going to be faster than on a CPU if the application can take advantage of the GPU which most can.

With that being said.

I would upgrade to the 1050Ti, then go and download BOINC and join team [H] in the Formula-BOINC challenge and run the GPU on one of the GPU projects and the CPU on WCG to help the team continue dominating the challenge in it's league.
 
I don't understand your selection.

i7-7300? Mean the i3-7300? If so, you should be looking at the i3-7350K. Faster, better, and cheaper. You should definitely be waiting for the i3-8100 or better if you go this route.

Would pass on the GPU only upgrade until have a better cpu.

I'd consider a R3/R5 build also. Since you a near a MC, a 1300x combo would be pretty cheap.
Prices have been dropping steady on AMD cpu's for the last cpl wks. I think they know Coffee is gonna take a big bite out of them but still some good deals to be had.
https://slickdeals.net/f/10622276-g...md-ryzen-5-1600x-6-core-cpu-170-free-shipping
Some people reporting they are getting 1800x's in the 1600x boxes also, nice bonus if you get lucky.

Personally though in your spot I'd be going 2nd hand, especially once everyone starts selling off their old stuff to ugprade to Coffee. Something along the lines of a 4770K+MB that would let you use your existing 16GB of ram. Unless you have plans for the old parts.
 
Unfortunately to /actually/ run 4K (Netflix app, and other video apps) you need an Intel 7XXX series, or an NVidia 10XX w 3+ GB RAM. (I'd assume the Ryzen chip has that decoder now, too, but I haven't checked.)

The rig, as is, does display 4K @ 4:4:4 just fine, but none of the hardware has the chips that everything else likes. Getting a 4770 won't help there.
 
Did some digging, Daleon - Ryzen does not have 10 bit HEVC decoding built in, so no, that is not an option. (the 380/480 video cards, do, but that's not on the CPU.)

So that means that an Intel 7XXX or 8xxx are still required. (Or a 10XX w 3+GB RAM or a 380/480 from AMD.)
 
Interesting. Well then I would probably go with the 1050ti for now. You can then wait for a good deal on something to replace that Vishera.
 
Daleon said:
Interesting. Well then I would probably go with the 1050ti for now. You can then wait for a good deal on something to replace that Vishera.
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Maybe, I'm less worried about upgrading the chip, if the video card lets me do real 4K.
I don't use it for anything other than playing videos, and a little web browsing on the TV.
I mean, sure, a 4770 or something would be awesome, but I don't need it yet. (My 6700k desktop w 1080 does that for me! ;-)
 
Skillz said:
Decoding on a GPU is going to be faster than on a CPU if the application can take advantage of the GPU which most can.
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And hence, I'd lean towards changing the GPU if it will get you the 4k you want. Might even be a bit more expensive, but there's more overhead in taking something to the CPU vs working on it in the GPU, so a GPU investment will give better returns.
 
SamirD said:
And hence, I'd lean towards changing the GPU if it will get you the 4k you want. Might even be a bit more expensive, but there's more overhead in taking something to the CPU vs working on it in the GPU, so a GPU investment will give better returns.
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Yeah, a 1050 TI is in my near future.
Gonna rehab a few scrap laptops at work and take them to BB sometime to trade in, and get some $$$ off the card. ;-)
 
BB as in Best Buy? I didn't know they even took used stuff moreless paid for it.
 
Yeah make sense, if I could find a pile of like 5 or 10 D620's, it becomes worth it.
 
SamirD said:
Interesting. I wonder what they do with them? I bet that's where a lot of spare parts come from.

I bought a bunch of working fully upgraded d620s with win7 on them for just over $25. Great machines to have running little tasks.
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Sometimes I still toy with the idea of putting an SSD and some more memory in my D620. But it also needs a new battery and the processor is getting more than a bit long in the tooth. I think I'd be spending so much money that I could've bought a decent replacement for mine, haha.
 
yowen said:
Sometimes I still toy with the idea of putting an SSD and some more memory in my D620. But it also needs a new battery and the processor is getting more than a bit long in the tooth. I think I'd be spending so much money that I could've bought a decent replacement for mine, haha.
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you can easily get an old I5 2nd gen laptop for the 100ish bucks you'd spend doing that....
 
Guarana [BAWLS] said:
you can easily get an old I5 2nd gen laptop for the 100ish bucks you'd spend doing that....
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Yeah that's what stops me dead in my tracks, once in a while a small part of me considers it because I have an emotional bond with that laptop, lol. But it's not strong enough to ever follow through, haha.
 
yowen said:
Sometimes I still toy with the idea of putting an SSD and some more memory in my D620. But it also needs a new battery and the processor is getting more than a bit long in the tooth. I think I'd be spending so much money that I could've bought a decent replacement for mine, haha.
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Memory is nearly free for this thing since everyone is trying to get rid of 1g ddr2s. Since the d-series only took up to 2gb, it wouldn't take much to max it out.

And the ssd is kinda the same thing--you don't need a big one by any means, so even an older used ssd would be fine as it's not like this would be your primary machine.
 
yowen said:
Yeah that's what stops me dead in my tracks, once in a while a small part of me considers it because I have an emotional bond with that laptop, lol. But it's not strong enough to ever follow through, haha.
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Just wait for component prices to come down. There's a point where no one wants this stuff anymore and supply outstrips demand to the point people give it all away.
 
SamirD said:
Memory is nearly free for this thing since everyone is trying to get rid of 1g ddr2s. Since the d-series only took up to 2gb, it wouldn't take much to max it out.

And the ssd is kinda the same thing--you don't need a big one by any means, so even an older used ssd would be fine as it's not like this would be your primary machine.
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Yikes, 2gb of ram isn't much but maybe with an SSD it'd still be pretty snappy. Even still maybe I should look to use something other than Windows? It should definitely have something other than Windows XP I think. I'd essentially want this thing to be an internet browsing machine.

Edit: I poked around online a bit, and seems 4GB it is the limit, but it may only see up to 3.25GB.
 
yowen said:
Yikes, 2gb of ram isn't much but maybe with an SSD it'd still be pretty snappy. Even still maybe I should look to use something other than Windows? It should definitely have something other than Windows XP I think. I'd essentially want this thing to be an internet browsing machine.

Edit: I poked around online a bit, and seems 4GB it is the limit, but it may only see up to 3.25GB.
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Using older machines for Internet browsing is actually the worst. Every upgrade bloats more and more and needs more and more resources. And you can't even go to sites anymore using older browsers so that's out too.

What machines of a bygone era excel at is running software of that era or earlier. Like Windows 98 (if there are sufficient drivers) would scream on this machine, as does xp. And if you're going to use the office suites, etc from that era on that machine, it will be perfectly snappy. This is how I still can use a windows 98se system I have--works well as a file server and there was a win98 rdp client so I connect to my windows 7 machines and don't have to get up from my chair. :D It's amazing what an old 486 could do as an rdp client connecting to 64 bit OSes it never would have dreamed of...
 
SamirD said:
Using older machines for Internet browsing is actually the worst. Every upgrade bloats more and more and needs more and more resources. And you can't even go to sites anymore using older browsers so that's out too.

What machines of a bygone era excel at is running software of that era or earlier. Like Windows 98 (if there are sufficient drivers) would scream on this machine, as does xp. And if you're going to use the office suites, etc from that era on that machine, it will be perfectly snappy. This is how I still can use a windows 98se system I have--works well as a file server and there was a win98 rdp client so I connect to my windows 7 machines and don't have to get up from my chair. :D It's amazing what an old 486 could do as an rdp client connecting to 64 bit OSes it never would have dreamed of...
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Oooh, that's a great idea, I could simply use the laptop to RDP to one of the systems in my signature and have the benefit of their performance.
 
yowen said:
Oooh, that's a great idea, I could simply use the laptop to RDP to one of the systems in my signature and have the benefit of their performance.
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Exactly. It's what I plan to do with an old 486 Thinkpad with that gorgeous keyboard. Imagine seeing someone working on that it the screen is Windows 7, haha.
 
SamirD said:
Exactly. It's what I plan to do with an old 486 Thinkpad with that gorgeous keyboard. Imagine seeing someone working on that it the screen is Windows 7, haha.
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Haha, that would be hilarious.

Something like this one? https://skyllamas.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/p6zqg54.jpg

I'm really excited to go home and try this on the D620, haha. It'd be a wifi connection from the laptop to the wifi router about 7ft away and then a wired connection to my office, would that work alright with RDP?
 
yowen said:
Haha, that would be hilarious.

Something like this one? https://skyllamas.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/p6zqg54.jpg

I'm really excited to go home and try this on the D620, haha. It'd be a wifi connection from the laptop to the wifi router about 7ft away and then a wired connection to my office, would that work alright with RDP?
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Yep, that's the guy! A friend gave it to me and it still boots right up. My brother gave me his old Winbook xp5 that has the same lovely keyboard.

Your rdp session should be just fine. If it gets laggy, set the video settings to 16-bit color. I use that on my win98se machine and regularly forget that I'm not locally on the win7 machine. I bet we'll be able to rdp into at least one more generation of OSes, so like 128-bit windows...from windows 95!
 
SamirD said:
Yep, that's the guy! A friend gave it to me and it still boots right up. My brother gave me his old Winbook xp5 that has the same lovely keyboard.

Your rdp session should be just fine. If it gets laggy, set the video settings to 16-bit color. I use that on my win98se machine and regularly forget that I'm not locally on the win7 machine. I bet we'll be able to rdp into at least one more generation of OSes, so like 128-bit windows...from windows 95!
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Man that'd be like a 25 year gap of versions of windows! And that winbook looks pretty sweet too! My dad always had Thinkpads for work, I do indeed like those old keyboards they had.

I got reading into this remotefx vgpu stuff, but it sounds like the client needs to have at least Windows 7.

Here's a link https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-remotefx-vgpu
 
yowen said:
Man that'd be like a 25 year gap of versions of windows! And that winbook looks pretty sweet too! My dad always had Thinkpads for work, I do indeed like those old keyboards they had.

I got reading into this remotefx vgpu stuff, but it sounds like the client needs to have at least Windows 7.

Here's a link https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-remotefx-vgpu
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That's only for the remotefx part of the rdp server. The win98se client is I think rdp5.0 and connects fine to our windows 7 machines.
 
SamirD said:
That's only for the remotefx part of the rdp server. The win98se client is I think rdp5.0 and connects fine to our windows 7 machines.
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Yeah I understand that, I should have clarified that I was saying that if I wanted to use vgpu/remotefx I would have to have a newer machine on the client side. That may be a fun project for another day.
 
yowen said:
Yeah I understand that, I should have clarified that I was saying that if I wanted to use vgpu/remotefx I would have to have a newer machine on the client side. That may be a fun project for another day.
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Yeah, and then you'd be looking at windows 7 on the client side too because I think all the versions of rdp that ran on xp didn't support remotefx.

The winbook is quite sweet. We have the docking station for it too so we can add external ide drives as well as a pci (or isa) card. The system is having some issues booting now, but was working fine when my brother gave it to me. I think the 800mb hard drive is dying or the cmos battery or something else. :(
 
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