Hi all. I'm hoping someone here knows the cheapest AMD card that will play 4K video files. As well as do 4K streaming. I have heard that the one you want for this task is the RX 560 4Gb. Is this true? A 2Gb model wouldn't work? An RX 550 doesn't have what it takes? Thanks!
For 4k video I can't imagine a card like that even breaking sweat. Even cards like the R7 240 2gb are listed as 4k capable via HDMI. 60hz might be a different matter though if that is a requirement.
Are we talking just video playback, here? 'cos an RX 550 definitely won't struggle with 4k60 video playback. Hell, if it's H.265 a Raspberry Pi 4 doesn't struggle with 4k60 video playback.
You'll basically be looking for UVD 6 at a minimum (which was introduced all the way back with the AMD Radeon 3xx series) for good enough (anything older lacks HW acceleration for h.265). You'll also need HDMI 2 for 4K60 output. So yes, an RX 550 will be good enough.
Yep, it does seem like the RX 550 is the cheapest easily available AMD card that includes HDMI 2. Albeit, wandering outside of the brief, the GTX 1030 is cheaper and also includes HDMI 2.
While the GT 1030 does work for decoding there are issues with encoding as Nvidia disabled NVENC on that particular card, just something to be aware of.
