Graphics card for streaming 4k content

Will any GeForce RTX do – 1650/60, or do I need to be looking at 3050/60 or 4050/60?

Fancy a new PC, have a nice 32″ 4k screen and half decent speakers, but it’s pointless trying to watch anything at my desk on my current PC

If you’re just watching anything will do – if you’re gaming then the bigger the betterer

any modern onboard/integrated gpu will be able to stream 4k content

any modern onboard/integrated gpu will be able to stream 4k content

Apparently not. The three year old POS Dell Inspiron sat in my office won’t

Are you sure the bottleneck is your pc and not your network?

“Smart” TVs with a CPU seemingly from a Commodore 64 can stream 4k video. Suggest something else is wrong, worth figuring out what before you spend any money.

What is the source of what you’re trying to stream?

Fancy a new PC

That’s a can of worms right there…

Is it purely for streaming 4K video or will it be used for more? e.g. gaming, photo/video/audio creation & processing.

In theory anything with HDMI 2.0b or better will be ok for streaming 4K, and the GTX 1650 has that, but you’ll need the rest of the PC to go with it. What the rest of the PC entails depends on what else you’re going to use it for and how much you can scavenge from the Dell. Might just be the cost of the graphics card, might cost £200, might cost £2000.

Are you sure the bottleneck is your pc and not your network?

“Smart” TVs with a CPU seemingly from a Commodore 64 can stream 4k video. Suggest something else is wrong, worth figuring out what before you spend any money.

3 year old Inspiron looks like integrated graphics with 1 x HDMI 1.4 port. Technically enough for 4K but only at 24fps and reduced colour depth, so in practice not a pleasant experience.

What service are you using to stream; Netflix, Amazon, Disney, iPlayer, others…?

The reason I ask is that not all of them support 4K on PCs and those that do only support it in certain browsers. When I went down that particular rabbit hole a few years ago I was forced to use Edge and/or install the app.

Quick Google seems to indicate it’s still a current thing…

https://www.google.com/search?q=do+streaming+services+support+4k+on+pc&oq=do+streaming+services+support+4k+on+pc

If you want to go the new PC route (rather than buy a new gfx card if needed) the multitude of micro PC’s that are all the rage these days make great streaming boxes. In fact there’ll do most stuff other than high end gaming/video editing. Tiny, near silent and around £200 will get a pretty high end one. So small that you can stick them on to the back of a monitor so they are totally hidden.

The reason I ask is that not all of them support 4K on PCs and those that do only support it in certain browsers

That’s a good point, it’s intentionally done by some streaming services to clamp down on pirating. Frankly laughable as a Firestick with a few add-ons will get you all the content you want. That ship has sailed.

The reason I ask is that not all of them support 4K on PCs and those that do only support it in certain browsers.

I think it’s because it’s easier/cheaper to allow us to pirate crap quality media on a PC than implment DRM to prevent piracy (of high quality media) on an open box (as opposed to a closed black box) system such as PC.

Raspberry Pi 5?

Dumping four figures on a PC to stream video is lunacy when you can shove a 4k Amazon Fire Stick in HDMI2 for like £60.

Well, it seems like my graphics card will do 4k.

When I bought the PC I couldn’t play UHD content for some reason and at that time, I was sure I had it down to the specs – think I probably posted on here at the time about it. Anyway, I’ve just watched some Youtube content and it played fine – although it did buffer. I’m only getting 20-25Mbps in the shed

Just played a bit of Prison Break on Netflix and that played fine with no buffering. Doesn’t give an option for quality though, so not sure what that was playing at

What I can’t watch is football on Sky Go – that’s only HD. It doesn’t tend to buffer much, but the playback is too jerky to be watchable

I’m only getting 20-25Mbps in the shed

A good 4k stream is about 30, Netflix is 16 at the top end currently. You sound borderline there especially with any other traffic.

sounds like you’re stuck on older 2.4g WiFi maybe?

Just played a bit of Prison Break on Netflix and that played fine with no buffering. Doesn’t give an option for quality though, so not sure what that was playing at

If you were looking for quality you’re watching the wrong show.