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Be aware for 4K that almost no motherboards exist at this time that can pair one of these APUs with a HDMI 2.0 output. Almost all AM4 motherboards come with HDM

by DCKing 9y ago

Be aware for 4K that almost no motherboards exist at this time that can pair one of these APUs with a HDMI 2.0 output. Almost all AM4 motherboards come with HDMI 1.4 outputs that limit 4K output to 30Hz - probably fine for movies, noticable in the UI, and not great for games (even if rendered at lower than native res). Though there are some current gen AM4 boards with HDMI 2.0 and native 4K60 output, it's somehow a premium feature that is bizarrely reserved for high end gaming motherboards. The next generation of motherboard chipsets from AMD should remediate this, but motherboards with these will not launch before April.

walrus01 9y ago
Yes, so the motherboards are now the main problem... in 2018 I certainly wouldn't build anything that's only capable of 30Hz. Would be a total waste of money. My current setup has a pretty basic B250 chipset microATX motherboard (no wifi, etc) which is fine because the design was with a dedicated geforce1030. I'm sure that by April there will be similarly priced motherboards that do support 2160p60 out on their built in HDMI port, for use with these new CPUs.
gascan 9y ago
I'm a bit fuzzy on this, but I think any motherboard with DisplayPort 1.2 or better will do the job. DisplayPort has been ahead of HDMI on the 4K60Hz game. Picking a random NewEgg motherboard with AM4 & DisplayPort, it looks like it would do the job (see Specs): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132988 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681313... So does the cheapest board: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813144135 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681314...
- walrus01 9y ago
  I did some research on this before building my current system (see parent comment). At the time I bought the stuff about two months ago the A8 and A10 CPUs (pre-Ryzen generation) for AM4 looked like terrible options. Looking at CPUs, the whole series of currently shipping Ryzen don't have onboard video, and I wanted a 1500X because I knew I could overclock it by at least 200-300 MHz with little effort. Almost went to an Intel 8th generation Core architecture and Intel's integrated video. But the performance difference between intel onboard and a $80 to $90 geforce1030 was significant. I wanted to build something that would still be able to play ridiculously high bitrate HEVC.
DCKing 9y ago
For those informing purchase decisions on this, it seems I was wrong [1]. Apparently the APU dictates the HDMI version, not the motherboard. Many AM4 motherboards appear to support HDMI 2.0 with one of these new APIs. [1]: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/raven-ridge-hdmi-2-0-compatibility-1st-gen-am4-otherboard-test-request-megathread.6709/ https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/raven-ridge-hdmi-2...

by DCKing 9y ago

walrus01 9y ago

Yes, so the motherboards are now the main problem... in 2018 I certainly wouldn't build anything that's only capable of 30Hz. Would be a total waste of money. My current setup has a pretty basic B250 chipset microATX motherboard (no wifi, etc) which is fine because the design was with a dedicated geforce1030. I'm sure that by April there will be similarly priced motherboards that do support 2160p60 out on their built in HDMI port, for use with these new CPUs.

gascan 9y ago

I'm a bit fuzzy on this, but I think any motherboard with DisplayPort 1.2 or better will do the job. DisplayPort has been ahead of HDMI on the 4K60Hz game. Picking a random NewEgg motherboard with AM4 & DisplayPort, it looks like it would do the job (see Specs): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132988 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681313... So does the cheapest board: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813144135 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681314...

walrus01 9y ago
I did some research on this before building my current system (see parent comment). At the time I bought the stuff about two months ago the A8 and A10 CPUs (pre-Ryzen generation) for AM4 looked like terrible options. Looking at CPUs, the whole series of currently shipping Ryzen don't have onboard video, and I wanted a 1500X because I knew I could overclock it by at least 200-300 MHz with little effort. Almost went to an Intel 8th generation Core architecture and Intel's integrated video. But the performance difference between intel onboard and a $80 to $90 geforce1030 was significant. I wanted to build something that would still be able to play ridiculously high bitrate HEVC.

DCKing 9y ago

For those informing purchase decisions on this, it seems I was wrong [1]. Apparently the APU dictates the HDMI version, not the motherboard. Many AM4 motherboards appear to support HDMI 2.0 with one of these new APIs. [1]: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/raven-ridge-hdmi-2-0-compatibility-1st-gen-am4-otherboard-test-request-megathread.6709/ https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/raven-ridge-hdmi-2...