4k Blu-Rays

[Smiggy]

Hi guys,

I was wondering someone can help me shed some understanding on Pioneer's new Blu-Ray optical drives, that can play 4k movies. I play 4k games on my Acer Predator XB321HK 32, but I am wondering, if I'll be able to play 4k games.

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/1/25/14387744/pioneer-ultra-hd-bluray-drive-4k-pc

Apparently the requirements to play 4k movies are found on PowerDVD's site.

https://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd-ultra/spec_en_GB.html?&r=1

1) The minumum requirement is your CPU must be one of the Kaby Lake editions or higher - this means my 6950, and Asus Rampage V Edition 10 are not compatible, right?

2) The GPU requirement states Ultra HD Blu-ray: Intel 7th generation (Kaby Lake) Core i processors integrated with Intel HD Graphics 630, Intel Iris™ Graphics 640 - what does this mean? I have 4 980 in Quad SLI configuration.

3) The Motherboard requirement states Ultra HD Blu-ray A mainboard is required which supports the Intel Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX) technology. The Intel SGX feature needs to be enabled in the BIOS* settings and allocated with 128 MB or above memory space. To view the HDR 10 effect of Ultra HD Blu-ray movies, a mainboard that supports exporting HDR 10 signal is required - I take it mine is not compatible because it doesn't support the Kaby Lake/Skylake editions?

4) Under Display Device, it says Display device with HDMI 2.0a/DisplayPort 1.3 connection interface, and must support HDCP 2.2 - why is a DP 1.3 required? Mine only support 1.2, but how is everyone else been watching 4k content/movies on their HD/QHD monitors? There are plenty of examples of this on YouTube.

5) Do the same requirements apply, if you're playing downloaded 4k content from netflix. So, you're not playing it from a disc.

Thanks guys.

[Korth]

I think the vast majority of Maximus IX customers are going to use GPU card(s) for display output. They'll basically never use the iGPU unless their GPU card(s) have problems, ie: they don't even need to install the iGPU drivers unless they want to retain the iGPU functions as a "nice to have" redundant fallback for troubleshooting faulty GPU card(s).

The iGPU/HDMI stuff is part of the chipset, it'll be the same (Intel specified) stuff across all compatible motherboards - it might even be useful on the lowest-end mobos if special/niche systems can be built from them cheaply enough (you don't need a GPU card for a multimedia HTPC, dedicated webserver, security system, etc, because the iGPU is good enough and far more power-efficient and already included in the system price).

You'd be hard pressed to find any current GPU cards which lack better HDMI outputs and/or DP outputs. The iGPU/HDMI is (contrary to Intel's marketing hype) completely unworthy for playing games or 3D productivity, no "serious" gamer/professional would ever rely on iGPU unless the GPU(s) they have are broken or the GPU(s) they want aren't available.

In itself, HDMI 1.4x isn't really that bad. It's still good for connecting secondary displays. It's still good for connecting any display which lacks DP. It's still better than DVI (and older technologies) - not everybody wants to buy a new $500-$1000+ monitor if their old (non-DP, HDMI-only) monitor still works and still looks good, less money on monitor means more money for everything else, and iGPU can bridge the gap.

[triffid]

You mean Aorus? 🙂

[Smiggy]

triffid wrote:
You mean Aorus? 🙂

Oh yes.

[triffid]

Great choice, by the way. Aorus G9 is the best Z270 board on the market.

[Smiggy]

triffid wrote:
Great choice, by the way. Aorus G9 is the best Z270 board on the market.

Hence, the choice.

[Smiggy]

I wonder if the new Kaby Lake X CPUs will be UHD compliant?

[triffid]

Of course not. No iGPU = no UHD BD playback. The next compatible platform will be (probably) Z370 in August/September.

[Smiggy]

triffid wrote:
Of course not. No iGPU = no UHD BD playback. The next compatible platform will be (probably) Z370 in August/September.

Which, CPUs will these support?

[Korth]

Kabylake-X will be Socket R4 (LGA 2066), exclusively intended for X299 HEDT platforms. Interestingly, Intel has chosen to differentiate its HEDT and Server platforms with different sockets; X299 users who want a ton of cores/threads will be forced to buy Core i9 instead of Xeon. Another subtle Intel money grab, I feel.

Intel's HEDT platforms never have iGPU. It's just assumed you'll install GPU card(s) into some of those many PCIe3 lanes. So no Kabylake-X iGPU with or without UHD BD playback, lol.

I suggest a slightly radical new feature on future ASUS HEDT platforms ... install an iGPU on the motherboard. Basic 2D/3D will suffice, it doesn't need to be fit for gaming or even competitive with Intel's processor iGPUs. It only needs to be able to display UEFI/BIOS, OS desktop, browser, and maybe even streaming video.

Why?
As a redundant fallback. Sometimes a bad GPU card causes system halts (mobo Q-Codes or WinOS BSoD) and often there's no spare GPU card available for troubleshooting. It's always a lot harder to fix or configure things without a working display.
And for power computing. A lot of X299/i9 people are going to basically build themselves a number-crunching workstation. Filling those PCIe3 slots up with processing GPU cards (or storage arrays) is far more important than filling them up with general GPU cards. Many uber workstation cards don't even have any display outputs, lol. The reason of course being that things can get displayed remotely (on other computers) when needed. A motherboard-iGPU could supply basic display functions without occupying any precious slots.

[Smiggy]

Korth wrote:
Kabylake-X will be Socket R4 (LGA 2066), exclusively intended for X299 HEDT platforms. Interestingly, Intel has chosen to differentiate its HEDT and Server platforms with different sockets; X299 users who want a ton of cores/threads will be forced to buy Core i9 instead of Xeon. Another subtle Intel money grab, I feel.

Intel's HEDT platforms never have iGPU. It's just assumed you'll install GPU card(s) into some of those many PCIe3 lanes. So no Kabylake-X iGPU with or without UHD BD playback, lol.

I suggest a slightly radical new feature on future ASUS HEDT platforms ... install an iGPU on the motherboard. Basic 2D/3D will suffice, it doesn't need to be fit for gaming or even competitive with Intel's processor iGPUs. It only needs to be able to display UEFI/BIOS, OS desktop, browser, and maybe even streaming video.

Why?
As a redundant fallback. Sometimes a bad GPU card causes system halts (mobo Q-Codes or WinOS BSoD) and often there's no spare GPU card available for troubleshooting. It's always a lot harder to fix or configure things without a working display.
And for power computing. A lot of X299/i9 people are going to basically build themselves a number-crunching workstation. Filling those PCIe3 slots up with processing GPU cards (or storage arrays) is far more important than filling them up with general GPU cards. Many uber workstation cards don't even have any display outputs, lol. The reason of course being that things can get displayed remotely (on other computers) when needed. A motherboard-iGPU could supply basic display functions without occupying any precious slots.

Hi Korth,

Which CPUs will the Z370 CPUs feature then, if it won't be the new Kaby Lake X series?