[uomiarz]

Hi,

My KODI PC is getting old.
I am currently running NVIDIA GT1030 but from what I remember this card (or drivers) is not supporting modern codecs.
AMD CPU is running strong so I will not be changing this.
I am planning on upgrading OS to the new Lubuntu LTS version and I was thinking about new video card.

From what I remember Intel was a best choice for Linux at some point.
Now I see Intel released some video cards but I cannot find anything on that topic here.

Can you recommend video card for Linux and KODI ?

Thank you,
Mike

[wsnipex]

Intel or AMD. Integrated GPU is sufficient, there is usually no need for a dedicated gfx card

[MatteN]

GT1030 runs just fine with Windows, mine plays 4k HEVC HDR.

[uomiarz]

@wsnipex
Yes, but I do already have running PC with AMD cpu and no build in GPU.
I am not planning on changing this.

@MatteN
From what I understand this is correct for Windows drivers but not Linux.
Playing any 4k HEVC HDR video causes all 8 cores of the CPU to go full load.


Any way, I bought an Intel video card.
I will test it and report back

thx
Mike

[pgavk]

Any way, I bought an Intel video card.
I will test it and report back

note, depending on your specific Intel card/kernel combination ...

Intel's moving to an in-kernel release of 'Xe' drvr, as a replacement for 'i915' (currently stable-released in kernel 6.8.4+; OFF by default).

here, with kernel 6.8.4+, Intel Arc graphics, & Xe driver, hwaccel is non-functional.

kodi runs, just without VA accel.

if that's not an issue, no problem.
if it is, you'll need to stick with i915 driver until if/when intel-{gfx,xe,dri-devel}@kernel addresses the functional regression.

[uomiarz]

OK, thank you.
The whole idea is to get hardware acceleration so I will need to stick to i915.
This is never easy for Linux

[pgavk]

The whole idea is to get hardware acceleration so I will need to stick to i915.

"... depending on your specific Intel card/kernel combination ..." _your_ combo may be OK with Xe; iiuc, i915 certainly should (?) be around awhile still, particularly with an LTS install.

for me, Intel's already pushed to 'solve' a (different/unrelated/boot) hardware issue by advising move from i915 -> Xe.
so my current choice is (1) boot without issue, OR (2) have hwaccel.
catch 22.

in any case, fyi: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/xe/ke...ssues/1555

[HeySeeri]

@MatteN
From what I understand this is correct for Windows drivers but not Linux.
Playing any 4k HEVC HDR video causes all 8 cores of the CPU to go full load.

Any way, I bought an Intel video card.
I will test it and report back

My Intel Arc 380 handles everything Kodi throws at it.  I am using Fedora with the non-free version of the intel-media-driver.

[uomiarz]

Non-free or not-open?

[pgavk]

My Intel Arc 380 handles everything Kodi throws at it.  I am using Fedora with the non-free version of the intel-media-driver.

yes, as long as you're using the *current-default* i915 kernel driver

upstream intel-media-driver pkg (which provides the LIBVA driver; e.g, /usr/lib64/dri/iHD_drv_video.so) has a bug, missing correct headers for Xe KMD (kernel mode driver) headers, also necessary for DG2 (Arc) graphics support,

there's an upstream patch available, easy to apply,

https://github.com/intel/media-driver/pu...4af8764c28

committed on March 26, 2024. last tagged upstream release was intel-media-24.2.0, on March 24. but distros, e.g. Fedora, have yet older,

Code:

    Name         : intel-media-driver
!!    Version      : 23.4.3
    Release      : 1.fc39
    Architecture : x86_64
    Size         : 6.9 M
    Source       : intel-media-driver-23.4.3-1.fc39.src.rpm
    Repository   : rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
    Summary      : The Intel Media Driver for VAAPI
    URL          : https://github.com/intel/media-driver
    License      : MIT and BSD
    Description  : The Intel Media Driver for VAAPI is a new VA-API (Video Acceleration API)
                 : user mode driver supporting hardware accelerated decoding, encoding,
                 : and video post processing for GEN based graphics hardware.
                 : https://01.org/intel-media-for-linux

more details here

Bug 2273861 - missing H/W accel (libva) support on Intel Gen12+ gpu; Intel Xe KMD header files not enabled; upstream patch available
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2273861

remains to be seen if Intel Xe swaps in over i915 as default in Kernel 6.9+:

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Intel-Xe-D...x-6.9-Pull

[HeySeeri]

Non-free or not-open?

In fedora it is in the “non free” rpmfusion repo. I believe it is identical to the free version but it includes the encoder as well.

[Asato]

@MatteN
From what I understand this is correct for Windows drivers but not Linux.
Playing any 4k HEVC HDR video causes all 8 cores of the CPU to go full load.

That's interesting ... I also own a GT1030 and have not yet noticed that it and the nvidia drivers for linux (I`m on Void Linux) cannot handle anything ... don't think that it is necessary just for Kodi to upgrade the graphics card ...

The GT1030 is even strong enough to handle most emulators up to Switch ...

... I guess at least driver support for linux is excellent for nvidia cards or did it change over the past years?

[Asato]

tested some of these video files

https://nascompares.com/guide/4k-1080p-h...erver-nas/

and yes, the 4k 400 MBit video file forces my HTPC to the knees ... 4 Cores 100% and still stuttering ...

[uomiarz]

@Asato

This is the GT1030 driver issue  - no hardware support so the system is maxed out on CPUs.
I don't recall what exactly is it that Nvidia does not support but UHD BlueRay dumps are always running on CPUs and not GPU.

My new Intel card arrived, but it was either DOA or my motherboard does not handle it anymore (too old?) 
I will have to reconsider the whole update idea and maybe just get new PC with Intel integrated CPU/GPU.

--

vdpauinfo
returns this:

...
H264_CONSTRAINED_BASELINE      41 65536  4096  4096
H264_EXTENDED                  41 65536  4096  4096
H264_PROGRESSIVE_HIGH          41 65536  4096  4096
H264_CONSTRAINED_HIGH          41 65536  4096  4096
H264_HIGH_444_PREDICTIVE       41 65536  4096  4096
HEVC_MAIN                      153 262144  8192  8192
HEVC_MAIN_10                   --- not supported ---
HEVC_MAIN_STILL                --- not supported ---
HEVC_MAIN_12                   --- not supported ---
HEVC_MAIN_444                  --- not supported ---

Last 4 lines is the issue I guess.
GT1030 will not do 10bit HEVC and no HDR

[MatteN]

Last 4 lines is the issue I guess.
GT1030 will not do 10bit HEVC and no HDR

Unless you use it on a Windows PC, then it works just fine.