[arch-general] PC build for hardware video acceleration

[L. Rose]

Dear community,

I want to build a new CPU-focused Arch Linux PC. No requirements for GPU, except for H.265 4K decode, in decent profiles (whatever that means).

What hardware is best supported by libraries like VA-API and VDPAU? Are there other relevant libraries? Which libraries are still maintained and up-to-date, which are open source?

I see three options right now:

1. High-end Intel CPU (e.g. i9-9900K) w/ integrated HD 630 GPU, or
2. CPU w/o iGPU (e.g. AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2920X) + dedicated, low-end AMD GPU (e.g. Radeon RX 560)
3. CPU w/o iGPU and low-end NVidia GPU (e.g. GTX 1050)

I couldn't find out which setup works best using the wiki and other sources. Maybe anyone could point me to the right direction? What hardware is recommended for good H.265 4K playback on GPU?

Thanks in advance, kind regards,

L.