Question CPU/GPU requirements for smooth 8k playback?

[Graid]

I'm finding it really difficult to find an answer to the question of what CPU/GPU it takes to have smooth 8k playback.

I'm looking to get a new PC and I want to futureproof it with regards this in case I get a device in future that can take 8k video.

One of the reasons I want a new PC is that my old one can't handle 4k, I don't want to be gated out of playing my own content again further down the road.

Can your computer smoothly play back 8k video? If so, what CPU/GPU do you have?

Is it a realistic aim without a really high budget? On the one hand you get some sources saying you can't without a 4090 or 3080 minimum (with the exception of Macs and the intel Arc series). On the other you get people treating it as a trivial ask.

This isn't a great test as it's on youtube and codecs etc but here's some 8k video examples:

View: https://youtu.be/JNisNXAWTog?si=xTzJ7pW7oihY_0jL

View: https://youtu.be/w8QthIz_dnI?si=1EMfCUmESF2STHb5

View: https://youtu.be/_a59ltzYTn8?si=vCt3FAsq7dzC4aZK

 

[dwd999]

Its a complicated question because it's not just the 8K frame size but also a question of the frame rate, e.g. 24, 25, 30, 60 etc. frames per second. There's also a factor of the device output being used, whether its Displayport or HDMI etc. Some devices may support a higher frame size and frame rate with Displayport 1.4 that's higher than HDMI 2.1b. That's why devices are sometimes evaluated in term of Gbps speed output. And in terms of future proofing, the bit count will also increase as video moves from 8 bit to 10 bit to 12 bit and we know very little about that right now.

Anyway, I only have a 13900K in my computer and I can play back the youtube clips you've linked to since they're low frame rate. If I try 8K 60p then I start dropping frames since that's too much for this cpu and I'm using the HDMI output which is only rated for 4K.