4K UHD Blu-ray playback using a Z390 Aorus Master motherboard with a GC-Titan Ridge - Blu-ray Forum

rpsuperstar · 03-28-2019, 09:49 AM

Hi everyone. I recently built a new PC with one of my main intentions being to watch 4K HDR Blu-rays. I thought I had researched everything thoroughly and was ready to go, but I missed one crucial point. In order to play 4K Blu-rays, I need to use the integrated graphics of the CPU, and while my CPU (i9-9900K) supports 4K HDR playback, the motherboard manufacturer (Gigabyte) for some reason decided to only put an HDMI 1.4 port on the motherboard. So while I can watch 4K Blu-rays, I'm limited to 30fps SDR.
Unfortunately the store I bought all the parts from doesn't accept returns (I live in Japan where this is all too common), so replacing the motherboard is out of the question. I'd really like to get this to work though. Especially since I shelled out $200 on a UHD Blu-ray drive that I also can't return.
I've been searching forums all day, but haven't been able to find a solution anywhere. Then, I stumbled upon this:

Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge PCIe card
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBZL93X

According to the description, this will add a Display Port 1.4 port to my motherboard, which should technically allow me to watch all that glorious 4K HDR content that I spent so much time and money on trying to make work.

Apparently nobody has tested this out yet though, or if they did, they haven't reported the results.

If anyone here could give me some advice about this, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Also, one other thing. I have a dedicated GPU as well and I need to disable this and switch over to integrated graphics anytime I want to watch a 4K Blu-ray or else PowerDVD won't work. Is they any easy way to do this (other than physically removing the card)?

IITravel01 · 03-29-2019, 10:21 PM

"Also, one other thing. I have a dedicated GPU as well and I need to disable this and switch over to integrated graphics anytime I want to watch a 4K Blu-ray or else PowerDVD won't work. Is they any easy way to do this (other than physically removing the card)?" You should be able to go into the bios and just select onboard graphics to disable the video card.

As for the motherboard, there's a ASUS WS Z390 Pro you might want to check out. I believe there's a chance the Titan Ridge card might work with it, even though it's not ASUS.

MelonGx · 03-30-2019, 04:16 AM

Try Amazon US’s Monoprice DisplayPort 1.2a to 4K@60Hz HDMI Active HDR Adapter #33125.
I don’t know whether the adapters selling in Japan work or not though.

OK sorry I haven’t seen that your motherboard didn’t have a native DP so you can only try this GC-Titan Ridge one (+ DP to HDMI 2.0 adapter for 4K HDR TV use), or simply sell the motherboard.
To be noticed that ASUS WS Z390 PRO & ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-I only provide SGX-SoftwareControlled option, which make ASUS MB’s HDMI 2.0 port unable to output UHD signal to Sony TV’s HDMI 1/4 port.

rpsuperstar · 03-30-2019, 02:49 PM

Thanks for the help guys. I went ahead and bit the bullet and bought a GC Titan Ridge PCIe expansion card and it pretty does nothing. It can charge my laptop and that's about it. I plugged my monitor into the DP port using a DP cable and the Thunderbolt 3 port using a USB-C cable, and nothing happens.

It's possible that the DP port is a DP In port and not a DP Out port. The English instructions say that it's DP In, but the Chinese instructions (which are usually more accurate given that Gigabyte is a Taiwanese company), say it's a DP Out port. So who knows. Maybe in this rare case, the English version is correct and the Chinese one is wrong.

The only other thing I can think of is possibly my monitor doesn't accept Thunderbolt 3. It says in the instruction manual that it accepts USB 3.1, but doesn't make any mention of Thunderbolt. I thought the two were compatible, but I guess not. Windows does detect the monitor when I plug it in, but just spits out an error message, so it could be a cable/adapter issue.

I'm gonna try this Thunderbolt 3 to DP 1.4 adapter from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F17ZHJY/

If this doesn't work, I give up.

rpsuperstar · 03-30-2019, 02:58 PM

On a more positive note, I figured out an easy way to switch between dedicated and integrated graphics on a Windows 10 desktop.

All you have to do is turn on Integrated graphics in the BIOS and then attach one cable from the graphics card and another cable from the motherboard itself to the same monitor. In my case, I have DP 1.4 coming from the graphics card and HDMI 1.4 coming from the motherboard.

Then you go into System > Display, and under Multiple Displays, select "Show only on 2" (or whatever number the motherboard output is).

After doing this, the screen will turn black for a few seconds while the monitor figures out that it needs to switch from the DP input to the HDMI one (or you can just switch it manually if you need to), and 4K Blu-rays will play without a hitch. Unfortunately no HDR though. That's why I'm still hoping that I can eventually get the GC Titan Ridge option to work.

Another thing to note. If you select "Duplicate these displays" or "Extend these displays", it won't work. You need to turn off the connection coming from the GPU. There are batch files floating around that will switch displays automatically, so it shouldn't be too hard to put together a shortcut on the Desktop that switches back and forth with a single click.

03-28-2019, 09:49 AM	#1
rpsuperstar New Member Member since:Mar 2015	4K UHD Blu-ray playback using a Z390 Aorus Master motherboard with a GC-Titan Ridge Hi everyone. I recently built a new PC with one of my main intentions being to watch 4K HDR Blu-rays. I thought I had researched everything thoroughly and was ready to go, but I missed one crucial point. In order to play 4K Blu-rays, I need to use the integrated graphics of the CPU, and while my CPU (i9-9900K) supports 4K HDR playback, the motherboard manufacturer (Gigabyte) for some reason decided to only put an HDMI 1.4 port on the motherboard. So while I can watch 4K Blu-rays, I'm limited to 30fps SDR. Unfortunately the store I bought all the parts from doesn't accept returns (I live in Japan where this is all too common), so replacing the motherboard is out of the question. I'd really like to get this to work though. Especially since I shelled out $200 on a UHD Blu-ray drive that I also can't return. I've been searching forums all day, but haven't been able to find a solution anywhere. Then, I stumbled upon this: Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge PCIe card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBZL93X According to the description, this will add a Display Port 1.4 port to my motherboard, which should technically allow me to watch all that glorious 4K HDR content that I spent so much time and money on trying to make work. Apparently nobody has tested this out yet though, or if they did, they haven't reported the results. If anyone here could give me some advice about this, I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, one other thing. I have a dedicated GPU as well and I need to disable this and switch over to integrated graphics anytime I want to watch a 4K Blu-ray or else PowerDVD won't work. Is they any easy way to do this (other than physically removing the card)?

03-29-2019, 10:21 PM	#2
IITravel01 Active Member Member since:Apr 2017	"Also, one other thing. I have a dedicated GPU as well and I need to disable this and switch over to integrated graphics anytime I want to watch a 4K Blu-ray or else PowerDVD won't work. Is they any easy way to do this (other than physically removing the card)?" You should be able to go into the bios and just select onboard graphics to disable the video card. As for the motherboard, there's a ASUS WS Z390 Pro you might want to check out. I believe there's a chance the Titan Ridge card might work with it, even though it's not ASUS.

03-30-2019, 04:16 AM	#3
MelonGx Active Member Member since:Oct 2017	Try Amazon US’s Monoprice DisplayPort 1.2a to 4K@60Hz HDMI Active HDR Adapter #33125. I don’t know whether the adapters selling in Japan work or not though. OK sorry I haven’t seen that your motherboard didn’t have a native DP so you can only try this GC-Titan Ridge one (+ DP to HDMI 2.0 adapter for 4K HDR TV use), or simply sell the motherboard. To be noticed that ASUS WS Z390 PRO & ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-I only provide SGX-SoftwareControlled option, which make ASUS MB’s HDMI 2.0 port unable to output UHD signal to Sony TV’s HDMI 1/4 port. Last edited by MelonGx; 03-30-2019 at 04:36 AM.

03-30-2019, 02:49 PM	#4
rpsuperstar New Member Member since:Mar 2015	Thanks for the help guys. I went ahead and bit the bullet and bought a GC Titan Ridge PCIe expansion card and it pretty does nothing. It can charge my laptop and that's about it. I plugged my monitor into the DP port using a DP cable and the Thunderbolt 3 port using a USB-C cable, and nothing happens. It's possible that the DP port is a DP In port and not a DP Out port. The English instructions say that it's DP In, but the Chinese instructions (which are usually more accurate given that Gigabyte is a Taiwanese company), say it's a DP Out port. So who knows. Maybe in this rare case, the English version is correct and the Chinese one is wrong. The only other thing I can think of is possibly my monitor doesn't accept Thunderbolt 3. It says in the instruction manual that it accepts USB 3.1, but doesn't make any mention of Thunderbolt. I thought the two were compatible, but I guess not. Windows does detect the monitor when I plug it in, but just spits out an error message, so it could be a cable/adapter issue. I'm gonna try this Thunderbolt 3 to DP 1.4 adapter from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F17ZHJY/ If this doesn't work, I give up.

03-30-2019, 02:58 PM	#5
rpsuperstar New Member Member since:Mar 2015	On a more positive note, I figured out an easy way to switch between dedicated and integrated graphics on a Windows 10 desktop. All you have to do is turn on Integrated graphics in the BIOS and then attach one cable from the graphics card and another cable from the motherboard itself to the same monitor. In my case, I have DP 1.4 coming from the graphics card and HDMI 1.4 coming from the motherboard. Then you go into System > Display, and under Multiple Displays, select "Show only on 2" (or whatever number the motherboard output is). After doing this, the screen will turn black for a few seconds while the monitor figures out that it needs to switch from the DP input to the HDMI one (or you can just switch it manually if you need to), and 4K Blu-rays will play without a hitch. Unfortunately no HDR though. That's why I'm still hoping that I can eventually get the GC Titan Ridge option to work. Another thing to note. If you select "Duplicate these displays" or "Extend these displays", it won't work. You need to turn off the connection coming from the GPU. There are batch files floating around that will switch displays automatically, so it shouldn't be too hard to put together a shortcut on the Desktop that switches back and forth with a single click.

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