[Lason]

OK so Im putting together a home theater right now and I may have enough left over to build a HTPC and will be using it strictly for casual internet surfing and gaming. No DVR functions planned as of now.


My question is, what are my options for using a single HDMI cable to use to output sound and video to my AVR?

 

[woster402]

The Radeon 4000 series will output both the video and sound through a single HDMI cable. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but, I believe that if you have a sound card, that you can connect it to Nividia cards and run sound through a single cable as well. Also, Auzentech is releasing a new sound card with a HDMI input and output that will run both the video and sound through a single cable. Anyway, I have a Radeon 4870 hooked up to my system and have had no issues running both video and sound through it but, if I hit the lottery and if the reviews come back good, I will be looking hard at getting that new card from Auzentech.

 

[Lason]

Well I forgot to mention Im really after a Nvidia card. I decided on my last gaming system build to go with a Radeon X800 and Im not impressed at all, even when it was top of the line. Im going back to Nvidia and staying there.


Thanks for the input, Ill check those out. Never heard of Auzentech though, Ill check them out as well.

 

[CRT Dude]

If you want multichannel PCM output the GeForce is out.

 

[ENiGmA1987]

No one was happy with the x800. It was overhyped, overpriced, and seriously delayed.


Now days ATI makes much better graphics cards than the x800 fiasco, and they are much cheaper than Nvidia. Nvidia has just been rebranding all their products these past 3 generations so a new card is really the same thing as the older ones.


Nvidia can do the HDMI stuff too, but I have never seen anyone who has done it. I always see people go for ATI when they want to use HDMI. You honestly should look at the reviews for some cards, and the current prices on them (not what the review says prices are) and then make your choice.


Cards that you should look at:

Nvidia GTX260 (216 core)

Nvidia GTX275 (current favorite for Nvidia owners)

Nvidia GTX285

ATI 4890

ATI 4870

ATI 4850

ATI 4770



If you want powerful, look at the GTX275 and above, or the ATI 4870 and above. Midrange would be the lower numbered cards.

 

[fcorona76]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lason /forum/post/16886341


OK so Im putting together a home theater right now and I may have enough left over to build a HTPC and will be using it strictly for casual internet surfing and gaming. No DVR functions planned as of now.


My question is, what are my options for using a single HDMI cable to use to output sound and video to my AVR?

Another option would be a Playstation 3. It has media streaming capabilities, 7+ channel PCM over HDMI, etc....plus Bluray. It may not do what an HTPC can do but it seems to more than meet your requirements and it works right out of the box.

 

[Lason]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ENiGmA1987 /forum/post/16894493


No one was happy with the x800. It was overhyped, overpriced, and seriously delayed.


Now days ATI makes much better graphics cards than the x800 fiasco, and they are much cheaper than Nvidia. Nvidia has just been rebranding all their products these past 3 generations so a new card is really the same thing as the older ones.


Nvidia can do the HDMI stuff too, but I have never seen anyone who has done it. I always see people go for ATI when they want to use HDMI. You honestly should look at the reviews for some cards, and the current prices on them (not what the review says prices are) and then make your choice.


Cards that you should look at:

Nvidia GTX260 (216 core)

Nvidia GTX275 (current favorite for Nvidia owners)

Nvidia GTX285

ATI 4890

ATI 4870

ATI 4850

ATI 4770



If you want powerful, look at the GTX275 and above, or the ATI 4870 and above. Midrange would be the lower numbered cards.

OK hearing that the X800 thing was a fluke makes me feel better. I had always used Nvidia and with that system I decided to go ATI for a change. Too bad Voodoo still doesnt make cards, I loved their stuff back in the day

Quote:
Originally Posted by fcorona76 /forum/post/16894782


Another option would be a Playstation 3. It has media streaming capabilities, 7+ channel PCM over HDMI, etc....plus Bluray. It may not do what an HTPC can do but it seems to more than meet your requirements and it works right out of the box.

I already have a 360, PS3 and a Wii. I just dont want to put my computer desk back into my living room/home theater for simplicity so a HTPC fit the bill and I simply cant build computers without gaming in mind since I do alot of it.

 

[Lason]



Quote:
Originally Posted by CRT Dude /forum/post/16890121


If you want multichannel PCM output the GeForce is out.

Thats something I was also wondering about. I see the geforce cards come with a audio cable but I dont know if I can get 5.1 sound through that one cable can I?

 

[QuietKungFu]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lason /forum/post/16895706


Thats something I was also wondering about. I see the geforce cards come with a audio cable but I dont know if I can get 5.1 sound through that one cable can I?

Many geforce cards require you to connect a small cable to your motherboard to get audio via HDMI, and not all motherboards have those connectors. I'm currently using an ATI HD4830 card that outputs 5.1 sound and video via one HDMI connection to my Denon AVR-1910. It works really nicely and the videocard runs very cool. I had an nvidia 8800gt in there before, and that thing ran very hot.

 

[fcorona76]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lason /forum/post/16895706


Thats something I was also wondering about. I see the geforce cards come with a audio cable but I dont know if I can get 5.1 sound through that one cable can I?

It's an SPDIF connection so you'll get either 2 channel PCM 48khz/16bit or encoded 5.1 channel Dolby Digital or DTS through the HDMI connection with a setup like this. You will NOT get the high definition audio, DTS-MA, DD-HD, 7 channel PCM, or any of the high bit rate, high frequency raw audio streams.

 

[ENiGmA1987]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Lason /forum/post/16895699


OK hearing that the X800 thing was a fluke makes me feel better. I had always used Nvidia and with that system I decided to go ATI for a change. Too bad Voodoo still doesnt make cards, I loved their stuff back in the day

Everyone thought the X800 was going to be amazing because their last generation was such a big hit. The 9600PRO was a great card for the money that could even be unlocked for better performance. With all the fame of that generation, ATI carried it over to the next which turned out to be a major flop. All companies have them, ATI did it again with the 2900XTX card. But right now, Nvidia is doing it in their own way. Nvidia has been using some bad silicon lately, and they have just rebranded their cards for 3 whole generations now. You can flash an 8800GTS to a 9800GTX, and you can flash a 9800GTX to GTS250. If you are lucky and your 8800GTS can handle the clock speeds, you can flash that 8800GTS all the way to a "new" GTS250. The differences are slight increases in clock speeds and I think they unlocked a few more of the shader units too.


You really should look at the ATI/AMD cards again because THIS GENERATION they have easily won the price to performance ratio, and the ATI cards are better at doing the HDMI surround sound audio through them. With a 4770 for $100 (or 4850 for $110?) you can easily play games on medium settings, older games on high. And it will be able to do your HDMI stuff well

 

[Lason]

Well I pretty much decided on two 1gb 4850's in a crossfire setup for my graphics card. Hopefully there will be enough room with the passive heat sinks. The price is right on these new cards to justify a crossfire/SLI setup. Any thoughts?


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125258

 

[Tinker]

4850's run HOT. So with two passive cards you better have fantastic air flow in the system.

 

[ENiGmA1987]

the whole 4k series run "hot", but a 4850 isnt THAT hot. Yes it does need some good airflow, but the cards are rated for more than 100c. Now the 4890 at 1GHz core runs hot. Nothing compares to that in terms of heat except an overclocked GTX295, maybe the GTX285 overclocked as well.


If you want cooler cards with almost as much power, try to find the 4770s. They use a smaller process node and consume less power and produce less heat. But if Gigabyte makes the card come stock with passive cooling, then it will be able to handle the heat load. Maybe not for 8 hour gaming sessions, but it will be able to handle it for a few hours at least. My one concern though is if these are going in a smaller HTPC size case, it will probably be too hot for that. Desktop size tower would be fine, but HTPC probably not...

 

[Lason]

Yeah I have a big antex server case now but was hoping to get into a smaller HTPC case if possible but going with the HTPC theme I didnt want a buzz box like I got now with 10,000 fans roaring.


I was thinking about going with a silverstone case with the touch screen LCD display to make it easier to use for the wife as a MP3 player. Never seen one up close or even with a assembled system in it to get a reference on how big it is. It comes with 2 80mm intake and 2 80mm exhaust fans but I was also thinking about cutting a window in the top and putting in some black screen material to get even more airflow out of it or even put a large 300+mm fan on the top flush mount and make all 4 80mm fans exhaust. Dont know yet though. Just know I want quiet and reliable. Water cooling is another thought and using a decorative destop water fountain as a passive radiator for the system.

 

[Tinker]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ENiGmA1987 /forum/post/16901968


the whole 4k series run "hot", but a 4850 isnt THAT hot. Yes it does need some good airflow, but the cards are rated for more than 100c. Now the 4890 at 1GHz core runs hot. Nothing compares to that in terms of heat except an overclocked GTX295, maybe the GTX285 overclocked as well.


If you want cooler cards with almost as much power, try to find the 4770s. They use a smaller process node and consume less power and produce less heat. But if Gigabyte makes the card come stock with passive cooling, then it will be able to handle the heat load. Maybe not for 8 hour gaming sessions, but it will be able to handle it for a few hours at least. My one concern though is if these are going in a smaller HTPC size case, it will probably be too hot for that. Desktop size tower would be fine, but HTPC probably not...

I know all 1st gen 4K runs hot (when loaded about same as Nvidia, but at idle, they act just like heaters with ATI stock coolers and the stupid auto fan settings to keep the noise down). He said he is thinking about two for xfire. Both passive cooled cards...thats just waiting for a crash regardless if the cards are rated for 100c or not. The rest of the system will heat up. The heat will be dumped back into the case and regadless of size, the air flow will have to be a lot to remove all that heat out of the case. So the question comes down to why passive, since its going to need other fans to move the air flow and thus noise as a result. Passive in this case gains nada...

.


ADD: just from per exp, I never found a passive card that worked well in a HTPC case for heavy gaming. I actually do not build HTPC Gaming combo rigs due to the vastly diff requirements for each system's intended use. Thats just me...

 

[Lason]

Well the thought in this is two 120mm fans moving air out of a passive cooled system would be quieter than a 80-120mm fan on the cpu, a 60mm fan on each graphics card, 2-4 80mm fans moving air in/out of the system on the typical fan cooled setup.


Im still in the planning phase obviously and I know unless I go to a passive cooled water setup it wont ever be dead silent. But right now, I got a loud box and would like to quiet it down from that. I havent ever messed with passively cooled graphics cards so I dont know how they would do. Also why would two of them cause crashes rather than one? I figure two in CF would split the load up and lower temps at the heat sinks.

 

[MSmith83]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinker /forum/post/16902116


I actually do not build HTPC Gaming combo rigs due to the vastly diff requirements for each system's intended use. Thats just me...

Just use MSI's SuperPipe cards and you will be able to have a powerful gaming rig that can double as a quiet HTPC.

Alternatively, there are effective and quiet aftermarket graphics card coolers out there.


My gaming/HTPC machine now uses Noctua case and CPU fans at low speed in combination with an overclocked MSI GTX 285 SuperPipe stored in a Lian Li HTPC case. I can't hear the machine at all from my listening position (about 10ft. away), even during low passages while playing the most demanding games.

 

[ENiGmA1987]

Crossfire and SLI dont work like that in "halving the load". They both work just as hard as 1 but you can get a higher frame rate cause more cards are working on the image.


2 might cause a crash over 1 because they are both in the case producing heat which means twice the heat is being radiated into the small case than if you just had 1. Which means that a lot more air needs to be moved out away from that little area down by the cards than if just 1 was there. And heat already gets trapped down there easily so you may want to cut a whole and put a fan near the bottom specifically to help untrap that pocket of heat.

 

[Tinker]



Quote:
Originally Posted by MSmith83 /forum/post/16902829


Just use MSI's SuperPipe cards and you will be able to have a powerful gaming rig that can double as a quiet HTPC.

Alternatively, there are effective and quiet aftermarket graphics card coolers out there.


My gaming/HTPC machine now uses Noctua case and CPU fans at low speed in combination with an overclocked MSI GTX 285 SuperPipe stored in a Lian Li HTPC case. I can't hear the machine at all from my listening position (about 10ft. away), even during low passages while playing the most demanding games.

It all depends on what you classify as a gaming rig...

Try OCing an i7-920 to 4ghz (+) and OC'd quad 295's or tri SLI 280's/285's and then tell me about noise signatures. Also really would like to see all that stuffed inside a typical HTPC case.

.


I can't hear any of my HTPCs either from 10ft, but not my gaming rig builds tho.

ADD: also try putting some of those after market passive coolers on and then try SLI and see if they will fit...There are a few active vid card coolers that work better then the Nvidia ref ones but not worth the cost and headache to install. Water cooling is about the only real method of getting quiet effective cooling. But I hate water (fish does you know what in it

), but if its scotch cooled then yeah, count me in...

...burrrrp.....hick




EDIT: sorry way off topic.