DVI to HDMI adapter for an old Radeon 4850

hoorah

Senior member
Dec 8, 2005
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Building (rebuilding) an older computer for my sister for mostly HTPC functions and some low end games like the Sims and other casuals. She had a 7600GT in her old PC and no complaints, she only asked if the new one could have HDMI as it would be easier to connect to the TV.

The GPU I was going to put in her next build is a 4850 which has DVI but no HDMI. Many years ago I had a 4850 of a different brand that had a DVI - HDMI adapter that included audio. I'd like to pick up something like that for her but want to make sure that whatever I get includes the audio stream.

Is there a special ATI/AMD version of the DVI-HDMI adapter that has the correct pinout for those type of cards? Or will any DVI-HDMI adapter work?
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
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I'm digging deep into my memories here, but I want to say that AMD requires a certified adapter that in turn contains a chip identifying it as a validated adapter. In which case you'll want to find one that's labeled for use with ATI/AMD.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,378
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I had a 4850 and my GF had a 4870, different brands. I bought one of these adapters for her and she didn't get sound on her TV, so I bought another and the sound worked for her. I took the one that didn't work for her and it worked with my card. I don't know if this was a fluke but I do remember there being a few different adapters which did make a difference depending on which card you had. The thing that sucks is the adapters looked identical, I mean no model # or anything to know which was which.
 

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
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I could be wrong here, but I don't think an adapter would carry audio at all? Since the actual DVI plug was never designed to carry audio...
 
Oct 16, 1999
10,490
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I can't find the thread, but someone on the HTPC forum at avsforum.com found that the requirement for an ATI HDMI adapter for audio was gone from current drivers and any adapter would work now. The trick is probably going to be getting recent enough drivers on that card, which might still be doable through some .ini trickery.
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
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I could be wrong here, but I don't think an adapter would carry audio at all? Since the actual DVI plug was never designed to carry audio...
DVI can unofficially carry audio if you mess with the specification. Just map HDMI's additional data/audio pins to unused DL-DVI pins (the second set of link pins aren't used since HDMI is SL-DVI). The compatibility trick is all in the mapping.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,229
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I can't find the thread, but someone on the HTPC forum at avsforum.com found that the requirement for an ATI HDMI adapter for audio was gone from current drivers and any adapter would work now. The trick is probably going to be getting recent enough drivers on that card, which might still be doable through some .ini trickery.

It's actually quite the opposite. With Win7 64-bit, you are limited to the "legacy" drivers, and I found that even with an official "ATI" DVI-to-HDMI adapter, if I turned my HDTV / monitor off, or it went into sleep mode, the drivers would detect it as a DVI connection, and I would lose audio.

However, my GA-H81M-DS2V board, with a G3258, would output HDMI w/audio no problems, when using an ATI adapter.
 

naukkis

Senior member
Jun 5, 2002
702
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DVI can unofficially carry audio if you mess with the specification. Just map HDMI's additional data/audio pins to unused DL-DVI pins (the second set of link pins aren't used since HDMI is SL-DVI). The compatibility trick is all in the mapping.

HDMI audio is interleaved into video stream, only trick needed is to output HDMI-spec data from DVI.
 

hoorah

Senior member
Dec 8, 2005
755
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81
It's actually quite the opposite. With Win7 64-bit, you are limited to the "legacy" drivers, and I found that even with an official "ATI" DVI-to-HDMI adapter, if I turned my HDTV / monitor off, or it went into sleep mode, the drivers would detect it as a DVI connection, and I would lose audio.

However, my GA-H81M-DS2V board, with a G3258, would output HDMI w/audio no problems, when using an ATI adapter.

Interesting. My original 4850 (sorry, don't remember the brand, maybe MSI?) I actually kept the DVI/HDMI adapter that came with the card. That card went to a friend of mine whom I built a HTPC/gaming PC for. I installed Win 7 and I'm not even sure that I installed ATI specific drivers (I let MS update install whatever drivers it wanted to). He's made no mention of any audio issues and I know he uses HDMI into the TV. So far everything seems to be working properly, even with sleep mode. Odd.