Fanless, HDMI 8600 ?

[benh]

I'm looking at building an HTPC with above average gaming performance.

From a performance standpoint I feel that I want at least 8600 performance (preferably GTS). From a cooling standpoint, I'm looking at passive cooling due to noise considerations in an HTPC.

My search has led me to two options:
Gigabyte : GV-NX86S256H
ASUS: EN8600GTS

Of the two, I lean towards the Gigabyte, of course it is a large card which will take up 2+ slots.

However, neither of these cards have HDMI output, which bothers me a little in terms of moving forward. My current projector only supports DVI, and my receiver doesn't even support that. However I will be purchasing a new 1080 hdtv, and plan to go HDMI there.

Does anyone know of any current, or expected (soon) releases of passively cooled HDMI cards that rival the performance of the 8600?

thanks!

 

[doggyfromplanetwoof]

Hm indeed, I wanted what you wanted and got what I wanted in this:

http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16814127298

Comes with DVi to HDMI converter, works great! I use it to my 32inch to play games/watch movies/surf web, awesome imo. It also only takes up one slot, since most PCIe slots if the first one.

I have it in a NSK 2400 with a matx MoBo. What I like most about it has TRUE dual DVI.

Review:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/.../07/26/MSI-RX2600XT/p1

 

[undeclared]

I suggest you just get an ATI HD 2400 if you ONLY want the HDMI + 1080p features

it comes standard with an HDMI connector I believe, and secondly does 1080p decoding very well

 

[benh]

Originally posted by: doggyfromplanetwoof
Hm indeed, I wanted what you wanted and got what I wanted in this:

http://www.newegg.com/product/...p?item=N82E16814127298

Comes with DVi to HDMI converter, works great! I use it to my 32inch to play games/watch movies/surf web, awesome imo. It also only takes up one slot, since most PCIe slots if the first one.

Doggy,

Is converting a DVI signal to HDMI with an adapter really TRUE hdmi?
If that's the case couldn't you buy an adapter for any DVI source to make it HDMI?

I don't see how putting an HDMI adapter on a DVI source is going to add features like audio and auto calibration. It would seem you are just modifying the physical connection. ?

 

[benh]

Originally posted by: xtwells
I suggest you just get an ATI HD 2400 if you ONLY want the HDMI + 1080p features

it comes standard with an HDMI connector I believe, and secondly does 1080p decoding very well

XTwells,

What do you mean by ONL?Y wanting the HDMI features?

Being able to output to a large display via HDMI isn't really good if the graphics quality is sub-par because of card performance.

It doesn't seem like the ATI HD 2400 is anywhere near as good a card as an 8600. Is it?

 

[doggyfromplanetwoof]

Only the 2900's have audio chips on them for passive audio decoding. Your best bet is a good reciever for that, computer audio aint up to the snuff.

Or you could get this for your PC audio needs
http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-fi_prelude.php

 

[hans007]

true hdmi can carry audio also.


some cards have a plug so you can put your spdif out on them i think. i have an 8400gs that has hdmi and it seems to have a spot for a audio input which i'd assume would go out of the hdmi.