HTPC GPU that supports 8ch LPCM / TrueHD

[liam1027ncfp]

A few months ago I built an HTPC and, for the most part, it's working very well. I built it on the MSI 785gm e65 motherboard and use both the integrated audio and video. It has a hauppauge 2250 tuner and LG BD drive.

I recently expanded my home theater to include a receiver and 5.1 speakers. The problem i now face is that the 785g, or Radeon HD4200, does not support 8ch LPCM over HDMI, nor does it support TrueHD/DTS HD. I didn't know enough about HD audio when i built this and spent my time optimizing for h.264 video...

At any rate, what I need to know is what's the best bang for the buck way to get bit for bit audio? I don't want to spend a fortune, and I can't take up two slots with the Radeon 5870.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[calvie]

Any of the 5000 series ATI can should be able to bit stream hd audio thru HDMI
Your receiver does decode hd audio right?

 

[liam1027ncfp]

Yes, i have a Denon 890 with Klipsch reference series.

Obvisouly, bitstreaming is paramount, but right now the lack of LPCM via HDMI is also limiting.

Thanks for reply, I'll start researching which 5000 series card may be best.

 

[Aikouka]

I use a Radeon 5450 in my HTPC... well, I used to until I had to scavenge the parts . It worked fairly well and was absolutely silent (a key factor for me).

 

[jtvang125]

To my ears I can't really tell the difference between LPCM downsampled to 48khz 16bit on my old HD4350 and true bitstreaming on my new HD5770. But it does give me that warm feeling seeing DTS-HD MSTR or Dolby TrueHD and the blue light lit up on my AVR.

 

[liam1027ncfp]

To my ears I can't really tell the difference between LPCM downsampled to 48khz 16bit on my old HD4350 and true bitstreaming on my new HD5770. But it does give me that warm feeling seeing DTS-HD MSTR or Dolby TrueHD and the blue light lit up on my AVR.

Truer words may never have been spoken. While it is certainly quite a feat that we are now at a point in technology where we can store uncompressed studio audio on a disc, the fact remains that compressed formats like prologic and DTS did a remarkable job. In fact, most of the "lost" audio was out of audible range anyway.

All that being said, what is of value is true 8 channel support. Those other codecs faked 7.1 but TrueHD and DTS-HD actually produce 8 channels.

Thanks for all the help. I will probably go with a 5450 but may step it up to the 5570 for a few bucks more.

 

[poofyhairguy]

But it does give me that warm feeling seeing DTS-HD MSTR or Dolby TrueHD and the blue light lit up on my AVR.

I too get the warm and fuzzies from playing back my Blu Rays through the "blessed", DRM laden, protected audio path of my corporate masters' choosing.

Oh wait, not I don't. Thank you Slysoft...

The only reason to really shoot for bitstreaming over PCM is if your AV receiver does special effects to the streams upon decoding. Then you are just getting what you paid for...

 

[Fallen Kell]

Get a HD 5570, it should be plenty powerful enough to do video enhancements and GPU offload. It is single slot, can be found in half-height, pretty cheap, and does DTS-MA, TrueHD bitstream passthru over HDMI. Not much more that you could want.

 

[liam1027ncfp]

I ordered the 5570. At least now i get 512 MB shared memory back and i can enable crossfire for whatever that's worth.

Thanks for all of the help again.