HTPC Use: 5770

[LOUISSSSS]

i'm thinking of throwing an XFX 5770 1gb into my HTPC with an AMD Quad Core.
I want to use the HDMI out to have audio and video go through my receiver into my TV. Will this be any good? i have a good HT audio system (onkyo receiver from 2009, Polk 5.1 setup) and Sony XBR5.

If i get this video card, is there a point in using a sound card? If i put in both the sound and video card, will i get the sound card's sound quality through my GPU's HDMI out?

thanks

 

[Dark Shroud]

The 5770 has an audio chip built in and will output full lossless audio over HDMI. It's a very good card.

As to running your Sound card audio out the video card, I think that's technically possible but I have no idea how to do it.

 

[blanketyblank]

No you don't get your sound card mixing through the video card. 5770 does do bitstreaming though so your sound is how it is intended. EAX and the other things added on by the soundcard however you need to use your soundcard's outputs.

 

[yh125d]

If you're not gaming just buy a 5450 or whatever, 5770 way overkill.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

I will be doing some gaming; I also wanted the high sound quality of the xonar dx

 

[SlitheryDee]

I was considering something along these lines as well in an attempt to reduce noise. Anyone know how the fan noise of a typical 5770 would compare to an Asus "Dark Knight" 4870 1gb? If anyone's wondering, the Dark Knight is loud as hell. I mean almost unbelievably so. It's the main gripe I have regarding my HTPC.

 

[Modelworks]

I was considering something along these lines as well in an attempt to reduce noise. Anyone know how the fan noise of a typical 5770 would compare to an Asus "Dark Knight" 4870 1gb?

I use a 5770 for media and gaming and when watching video late at night it is so quiet I cannot even hear it.

The cards activity in the control center reads about 1-4% with cpu around 15% on a q6600 cpu and the gpu temp is about 40C with fan speed at 35% so you can dial it down further if you needed to.
The card I have is the xfx model.
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-Di...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1270056169&sr=8-2

 

[kylebisme]

I also wanted the high sound quality of the xonar dx

You'll get the same or better quality from the Radeon, since when using HDMI everything is kept digital and nothing has to be lost in compression. On the other hand, with your Asus you are limited two channels of lossless digital, and lossy compression or analog conversion for surround.

 

[Informant X]

My integrated Ati HD4200 does the trick just fine.

 

[blanketyblank]

I will be doing some gaming; I also wanted the high sound quality of the xonar dx

For movies lossless is better. For games sound card is arguably better.

 

[InfoTiger]

My integrated Ati HD4200 does the trick just fine.

What game can you play with it?

 

[Jhatfie]

If you want to game with your HTPC, the 5770 is a perfect choice. I upgraded from a 4830 to the 5770 in my HTPC and output over HDMI to my denon receiver and 6.1 setup (Klipcsh RSX-5 surrounds, RSX-4 center and SVS sub). Love the setup and it plays most games very well at 1080p.

 

[kylebisme]

For games sound card is arguably better.

How so?

 

[blanketyblank]

How so?

I assume there's no argument that lossless is better for movies.
For games however soundcards can "enhance" certain sounds to giver certain effects that weren't orignally there. Some may not like this, but EAX and the like can create a pretty good sense of position.

 

[ViRGE]

I assume there's no argument that lossless is better for movies.
For games however soundcards can "enhance" certain sounds to giver certain effects that weren't orignally there. Some may not like this, but EAX and the like can create a pretty good sense of position.

The only sound card with meaningful EAX support is the SoundBlaster X-Fi. At the same time the last game with meaningful EAX support was released years and years ago. Everything now is done in software, so the sound output from the Radeon should be fine.

 

[kylebisme]

Yeah, and EAX doesn't affect the perceived positioning, but rather it is an environmental effect library that manipulates audio, making it sound like you are in a tunnel, stadium, or whatever. I use an X-Fi myself, and enjoy EAX in games where it is well implemented, but the Xonars don't even support the newer EAX stuff anyway, and the old stuff needs Creative's Alchemy to run in surround sound on newer OSes. I've heard the Xonars can fake newer EAX support to get more than 64 voices, which I suppose could be arguably better at least with uncompressed output though analog on the rare occasion the option is available, but that still leaves the Radeon as good if not better in general.

 

[Attic]

I use a 5770 for media and gaming and when watching video late at night it is so quiet I cannot even hear it.

i'll second this. I use it for the same and have the same experience.


Use the sound capabilities of the 5770, if you don't like it switch to your other sound card. It's easy to switch back and forth from Control Panel.

5770 HDMI to your HT Reiever carries your sound and video. Asus Xonar DX use optical to your reciever. Then you can switch back and forth between them. If you want the Xonar for games use that, 5770 bitstreaming for Bluray, use that.

I've got similar setup here where I use two different sound cards for different applications, works fine.

 

[kylebisme]

Asus Xonar DX use optical to your reciever.

Analog will provide better quality than optical for multichannel audio and just as good for stereo, assuming the conversion hardware on both ends and the connections in between are up to snuff. But again, aside from the possibility of getting more than 64 voices in what few games support it, there really isn't any point in using the Xonar instead of the Radeon.

 

[blanketyblank]

It's been a while since I've had my x-fi xtreme gamer, and I agree that it doesn't matter much with games now. This is why I said it's arguable. Still the point is if you want the manipulation like crystallization, etc... that the sound card does it's not really going to work through the graphic cards hdmi.

 

[tweakboy]

Louisse my friend, look at sig and.gl on your endeavors,,"on your choice" Let us know what vendor you got what drivers you should use etc,, etc,,,

You can pick up a ASUS DX1 version for a pretty fair price..

 

[ZimZum]

Analog will provide better quality than optical for multichannel audio and just as good for stereo

No

 

[kylebisme]

You left off my qualifying statement:

...assuming the conversion hardware on both ends and the connections in between are up to snuff.

Put simply, loss from DAC/ADC is unnoticeable if done well, while the loss from compressing to standard DD or DTS is plainly obvious with high quality source audio.

 

[ViRGE]

You left off my qualifying statement:

Put simply, loss from DAC/ADC is unnoticeable if done well, while the loss from compressing to standard DD or DTS is plainly obvious with high quality source audio.

Which is why you're using a connection that is more than S/PDIF. The 5000 series supports lossless multichannel audio over HDMI, including LPCM and Dolby/DTS's lossless formats.

 

[kylebisme]

Which is why you're using a connection that is more than S/PDIF.

Not which digital output from the Xonar, which my comment was in regard to.

The 5000 series supports lossless multichannel audio over HDMI, including LPCM and Dolby/DTS's lossless formats.

Right, which is why I've been recommended using the Radeon rather than the Xonar.

 

[Wag]

There is no EAX support in Vista/Win7 anymore so the point is moot anyways (OpenAL). There are a few HDMI soundcards that are a workaround though:

http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-fi_hometheater_hd.php

The Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD is the only HDMI soundcard with a Creative X-FI chip. It's also the most expensive.

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=SPZfqXDJvadmFPoh

The rest are all by Asus, the cheapest of which is Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim which supports Directsound3D in hardware and something called Directsound3d GX 2.5 which is sort of a wrap around for EAX in Vista/Win7. They also have a PCI-E version of the card.