Nvidia DVI -> HDMI Adapter... does it exist?

Spike

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2001
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If such an adapter exists I need one to use on my 9600GSO so I can do blu-ray/hd dvd playback on my LCD TV. The TV has HDMI and VGA in but no DVI. Nvidia cames you can do HDMI from the 9600 via an adapter but I could not find a place to buy it. If this does not exist I'll have to get a 4670 or 4830 instead which work but since the 9600gso was so cheap I would like to keep that.

Thanks!
 

Spike

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2001
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Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Many

oh... I was unaware those worked. I assumed it was like ATI and had to be a specific model to work... I kept looking for an nvidia branded adapter and could never find one.

Actually, looking more there are HIS and powercolor adapters there, I thought due to the audio pass-through on the ATI cards those won't work with an nvidia card, where the other forums wrong?

EDIT

Would this one work?
 

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
6,271
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Monoprice.com has a great selection, not to mention they have insane gauge cables at very low prices.

An hdmi cable is an hdmi cable. Some are poorly made, but brand name alone is not a good indicator of cable quality, nor is the price (99% of the time)
 

shangshang

Senior member
May 17, 2008
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Do these DVI-to-HDMI cables also carry audio? My Ati 4850 has some "high definition audio device" so I'm wonder if the DVI-to-HDMI cable also carry audio.

Anyway, I found this deal posted on Slickdeals, it's 8.99 for an 6' HDMI-HDMI cable ANd an 6' DVI-HDMI cable (that's 2 cables total). Use coupon code SW10POFF for 10% off. Free shipping. That's cheap!

meritline.com/6-feet-hdmi-male-to-male-cable-with-hdmi-to-dvi-cable.html
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
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Originally posted by: shangshang
Do these DVI-to-HDMI cables also carry audio? My Ati 4850 has some "high definition audio device" so I'm wonder if the DVI-to-HDMI cable also carry audio.

Anyway, I found this deal posted on Slickdeals, it's 8.99 for an 6' HDMI-HDMI cable ANd an 6' DVI-HDMI cable (that's 2 cables total). Use coupon code SW10POFF for 10% off. Free shipping. That's cheap!

meritline.com/6-feet-hdmi-male-to-male-cable-with-hdmi-to-dvi-cable.html
Unfortunately you need special adapters if you want audio too. Since audio isn't part of the DVI spec, they fiddle with the connector to make it happen, and hence you need a non-standard adapter.
 

shangshang

Senior member
May 17, 2008
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Virge,
where can one get this non-standard adapter? And don't tell me it's $100 for this adapter either! Hmmm Visiontek does include a DVI-HDMI adapter in the retail box. You think this adapter is the "special" one?? And just what is the point of a video card having a high def video device if it can't easily pass the audio over DVI? Why doesn't the video card maker put an HDMI port on it to take advantage of the hi-def audio feature!!! Must be an after thought for them then!
 

ZimZum

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2001
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Originally posted by: shangshang
Virge,
where can one get this non-standard adapter? And don't tell me it's $100 for this adapter either! Hmmm Visiontek does include a DVI-HDMI adapter in the retail box. You think this adapter is the "special" one?? And just what is the point of a video card having a high def video device if it can't easily pass the audio over DVI? Why doesn't the video card maker put an HDMI port on it to take advantage of the hi-def audio feature!!! Must be an after thought for them then!

There are video cards with HDMI outputs, they just dont come standard.

As for audio just as virge said, DVI doesnt carry an audio signal so an HDMI adapter cant create what isnt there.
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
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Originally posted by: shangshang
Virge,
where can one get this non-standard adapter? And don't tell me it's $100 for this adapter either! Hmmm Visiontek does include a DVI-HDMI adapter in the retail box. You think this adapter is the "special" one?? And just what is the point of a video card having a high def video device if it can't easily pass the audio over DVI? Why doesn't the video card maker put an HDMI port on it to take advantage of the hi-def audio feature!!! Must be an after thought for them then!
It all depends on what card you have and whether it supports audio out. If it's something like the new 4xxx cards that do, then it should come with the appropriate adapter if it doesn't already have a HDMI port built-in.
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
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ATI has a special DVI to HDMI adapter for their HD4xxx series, it uses a special custom adapter they made to put audio on the DVI port for the HDMI.
With nvidia, just run two cables, HDMI for video, and a seperate one from your sound card for audio.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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Originally posted by: taltamir
ATI has a special DVI to HDMI adapter for their HD4xxx series, it uses a special custom adapter they made to put audio on the DVI port for the HDMI.
With nvidia, just run two cables, HDMI for video, and a seperate one from your sound card for audio.

That begs the question - some NV video cards also pass digital audio, because they have an SPDIF pass-through connector on the board. So they must also require special DVI-HDMI adaptors. So the next question is, did NV use the same pins that ATI did for their special adaptors, or do you need the special "Nvidia" DVI-HDMI adaptor?
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
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I think you need special nvidia adapter. But I am not 100% certain.
btw, which nvidia cards do that?
 

Spike

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2001
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So for the 9600GSO any DVI -> HDMI adapter will work.
For ATI with onboard audio you need special adapter (like the one that came with my 4870) but these won't work on other, non ati w/sound dvi ports.

Is that correct?

EDIT*
Ordered that meritline DVI - HDMI cable and HDMI cable 2 pack, thanks shangshang for the link!
 

kchilaka

Junior Member
Oct 30, 2008
2
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0
How is Nvidia able to send audio through a DVI port? Its obvious that the DVI to HDMI adapter they are using is propreitary. A standard DVI to HDMI adapter cannot carry audio... For transferring video, a DVI to HDMI adapter does not need the 4 pins that surround the -- on one side of the adapter.. Perhaps Nvidia is using these pins for the audio...
I need to get this Nvidia specific adapter.. Where can I possibly find one of these !!
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
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Originally posted by: kchilaka
I need to get this Nvidia specific adapter.. Where can I possibly find one of these !!

kchilaka, welcome to the forums.

NVIDIA branded HDMI adaptor**

This is a "kit" that consists of an SPDIF pass-through cable, the NVIDIA branded DVI-to-HDMI adaptor and an HDMI cable. It says the kit is for the 9600 GT, but will actually work with any NVIDIA 9-series card (and even GTX 2xx, IIRC) as long as the card has the SPDIF input (socketed), your motherboard has SPDIF output pins and of course everything is working properly.

For Spike, I'm a bit concerned because the 9600 GSO is really an 8800 GS, so it may or may not have the SPDIF passthrough.

It should be noted that HDMI is just a superset of single-link DVI-D, meaning any DVI-to-HDMI adaptor or cable should work for video. The "problem" is getting audio through it.

**Disclaimer: I work for BFG. I did try finding out if XFX or EVGA sold these directly, but it appears they do not.
 

IcePickFreak

Platinum Member
Jul 12, 2007
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Just to toss in my .02¢. I use one of the monoprice DVI -> HDMI cables (adapter with hardwired cable attached). I run a G92 8800GTS and have had 0 issues. At the time (around March of this year) I looked into passing audio as well but came to the conclusion this was not possible with my card, although I was never 100% certain as I couldn't find and hard data to say one way or another. I just finally broke down and ran a separate cable out from my x-fi card to my receiver and just sort of candy-cane wrapped it around the HDMI -> DVI cable so it's pretty much a single cable.
That said though, everything has been working great, my TV even switches to 24hz correctly when viewing Hi-Def/BluRay stuff streamed from my computer.
 

Spike

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2001
6,770
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Originally posted by: IcePickFreak
Just to toss in my .02¢. I use one of the monoprice DVI -> HDMI cables (adapter with hardwired cable attached). I run a G92 8800GTS and have had 0 issues. At the time (around March of this year) I looked into passing audio as well but came to the conclusion this was not possible with my card, although I was never 100% certain as I couldn't find and hard data to say one way or another. I just finally broke down and ran a separate cable out from my x-fi card to my receiver and just sort of candy-cane wrapped it around the HDMI -> DVI cable so it's pretty much a single cable.
That said though, everything has been working great, my TV even switches to 24hz correctly when viewing Hi-Def/BluRay stuff streamed from my computer.

Someone brought this back to life, odd. Anyway, I ended up also getting one of those DVI -> HDMI cable adapters and it works great. I also decided that sound across the HDMI was no big deal since I don't have anything better than a 2.1 to hook it to so the sound card works just fine.
 

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
3,268
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With Geforce video cards that have the SPDIF passthrough, you do not need a special DVI->HDMI adapter to get audio to work. Using an 8600GT with the SPDIF pass-through, I was able to get both audio and video over a standard DVI->HDMI cable that I bought from monoprice.