so what's the story with video cards with HDMI? do i get sound?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

i'd like to get sound and video to home theater via HDMI.

here's my scenario:

theoretically, it will start at the (yet to be determined) video card's HDMI out, to my receiver, which will process the sound and send it to the speakers.
the receiver will then pass the video signal to my TV, also HDMI.

during the times i'm not using my HT, sound will go from my sound card (SB X-Fi) to my logitech speakers via analog or toslink.
video will go from the same video card's DVI to my dell LCD.

gaming is important as well, so i'm looking for GTX460 or above level performance.

what video card is best for me?

 

[Rifter]

as far as i know and im not too up to date on the issue the ATI 4000 series will output the audio over hdmi with no other connections as they have a sound chip built in, Nvidia you need Spdif output from mobo/soundcard to the graphics card as they do not have a sound chip built in.

And the ati 5000 series wil do bit perfect bit streaming so if thats important to you then that would be the way to go.

Cant comment on the new fermi's

 

[Martimus]

All ATI video cards with HDMI since the 4000 series (and maybe 3000 series, I can't remember) have onboard audio.

I do not believe that nVidia cards have on-board audio.

 

[Wag]

Cant comment on the new fermi's

The GTX 460 can output sound over HDMI including bitstreamed audio, just like ATI's 5xxx series of cards (no SPDIF necessary). Either of those would be fine.

When you want to change audio source it's easy as going into Playback Devices, then switching from the videocard to the Audigy (and vice-versa). I have two audio cards and do it all the time.

 

[dc4517]

I did a search and this thread was about the closest to my question. I have an ASRock H55M Pro motherboard that has a SPDIF header. I also have a Sapphire 6850 GPU. I looked all over the GPU and read through the manual, but there doesn't seem to be a spot where I plug the SPDIF cable onto the GPU.

Based on this thread, it seems that I don't need to. Is that correct?

 

[tviceman]

All ATI video cards with HDMI since the 4000 series (and maybe 3000 series, I can't remember) have onboard audio.

I do not believe that nVidia cards have on-board audio.

My Nvidia gtx465 outputs audio via hdmi.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

I did a search and this thread was about the closest to my question. I have an ASRock H55M Pro motherboard that has a SPDIF header. I also have a Sapphire 6850 GPU. I looked all over the GPU and read through the manual, but there doesn't seem to be a spot where I plug the SPDIF cable onto the GPU.

Based on this thread, it seems that I don't need to. Is that correct?

You are correct. You don't need the SPIDF. The 6850 has sound logic built into it. Just install the latest ATI drivers, and then go to the device manager and make sure ATI HDMI Audio is enabled. Once an HDMI device is connected it should kick in automatically, but go to the Sound properties (control panel) to verify.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

My Nvidia gtx465 outputs audio via hdmi.

As do all HD video cards, even 2000 and 3000 series.

And Geforce 8000 and newer can do it so long as there is an SPDIF connector on the video card, and this will vary from one model to another.

And the 400 and 300 cards can do it, too, along with low end 200 cards (GT 240, 210).

Not all of these will bitstream 8-channel, but they will pass audio over HDMI.

 

[Throckmorton]

So does this mean soundcards are obsolete?

 

[dc4517]

You are correct. You don't need the SPIDF. The 6850 has sound logic built into it. Just install the latest ATI drivers, and then go to the device manager and make sure ATI HDMI Audio is enabled. Once an HDMI device is connected it should kick in automatically, but go to the Sound properties (control panel) to verify.

Cool, thanks for the confirmation.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Nvidia GTX 5xx series as well as the GTX 460 support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.

 

[tweakboy]

Its a cheap sound chip on that video card. Why would you use that in first place. If it gives a better picture then ya, but I doubt that.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Its a cheap sound chip on that video card. Why would you use that in first place. If it gives a better picture then ya, but I doubt that.

It's digital data, cheap sound chips are fine for that.

The expensive cards have fancier digital-to-analog conversion, but here that will be handled by the receiver not the chip / card.

 

[taltamir]

So does this mean soundcards are obsolete?

sound-cards have been obsolete for about a decade, almost everyone is using audio processors integrated into the mobo... That that don't usually should have spent their money on speakers (rule of thumb, spend at least twice as much on speakers than you do on sound processing).

the ability to bitstream over HDMI just means using 1 cable (HDMI) instead of 2 cables (DVI/HDMI + audio cable). And is only possible if you are outputting to a monitor with integrated speakers. Since most people have separate speakers, they still need two cables. So having an audio only output PORT is not in any way obsolete.

The HDMI thing is more for use with TVs (aka, if you build a media center PC and plug it in to your TV)

 

[sxr7171]

sound-cards have been obsolete for about a decade, almost everyone is using audio processors integrated into the mobo... That that don't usually should have spent their money on speakers (rule of thumb, spend at least twice as much on speakers than you do on sound processing).

the ability to bitstream over HDMI just means using 1 cable (HDMI) instead of 2 cables (DVI/HDMI + audio cable). And is only possible if you are outputting to a monitor with integrated speakers. Since most people have separate speakers, they still need two cables. So having an audio only output PORT is not in any way obsolete.

The HDMI thing is more for use with TVs (aka, if you build a media center PC and plug it in to your TV)

Yeah. What difference does it make if the output is digital? Even for analog I would much rather use an external USB or F/W. Too much RF inside a computer. So glad Creative is getting what it deserved years ago.

 

[Wag]

Nvidia GTX 5xx series as well as the GTX 460 support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.

Incorrect. The GTX 570/580 do not bitstream, and therefore do not support TrueHD and DTS-HD. DD, DTS and PCM only.

 

[Rhezuss]

On my former HD 5770 it was working flawlessly as with my current HD 6850.

Plug and enjoy, simple as that! I'm really pleased with the HD 6850.

If you want something good for video, gaming, etc get a HD 6850/6870 (that's my humble opinion here).

 

[sandorski]

Yeah. What difference does it make if the output is digital? Even for analog I would much rather use an external USB or F/W. Too much RF inside a computer. So glad Creative is getting what it deserved years ago.

RF should have no affect on Digital Audio.

 

[taltamir]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2622/1

for the curious... no bitstreaming means a max of 5.1 surround, no 7.1 surround sound available without bitstreaming. and it means non lossless audio (which honestly, you probably can't hear the difference)

bitstreaming is not available in anything from nvidia, including the GTX5xx series.
bitstreaming is available in AMD's radeon5xxx series and above.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Incorrect. The GTX 570/580 do not bitstream, and therefore do not support TrueHD and DTS-HD. DD, DTS and PCM only.

My mistake.

 

[dc4517]

the ability to bitstream over HDMI just means using 1 cable (HDMI) instead of 2 cables (DVI/HDMI + audio cable). And is only possible if you are outputting to a monitor with integrated speakers. Since most people have separate speakers, they still need two cables. So having an audio only output PORT is not in any way obsolete.

The HDMI thing is more for use with TVs (aka, if you build a media center PC and plug it in to your TV)

For clarification, sending video and audio is only possible over HDMI, but not DVI, correct? I probably should just try it, but right now, my 6850 is connected to my Asus VH242 via DVI and a separate audio cable from my motherboard I/O panel.

 

[taltamir]

For clarification, sending video and audio is only possible over HDMI, but not DVI, correct? I probably should just try it, but right now, my 6850 is connected to my Asus VH242 via DVI and a separate audio cable from my motherboard I/O panel.

yes, that is correct.
your 6850 supports bitstreaming.
your 6850 could send both audio and video to your Asus VH242 via a single HDMI cable.

 

[dc4517]

yes, that is correct.
your 6850 supports bitstreaming.
your 6850 could send both audio and video to your Asus VH242 via a single HDMI cable.

Thanks for the confirmation. Now I guess it's a matter of whether I want nicer cable management behind my monitor, or keep it as is. Most likely the latter since it's already set up.

 

[Throckmorton]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2622/1

for the curious... no bitstreaming means a max of 5.1 surround, no 7.1 surround sound available without bitstreaming. and it means non lossless audio (which honestly, you probably can't hear the difference)

bitstreaming is not available in anything from nvidia, including the GTX5xx series.
bitstreaming is available in AMD's radeon5xxx series and above.

NOO!! What about the 4xx series??

 

[taltamir]

NOO!! What about the 4xx series??

the nvidia 4xx or the AMD 4xxx? anyways, neither supports bit-streaming according to anandtech articles I just looked at. The AMD HD4xxx series supports HDMI outputting of audio, but not bitstreaming.