[veritas789]

Iam using this hardware with windows

AMD Athlon 64x2 5000+ 2.6
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB)
ASUS Xonar Essence STX Logitech Z5500
MSI K9AGM2-FIH
320GB and 640GB WD sata
XFX Alpha Dog 8800GT
Seasonic 500 Watt

Im hooking my hdmi into my receiver and have video I have no audio and realize that I will have to hook my audio to the video card somehow. How should I do this links would be appreciated. Should I link audio via my xonar audio card? Just looking for advice and info on my best bet with these items?

Thanks

If I spidf to the video card should i link it from the xonar or just use the mobo sound?

thanks again

[PatrickVogeli]

You won't get sound over HDMI with that card, as it only has DVI ports, which are video only. You will have to use optical, spdiff or analog outputs, but it will be run indepently of the card.

[veritas789]

You won't get sound over HDMI with that card, as it only has DVI ports, which are video only. You will have to use optical, spdiff or analog outputs, but it will be run indepently of the card.

I thought I could just do spdif out to the video card?

[PatrickVogeli]

oh, this is not the card I saw, Sorry. Ok then, it seems like you can connect spdif to the card, and in this case I think it won't matter if the xonnar or the on-board, as it is digital. You can try and compare.

Another thing is that you will have to use a special adapter dvi-hdmi which XFX shoild have provided, as I said DVI doesn't carry audio, and thise cards use the unused DVI pins to route spdif to the hdmi.

However, Inwould recommend investing a bit in a new video card. A gt610 should fine, will have hdmi with audio and will cost about $50 or less

[veritas789]

oh, this is not the card I saw, Sorry. Ok then, it seems like you can connect spdif to the card, and in this case I think it won't matter if the xonnar or the on-board, as it is digital. You can try and compare.

Another thing is that you will have to use a special adapter dvi-hdmi which XFX shoild have provided, as I said DVI doesn't carry audio, and thise cards use the unused DVI pins to route spdif to the hdmi.

However, Inwould recommend investing a bit in a new video card. A gt610 should fine, will have hdmi with audio and will cost about $50 or less

Excellent I have no problem with making the investment. I just find it a new challenge because of htpc setups using so much less compared to a gaming build that I wanted to go through my old stuff first.

Should I just replace the video card? Is the rest of the hardware I listed adequate/optimal?

Again I appreciate the feedback.

I would give rep but for your advice and taking the time to reply but I dont think I have that ability yet!

[PatrickVogeli]

I'd get the nvidia 610, 520 or even the 430. Look if a passive card fits inside your computer. I would also take the xonar card out, as you won't use it.

The rest of the HW looks fine.

[noggin]

Another thing is that you will have to use a special adapter dvi-hdmi which XFX shoild have provided, as I said DVI doesn't carry audio, and thise cards use the unused DVI pins to route spdif to the hdmi.

That's not really how audio works on HDMI (and DVI to HDMI adaptors)

Audio isn't carried on separate, or unused, pins, it is carried on the same pins as the video signal, but is packeted up and sent during the blanking periods (the bit of the video signal that doesn't carry picture information). There are no extra pins needed for audio, and audio will usually survive a DVI cable with HDMI adaptors at either end. There is nothing to stop a DVI connector carrying audio compatible with HDMI, nor it being carried over a DVI cable AIUI.

Audio shouldn't be present on a purely-DVI signal, but graphics cards manufacturers wanted to allow DVI outputs to be used to feed HDMI displays with audio (as it made them easier to sell for multiple configs before HDMI became popular). So they created custom DVI->HDMI adaptor dongles, that signal back to the graphics card when connected, that they are converting DVI to HDMI, and this in turn tells the graphics card it can output HDMI-style audio in blanking (over the same pins as the video signal). I think the dongles are manufacturer specific and non-standard. Which is annoying.

[veritas789]

Hows this card?

Hows this case?

hows this drive?

Looks like I will need a mini to full hdmi cord. If this card works I may be looking for a case to house it and the rest of my hardware in stead of the tech station its currently on. That and a Blu ray drive..