nVidia GT-520 VS GT-610 Audio Decoding
#1
Looking for a bit of clarification, perhaps an experienced users' observations.

First, I would like to clarify that I understand what my system is doing : Am currently running SlaXBMC 64bits v14.1, XBMC 13.2, an nVidia GT-520 for video playback, and my audio is fed through the HDMI cable to the TV. The XBMC settings are for 2.0 sound, output is PulseAudio default which was selected as GF119 HDMI DIGITAL STEREO (HDMI). The video card lacks any audio decoding capability, the motherboard has Realtek ALC662 audio integrated, but I assume that my CPU is decoding AC3 5.1 streams down to PCM stereo and feeding that stream over the HDMI port to the TV. I just wanted to make sure that the audio wasn't being, say, offloaded to the Realtek chipset then fed back through the video card, or that the AC3 stream was being dumped through HDMI, letting the TV downmix it.

Secondly, researching PCI cards today, I found a couple of GT-610s still being manufactured, and that the nVidia GT-610 chipsets have audio decoders built in. According to the nVidia website, they are capable of decoding DTS-HD and True-HD audio streams.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-...0/features

I am wondering if anyone (using a GT-610) knows what kind of limitations are imposed on this audio decoder? For instance, I have 2.0 speaker setup and that won't change any time soon; are these decoders capable of downmixing to stereo before sending the signal to the TV? Also, do the AC3 feeds have to be 64 bits wide at 48KHz, or can that vary. Additionally wondering if they are capable of decoding MP3 and AAC (other?) streams, or if that would have to be done by the CPU.

I got on to these cards as a method to re-purpose older computers. It would seem the nVidia GT610-based cards are capable of doing all the heavy lifting, when it comes to playing A/V, the CPU *should* do nothing more than manage the data flow to the card. Guess I'm kinda looking for confirmation of that assumption, before putting any coin & effort into it.
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nVidia GT-520 VS GT-610 Audio Decoding0