On Nov 12, 2013 7:32 PM, "Stan Hoeppner" <s...@hardwarefreak.com> wrote: > > On 11/12/2013 5:37 PM, Jon N wrote: > ... > > There is one an area that I'm pretty unsure of. I am planning on > > purchasing a Nvidia video card and disabling the built in Intel video > > support. Since I plan to use this computer as a MythTV > > frontend/backend (as well as for general web browsing/email) getting > > the audio out on the Nvidia card's HDMI port is important to my > > particular setup. So will the audio automatically be switched to the > > Nvidia cards HDMI connector? > > No, it won't be automatic. And frankly I don't believe nVidia supports > HDMI digital audio pass through, nor any discrete GPU card. For > argument's sake, let's say it does. Then you run into the problem that > the onboard audio chip can't pass digital audio through PCIe to the > nVidia HDMI port. None of them are designed to do this, that I'm aware of.
Wow, I'm glad I asked that question :-). If I understand this correctly it it doesn't matter if there is any video hardware on the mainboard, in the processor, or none at all, you still can't get sound from a audio chipset on the mainboard to the video card's HDMI connector anyway. > If I were you I'd get a mainboard with with HDMI out and use the CPU's > GPU. Mobos that have onboard HDMI have their audio chips wired to the > HDMI port, the chips support PCM/AC3 digital output, and selecting the > HDMI output for digital audio is pretty straightforward. I think pretty much all the Mobos have HDMI in them, especially since they support a processor line that all has built in video. I was planning on Nvidia simply because a) I use it now and b) I am under the impression that they have better overall support (i.e.: just work better). But I may be underestimating how well the built in Intel video solution works. And it would same me money by not purchasing a new board, use less electricity (love that), and maybe even make the system quieter (no fan on a separate video card). I will check over at the MythTV mailing list about it. > The Intel GPU should be plenty powerful enough for HD1080 output. If > you decide it's not, and want to add a discrete card, you'll need a mobo > with coaxial digital SPDIF output, or Toslink optical digital output, > and a TV or A/V receiver that is cable of using an HDMI input for video > while using coax or Toslink for audio. Nearly all modern A/V receivers > support this. WRT LCD/Plasma TVs I have no idea how many support this. I currently use my DVI out to HDMI in on my receiver, and s/pdif for the audio, it works fine. I thought it would be nice to have it all in one. I think the HDMI supports higher bandwidth for the audio, but I'm not sure anything I'm playing would need it anyway. Thanks, Jon
