Be carefull when choosing a graphics card for your HTPC
I say that because dependant on your needs you may take the wrong path when choosing a graphics card for your HTPC and miss out on a golden oportunity of having 2 audio outputs at once, this can be a massive bonus if you use a TV and its audio for your Media centre front end but occasionaly want to have audio from your surround amp when the mood takes you without having to switch default audio devices in MCE/VMCE or W7MC
How is it done ! , well there are a couple of things you need to check and 1 thing you need to make, this may be a bit off putting but once done makes life very comfortable and easy
Firstly check to see if you have a S/pdif “out” pin header on your motherboard as this is essential, either check your mobo manual or take a good look at your mobo with a magnify glass and look for a 2 pin header with s/pdif writen alongside it, if the answer is yes i have this move down to the next line, if not stop here coz you cant do it
Now check to see if you have a s/pdif 2 pin header on your graphics card, this will be a s/pdif input, if yes continue to the next line, if no stop here coz you cant do it
right now we have to make something , a fly lead, we need to connect the mobo s/pdif output to the graphics card s/pdif input but not only that we also need to make the fly lead a Y type fly lead, one end will be a 2 pin header destined for the graphics card the other end a female RCA connector which we can then connect with the aid of a coaxial lead to our surround sound amp, i have looked all over the internet for a lead ready made but i never found one , this type of lead would be very welcome but as far as i no one dosent exist pre made ( go figure ) so you have to make one, i wont post any pictures of mine because … well its not pretty , it works perfect but just isnt good to look at
Ok if you have done all of the above and connected your mobo to your graphics card and a coaxial lead to your female RCA connector just change your default audio device to HDMI and Tada … audio from your HDMI cable and simultanious audio to your surround sound amp without having to loose or change either one
Which graphics cards have s/pdif input then, may be your next question if you havent fallen asleep reading this
well it seems that a large selection GEforce cards have the s/pdif 2pin header which is required but be carefull as a graphics card that has “on board” sound processing will not be suitable for dual s/pdif useage this is because a graphics card with “on board” sound processing has its own drivers and these have to be selected from the default audio device panel and not what we want to do , we want simultanious s/pdif out selected by choosing one option “HDMI audio”
Its odd to me that this hasent been spoken about elsewhere in the HTPC world as dual s/pdif output is a must have in most Home entertainment circumstances, i mean seriously who enjoys changing inputs constantly and loosing the Tv audio if its switched to motherboard ” HDMI Audio” and vice versa, not me thats for sure
a good resource and a much beter way of explaining all this is to be found here which i discovered last night , the writer is a lot more elequant than me
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/600/
Good luck with your duel S/pdif output, it may seem a bit convoluted but once done makes life so much better
5 thoughts on “Be carefull when choosing a graphics card for your HTPC”
I don’t quite understand the concept.
In my set-up I have audio (SPDIF) going directly to the AVR and the video (DVI-HDMI) cable to the TV. If I just want to watch TV (when HTPC is off) I have audio coax going from TV back to AVR. So I always have sound streaming through the AVR.
Why would I need dual sound output from HTPC? What am I missing here?
AVR ?? audio visual reciever !! just getting terminology understood Rus
We all have different ways of connecting and watching Tv and different ways of connecting our HTPC`s
here in the Uk if your not in the Uk, and sorry if you are as this will sound daft and odvious , but if your not we watch Tv via Sky Tv ( satellite ) or cable or freeview ( sat or OTA ) AV runs from the sat/cable reciever to the Tv usually via Scart and optional 5.1 is routed via Optical from the sat/cable reciever to a dedicated surround amp or as you say AVR
so thats our normal connectivity
if however we need to connect our HTPC`s to our Tv`s and amps we all need the usual DVI-HDMI for Tv connection which carrys sound and audio
and we need audio output ( s/pdif ) from HTPC into our surround amps ( AVR ) most people then have to switch the default audio device within Vista / windows7 from HDMI 1 (s/pdif ) to HDMI 2 ( video card audio output ) a pain that mutes either audio not selected
i say most because Dr Flick would encourage a HDMI splitter to split the audio / video and then route to where necesary but that can be costly
so back to the way i have done it , i have taken one single audio source from the HTPC , which is s/pdif from the mobo , split it 2 ways, lets pretend its a Y shape with end A left hand top part of the Y i have connected to s/pdif input on my video card and end B right hand part of the Y to a digital coax cable that runs to my amp ( AVR )
set my default audio device to HDMI as i only have one HDMI option this will be my s/pdif out on the mobo and the job is done
the sound from my HTPC is routed from the mobo s/pdif to both Vid card s/pdif in and digital coax simultaniously
typing it is alot harder than actually doing it tbh
if you have a vid card that has onboard audio processing it needs its own drivers , seen when selecting which default audio device to use , HDMI 1 ( vid card audio ) and HDMI 2 ( s/pdif ) in this circumstance if you wanted to listen and watch a 5.1 film from the HTPC you would have to select HDMI 2 (S/pdif) which mutes HDMI 1 ( vid card audio )
this can be a real pain and has a zero wife acceptance value , the last thing a NON media centre user wants to do or see is you faffing around trying to select the correct audio device , it dosent happen when watching a DVD from a DVD player so why should it happen with an expensive purpose built state of the art computer
Now, if, instead of using a vid card that has onboard sound processing you use one that has pass through only, it then means it needs NO drivers and can be connected as i have detailed above so solving the issue of default audio device switching
and also Rus not everyone has the option of sending digital optical/ coaxial from the Tv back to the amp, i think i am right in saying most Tv outputs are simply L/R
but i now understand after re-reading how yours is done what you are saying
yours is
HTPC ( HDMI ) —> TV ( s/pdif ) —-> AVR
mine is
HTPC ( HDMI ) —-> TV + simultanious
HTPC ( S/pdif ) —->AVR
maybe then its a good point to say , always check your Tv has s/pdif out coz it will save Gadge typing his fingers off …ahahahhahaha
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I don’t quite understand the concept.
In my set-up I have audio (SPDIF) going directly to the AVR and the video (DVI-HDMI) cable to the TV. If I just want to watch TV (when HTPC is off) I have audio coax going from TV back to AVR. So I always have sound streaming through the AVR.
Why would I need dual sound output from HTPC? What am I missing here?
AVR ?? audio visual reciever !! just getting terminology understood Rus
We all have different ways of connecting and watching Tv and different ways of connecting our HTPC`s
here in the Uk if your not in the Uk, and sorry if you are as this will sound daft and odvious , but if your not we watch Tv via Sky Tv ( satellite ) or cable or freeview ( sat or OTA ) AV runs from the sat/cable reciever to the Tv usually via Scart and optional 5.1 is routed via Optical from the sat/cable reciever to a dedicated surround amp or as you say AVR
so thats our normal connectivity
if however we need to connect our HTPC`s to our Tv`s and amps we all need the usual DVI-HDMI for Tv connection which carrys sound and audio
and we need audio output ( s/pdif ) from HTPC into our surround amps ( AVR ) most people then have to switch the default audio device within Vista / windows7 from HDMI 1 (s/pdif ) to HDMI 2 ( video card audio output ) a pain that mutes either audio not selected
i say most because Dr Flick would encourage a HDMI splitter to split the audio / video and then route to where necesary but that can be costly
so back to the way i have done it , i have taken one single audio source from the HTPC , which is s/pdif from the mobo , split it 2 ways, lets pretend its a Y shape with end A left hand top part of the Y i have connected to s/pdif input on my video card and end B right hand part of the Y to a digital coax cable that runs to my amp ( AVR )
set my default audio device to HDMI as i only have one HDMI option this will be my s/pdif out on the mobo and the job is done
the sound from my HTPC is routed from the mobo s/pdif to both Vid card s/pdif in and digital coax simultaniously
typing it is alot harder than actually doing it tbh
if you have a vid card that has onboard audio processing it needs its own drivers , seen when selecting which default audio device to use , HDMI 1 ( vid card audio ) and HDMI 2 ( s/pdif ) in this circumstance if you wanted to listen and watch a 5.1 film from the HTPC you would have to select HDMI 2 (S/pdif) which mutes HDMI 1 ( vid card audio )
this can be a real pain and has a zero wife acceptance value , the last thing a NON media centre user wants to do or see is you faffing around trying to select the correct audio device , it dosent happen when watching a DVD from a DVD player so why should it happen with an expensive purpose built state of the art computer
Now, if, instead of using a vid card that has onboard sound processing you use one that has pass through only, it then means it needs NO drivers and can be connected as i have detailed above so solving the issue of default audio device switching
and also Rus not everyone has the option of sending digital optical/ coaxial from the Tv back to the amp, i think i am right in saying most Tv outputs are simply L/R
but i now understand after re-reading how yours is done what you are saying
yours is
HTPC ( HDMI ) —> TV ( s/pdif ) —-> AVR
mine is
HTPC ( HDMI ) —-> TV + simultanious
HTPC ( S/pdif ) —->AVR
maybe then its a good point to say , always check your Tv has s/pdif out coz it will save Gadge typing his fingers off …ahahahhahaha
Gadget, sorry for your fingers!
And you got the terminology right, AVR = audio/video receiver.
Just for the record my config is as follows:
Video: Cable box –> HTPC –>TV
Audio: Cable box –> HTPC –> AVR (5.1)
This allows me to record TV shows from the Cable box to HTPC. 7MC controlls Cable Box through IR (pretty standard config)
When HTPC is off my config is as follows:
Video: TV (QAM+ATSC)
Audio: TV –> AVR (5.1)
Well, I guess, choice is always a good thing, and AV configs do differ, so dual sound output might have a place in this crazy world. 😉
BTW, yes, I’m in US, but originally I’m from the other side of the Baltic Sea, and I still remember what SCART looks like 😉
Thanks for the explanation.
RUS
http://twitter.com/rusgrafx