HTPC Build Need Help - Audio - New Build

tweak13

May 14, 2009 7:42:47 PM

Well my idea is to make a neat little htpc with a blu-ray player for my girlfriend. The biggest thing I don't really understand is what audio options I have with an htpc (never built one). Should the sound transfer over the hdmi link from the mobo to the tv or would I have to use SPIDF from the mobo to a receiver?

I'm looking at getting this board, which has integrated HDMI and SPIDF.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Doing sound through HDMI would rock, she really would like sound to just come through the tv to keep it simple, and of course not having to go buy a speaker system with a receiver that has SPIDF would keep some money in my pocket.

More about : htpc build audio

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Outlander_04

May 14, 2009 8:21:20 PM

There are HTPC motherboards with HDMI outputs and onboard gfx. The best of these for gfx are the 780g and even better 790g AMD chipsets

Presumably they can just run the onboard sound through the HDMI as well . The place to start would be on the mb makers website

I just had a look at gigabytes website
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Product...

and then randomly picked a 780 g board
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Product...

Im picking that reading some of the online manuals will clear up a few issues for you

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shortstuff_mt

May 14, 2009 8:27:47 PM

All the reviews of those Zotac Ion boards that I've read said the sound worked over HDMI. There are quite a few reviews of those boards floating around. Here's one:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3562

I, personally, would wait for the dual-core ION-ITX-A-U board to come out since it includes the power supply and easily handles Blu-Ray. The single-core will also do Blu-Ray, but it's more of a stretch.

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tweak13

May 14, 2009 8:50:08 PM

shortstuff_mt said:

All the reviews of those Zotac Ion boards that I've read said the sound worked over HDMI. There are quite a few reviews of those boards floating around. Here's one:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3562

I, personally, would wait for the dual-core ION-ITX-A-U board to come out since it includes the power supply and easily handles Blu-Ray. The single-core will also do Blu-Ray, but it's more of a stretch.

Yea i actually just read an article on that also, I think i'm going to wait for that board for sure since it has the built-in wi-fi adapter also, that little board is pretty killer.

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