HDMI Sound without SPDIF Out

[Jay_eS_Iye]

I just purchased an ASUS P8H67-M LX motherboard which, much to my dismay and disbelief, does not have SPDIF out. My problem is that I use a ZOTAC ZT-95TEH3M-HSL GeForce 9500 GT video card with HDMI to hook my computer up to my TV and it requires SPDIF. Is there a way to hook the SPDIF cable to another output (maybe where the the front headphone jack plugs into the motherboard or somewhere else) so that I do not have to return this motherboard and purchase the LE model which has SPDIF (and HDMI go figure so I almost don't even need the video card since this is only an HTPC)? Any help would be great. Thanks

Edit: I also just hooked the video card into the motherboard and realized that it is too big for my small HTPC case so looks like I'm looking for another video card... So any suggestions on an HTPC video card that doesn't require SPDIF for HDMI?

 

[maverick knight]

You can add a sound card with SPDIF which that would be even better.

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Labs-SB1040-Express-Blaster/dp/B000W7PNZI/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1305413089&sr=1-9

Or

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E25KDK

For GPU

http://www.amazon.com/Evga-GeForce-PCI-Express-Graphics-01G-P3-1430-LR/dp/B0046HAW7Y/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1305412872&sr=1-3

That set up should be good enough for an HTPC.

 

[cwolf78]

I just picked up a MSI GeForce GTX-560 Ti not long ago and it supports HDMI audio without needing a sound card. You may want to do some research, but I believe that all of the Nvidia 500 series GPUs have audio built-in. I think going that route would save you hassle and the extra expense of a sound card that you won't even need.

 

[maverick knight]

The video card doesnt produce sound, you need to pass the sound through the video card via a SPDIF out cable that connects from the SPDIF out connector on the motherboard to the video card. Most modern video card have the passthrough integrated already so you dont need such cable and if you do then the cable should be included in the box.

A sound card is far better than onboard sound. If your building a HTPC a sound card is not a hassle at all and they're innexpensive. Yes, it is better to have a current video card, but for your needs you're better off with a video card that meets your needs and a sound card. I recommended you a budget solution.

 

[judebonner]

I have an old aiw 7200 and i thought i needed a spdif cable to connect to my sound card, but i bypassed it this way:
aiw capture card is connected to video out on comcast hd box via coax cable, audio out from cable box to line in on sound card, via cable that has red and white rca connections on one side and headphone jack on the other end

 

[Jay_eS_Iye]

Best answer selected by Jay_eS_Iye.