HDMI from video card with audio

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pwaddles

113 posts

Master Geek

#87673 3-Aug-2011 22:55

Hi,

looking to upgrade my media PC a bit (I'm on on a budget), its currently running a 3.2ghz celeron processor which is struggling to run windows 7 so thought I'd get myself an intel i3 2100 and a 40gb ssd just to boot off. The i3 will need a new mobo to slot on top of so I've been doing some browsing.

Theres a cheap-as intel mobo, the BLKDH61BEB3 that I'm looking at (told you I was on a budget) but I need to know if it has the connector on it to route sound through to the graphics card so I can have sound all through my HDMI output. This mobo also has a regular-old PCI slot for my DVB-S card.

My current mobo in the media pc is an old gigabyte board from about 2006, but it has this connector so I can run a wire from mobo to graphics card.

Does anyone know if this Intel mobo has this connector? Or is it even still needed?

The video card in the media PC at the mo is an nVidia 9400, not a great card, but handles 1080p just fine.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Hadley

--------------------------------
Core 2 Duo e6850 3Ghz
4 X 1Gb DDR2 @ 800Mhz
GeForce 8800 GT 512Mb
P35 DS3L Mobo

michaelt

425 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 8

#501693 3-Aug-2011 23:38

I just bought a MSI H61M-E33 motherboard for $109. Costs a bit more than the Intel DH61BE, but it has onboard HDMI and works right out of the box. Alternatively something like the Intel DH67VR or DH67BL would work fine too.

It's an easier solution than using a graphics card, and uses less power.

The connector you're looking for is called an S/PDIF header. Whether it's required or not depends on your graphics card. Any ATI HD2000 series or newer card has an onboard audio processor so doesn't need them. So do the newer nVidia cards. I think the 9400 still needs the S/PDIF header.

Don't confuse the S/PDIF header with an S/PDIF port. Basically, the S/PDIF port (there's two types) is used to connect digital audio to another device. The S/PDIF header is used to connect the S/PDIF port to your motherboard. It might be possible to use an S/PDIF port to connect to the header with the right cable, but I'm not sure.

The specs for the DH61BE mention that it has an S/PDIF Out Connector but I don't know what kind it is.

I also bought a Pentium G620 instead of an i3 2100. Quite a bit cheaper, and seems to be more than powerful enough.

Alternatively, if you want to save even more money, go buy my old Athlon X2 4200+ system. That definitely has an S/PDIF header, and runs Windows 7 just fine.

EDIT: I've found specs for the DH61BE, and it does seem to have an S/PDIF header, as well as an S/PDIF optical port. Doesn't seem to have an S/PDIF coax port, but you don't need one.

pwaddles

113 posts

Master Geek

#501765 4-Aug-2011 09:24

Thanks for that Michael, thats a neat looking mobo.

Do you run 2 monitors with it? I've got my telly and then also a 22inch touchscreen monitor that I use.

--------------------------------
Core 2 Duo e6850 3Ghz
4 X 1Gb DDR2 @ 800Mhz
GeForce 8800 GT 512Mb
P35 DS3L Mobo

michaelt

425 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 8

#501855 4-Aug-2011 12:07

I haven't tried running two monitors with it, but there is an option in the BIOS for multi-monitor support. It's set to disabled by default, but I've enabled it. It should work, but I haven't tried it. I have more PC's than monitors at the moment.