How to connect PC speakers to ati radeon 3870 HDMI output?

[dpcdpc11]

Hey guys... here's my problem:
the cooling fan on my powercolor ati radeon 3870 just died so I had to replace it with a bigger one which now occupies more space in my case. So I had to take out my Creative Audigy sound card... now I'm stuck with the integrated low quality sound card.
I was wondering if I could use the video adapter's DVI output, SPDIF audio output to send the audio signal to my speakers?
or should I just buy an external USB sound card?
i thought that the sound quality of the ati radeon 3870 SPDIF output might just be better than my integrated sound card.
what do you suggest guys?

thanks in advanced!

 

[alyoshka]

Get a Zonar PCIe x1 card that's better sound and will solve all your problems easily, if, you have a PCIe x1 slot on the board that is.

 

[dpcdpc11]

geezus christ man.. that's about $100 a piece... damn... with that kind of money I can buy a new mainboard.
i found this cable adapter: http://www.amazon.com/HDMI-RCA-VGA-Cable-1-8ft/dp/B002ZUI68G/ref=pd_cp_e_1
now if I can just find one in the online stores from my country.

 

[Zenthar]

Mmm, not quite sure what you want to do here. If your audio card is out of your PC, then the sound is being processed by the on-board sound card so might as well plug the speakers there ...

 

[dpcdpc11]

i don't what the sound to be processed by the on board sound card cause it's really low on quality... I want the sound to be processed by the on board sound card of the video adapter... look here: http://www.powercolor.com/global/products_features.asp?id=48#Specification
as you can see bellow it has: Integrated HD audio controller with multi-channel (5.1) AC3 support, enabling a plug-and-play cable-less audio solution
which might be better that the lousy on board sound card.

 

[Zenthar]

I doubt it's a full sound processing unit on there, it is probably only able to process the sound sent to it by another source and encode it in AC3 so it can be sent through the HDMI cable (just a guess, I'm no pro here). Moreover, I don't know of any devices that would allow you to "stip the sound" out of HDMI and allow you to sent it to speakers (except, of course, HT receivers).

 

[dpcdpc11]

you can check the link above.. here it is again: http://www.amazon.com/HDMI-RCA-VGA-Cable-1-8ft/dp/B002ZUI68G/ref=pd_cp_e_1
seems like this cable can do the job
and I think the graphic card has a full sound processing unit... it displays as a separate device in the Device Manager and in the Playback Devices menu.

 

[Zenthar]

You should read the reviews for that cable, its purpose isn't exactly what it seems to be. No passive device is able to convert a digital signal (HDMI) to an analog one (VGA, RCA, ...). Unlike DVI(-I), HDMI only transmit digital signals not analog, but DVI doesn't transmit sound (I heard it was technically possible, but nobody ever bothered).

 

[dpcdpc11]

i read on some forum that amd is using a proprietary DVI which is also capable of transmitting sound.
here's a dongle that would do the HDMI splitting the right way: http://www.sintech-shop.co.uk/item_images/b17920_Xbox360-HDMI.jpg
there are some other xbox360 dongles that do the trick.
all this is too much of a trouble for me so the easiest way is buying a cheap USB sound card like the ST-Lab M-330 for example.

 

[Zenthar]

Unfortunately I think the USB soundcard would also be the simplest solution. You can always give on-board audio a try to see if it's not that bad (most people use it, including me, but I think most people don't have HD ears ). Do you have any other expansion slots on your motherboard you could use? Other than that, there is also the option of getting a PCIe x1 card as alyoshka suggested, but they aren't cheap (the decent ones at least).

 

[dpcdpc11]

for about 4 days I'm using the onboard soundcard... but mine is really crap... it generates this annoying buzzing sound whenever the volume spikes a little above medium volume... and the windows 7 driver isn't the problem.. same happens in linux too... hopefully I will be able to sell my Creative Audigy and then buy the USB one.