Requirements for building a media center PC

[liammkelly]

Hi all,

I need to replace my media center PC and wanted to get suggestions on the best way to replace it. The key for me is to be able to output good quality video and audio with a DVI-to-HDMI cable only. What should I be looking for in a new machine? Thanks!

Liam

 

[C12Friedman]

Do you have any preference to Intel or AMD. Currently, I would be looking along the lines of an AMD A8-3870k with an FM2 motherboard and a minimum of 4GB ram

 

[liammkelly]

Do you have any preference to Intel or AMD. Currently, I would be looking along the lines of an AMD A8-3870k with an FM2 motherboard and a minimum of 4GB ram

Thanks for your help. I have no preference, I would go with whichever is cheaper. I just bought a machine with an AMD Radeon HD 6410D graphics controller and I cannot get audio through the DVI output, are you sure I would be able to with the AMD A8?

Liam

 

[C12Friedman]

Ahh, here's the issue... DVI does not have the ability to carry an audio signal, there is no way (I am aware of) to do what you are asking - I would suggest the use of an HDMI cable from mobo to monitor or DVI cable and a S/PDIF (optical audio cable). I'm assuming you are using a TV for a monitor...

Edit: this appears to be built in graphics card, what is the make and model of the computer, I can explain how to get best picture and audio with that info

 

[liammkelly]

Ahh, here's the issue... DVI does not have the ability to carry an audio signal, there is no way (I am aware of) to do what you are asking - I would suggest the use of an HDMI cable from mobo to monitor or DVI cable and a S/PDIF (optical audio cable). I'm assuming you are using a TV for a monitor...

Edit: this appears to be built in graphics card, what is the make and model of the computer, I can explain how to get best picture and audio with that info

The new machine that will not deliver audio is a HP Pavilion p6-2100. I was getting audio from DVI-HDMI cable on a Asus Essentio CM5570-AP002, which has a Intel GMA X4500 graphics controller, so I know it is possible.

Thanks again for your help.

L

 

[C12Friedman]

Quite interesting, (something I was completely unaware of)... Wikipedia states "many devices can output HDMI over a DVI output (examples: ATI 3000-series and NVIDIA GTX 200-series video cards),[7] and some multimedia displays accept HDMI (including audio) over a DVI input. Exact capabilities vary from product to product." The last part, I find somewhat discerning, I take it to mean it is a hit or miss proposition. I know of no way to consistantly find that info... I checked a few manuals to see what I could find as far as particulars to motherboards to find out if sound can be carried through the DVI port but I can find no mention of that capability (even in Asus boards I would suspect can) in any manual so far.
I did note that the HP machine doesn't feature an HDMI port so likely there are no HDMI drivers installed at all. My research so far does much to re-enforce what I said about DVI not carrying sound (with a few newer links mentioning it does - a recent development many of us old-schoolers haven't come to terms with since it wasn't in the original DVI specs). I'm almost thinking that if your mobo has both DVI-D and HDMI, the DVI will carry sound but I have not been able to confirm that. I'm finding a lack of information here, there doesn't seem to be much incentive to broadcast that info. I'll keep looking but so far I am unable to verify my suspicions

 

[liammkelly]

Quite interesting, (something I was completely unaware of)... Wikipedia states "many devices can output HDMI over a DVI output (examples: ATI 3000-series and NVIDIA GTX 200-series video cards),[7] and some multimedia displays accept HDMI (including audio) over a DVI input. Exact capabilities vary from product to product." The last part, I find somewhat discerning, I take it to mean it is a hit or miss proposition. I know of no way to consistantly find that info... I checked a few manuals to see what I could find as far as particulars to motherboards to find out if sound can be carried through the DVI port but I can find no mention of that capability (even in Asus boards I would suspect can) in any manual so far.
I did note that the HP machine doesn't feature an HDMI port so likely there are no HDMI drivers installed at all. My research so far does much to re-enforce what I said about DVI not carrying sound (with a few newer links mentioning it does - a recent development many of us old-schoolers haven't come to terms with since it wasn't in the original DVI specs). I'm almost thinking that if your mobo has both DVI-D and HDMI, the DVI will carry sound but I have not been able to confirm that. I'm finding a lack of information here, there doesn't seem to be much incentive to broadcast that info. I'll keep looking but so far I am unable to verify my suspicions

Thanks for your continued help. I don't mind returning the HP machine I just bought, but I want to make sure that the next machine I get will definitely have working audio. It sounds like if I buy a machine with HDMI output I should be OK.

My old Asus machine (with working audio) did NOT have HDMI output from the mobo, btw. Only DVI.

Liam

 

[C12Friedman]

My old Asus machine (with working audio) did NOT have HDMI output from the mobo, btw. Only DVI.
Liam

I'm kinda lost then since all three articles I read about the Asus Essentio CM5570-AP002 touted the inclusion of HDMI like these do
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/asus-essentio-cm5570-ap002/4505-3118_7-33699649.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220026 picture of back shows HDMI

 

[liammkelly]

My old Asus machine (with working audio) did NOT have HDMI output from the mobo, btw. Only DVI.
Liam

I'm kinda lost then since all three articles I read about the Asus Essentio CM5570-AP002 touted the inclusion of HDMI like these do
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/asus-essentio-cm5570-ap002/4505-3118_7-33699649.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220026 picture of back shows HDMI

Wow. I am wrong. I just looked and there *IS* an HDMI output on the old Asus, along with the DVI. So do you think that it only had the capability to deliver HDMI audio because it had an HDMI output (even though I was not using it)?

You learn something new every day.

Liam

 

[C12Friedman]

That's pretty much the way I'm thinking it works, IF the drivers are there... I read some specs for DVI-D (I've since lost the link) that seemed to imply it was a "standard" so that's the only reasoning I can come up with. Unless it truely is a hit or miss deal (carefully guarded secret) - I'm just not finding more info here except this article which makes it seem like any DVI-D would work http://www.ehow.com/how_6224392_hook-tv-computer-hdmi-dvi.html It would seem in your case it isn't that easy