HD Audio

NVIDIA was the first to bring 3D Blu-ray (BD) via native HDMI 1.4 to the PC, coupled with HD audio bit stream support in the GTX 460, GTS 450 and GT 430 family of GPUs the home theater PC (HTPC) market has become much more interesting for the enthusiast.  A few weeks back MissingRemote took a look at the GTS 450, and while it was a surprisingly good fit it is a little too much GPU for non-gamers.  With 96 stream processors, a 128-bit memory bus and only 4 ROPs the GT 430’s hardware is unsuitable for more than casual gaming, but these limitations translate directly into lower power consumption and a format more suitable for use in a HTPC.  There is a danger in removing too much hardware from the GPU, read on to find out if NVIDIA hits the HTPC sweet spot.