What video card for HDMI video and sound

[Cuthroat12]

Hello, I have set up a computer for a friend of mine to use with his HDTV (wireless keyboard and mouse). I let him use my backup PCI express graphics card for now and need to find a card that will work for his application. I have experience with graphics cards and upgrade a lot for gaming but never attached one to a TV. So I have no experience whatsoever with graphics cards and regular TV’s. I used my GeForce 9600 GT (temporarily) so that he would have something to get him by. Here’s the issues I had and the questions I need help with before I order him his own card;

Issue #1 Used adapter to get component out to the TV and the resolution was stretched larger than the screen (tried adjusting TV and everything, tried Nvidia settings, nothing worked)

Issue #2 Used HDMI and didn’t have sound and there was not an input for a 3.5 mm plug on the TV for that specific input. I know there is a way to set up sound through HDMI but how?!? I would rather built in sound on the graphics card if that exists to make set up easy (I want to install drivers and plug in HDMI cable to TV and be done). 

Issue #3/temporary fix, I attached the TV to the graphics card using the component/s-video adapter and an S-Video cable for video and a 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm cord for stereo sound. The result; The video screen is smaller than the TV and looks horrible! It is working for now though.

What I am trying to do is get a card that will work at a high resolution 720-1080 with HDMI and built in sound (if it exists) or someway to use SPIFF out (what is SPIFF????) to get a audio signal through the HDMI output. I also heard that there are some cards out there with a built in video decoder/encoder (?) so that there is less stress on the CPU as well as a built in sound card. I don’t know but basically all I am trying to achieve is a TV that can play simple video files on the web (news) and off the web (regular movies) and do some stuff on eBay. Very basic set up but I never did it so I don’t know how, this is a Dell Dimension 8400 with 4 GB Ram that will be attached to a Panasonic Plasma HDTV 54″ (no DVI input). I need to get my card back so I’m not trying to make the 9600 work, I just need to find a card designed for this application and I prefer one that has a fan. No gaming required so it doesn’t need to be powerful. I was assuming I could find a new one for around $50-$75 max, maybe go used. Anyone have any thoughts? I really need to help this guy out because e-bay is how he makes a living, I’m going to buy the card for him because he’s struggling to afford his medical. I gave him the comp and am unhappy that he isn’t complete. I know that this post is probably very confusing so please ask any questions you have. I was hoping for a card that I can plug in the comp, install and hook up HDMI cable and be done. I’m a fan of Nvidia but will do whats best. Any help is greatly appreciated and I promise will go to a good cause. Thanks.

[bad_apples]

Hi Cuthroat12,

I want to mention just for the beginning that I am not an expert in this field. I want to speak only from my experience.

You need a graphical card with a HDMI-port (better with a normal one than mini-HDMI) which sends audio signal 5.1 coded through the HDMI-port of the graphic card. The AMD/ATI graphic card can do this for almost 3 years already when the NVIDIA ones can do this only for a year. This means if you want to stick with NVIDIA you need to buy a new one.

I am using for more than 2 years this card:

http://www.msi-computer.de/product/vga/R4870-MD1G.html

and I am very satisfied with it. The fan is big and it makes almost no sound even when you play. The sound get through HDMI-port onto my TV and it has a normal HDMI output. I think the price is good for such a graphic card. You can play almost all modern games in FULL HD resolution.

For a better understanding I want to describe my configuration. I have a PC in one room and a 10 m HDMI cabel which goes to TV, an extra wireless keyboard, a wireless Microsoft controller which has a very good range making the connection through radio and not bluetooth or infrared.

So even if I have my PC 8 m away from my TV and my couch I still can play games on my TV with my controller and I don’t hear any noise from my PC. It’s better than a console because I can play games in a higher resolution (Full HD). The problem is that Microsoft did’t implement perfectly in WIN 7 the possibility of using 2 displays in a way such I am using them. If your friend wants to use his PC only on TV then this problem won’t bother him.

Hopefully I could help you in choosing the right graphic card.

[jrandeck]

What Bad_Apples says is true, pretty much any video card made within the last year or two should work. 

There’s a good comparison article on this site: http://www.missingremote.com/guide/gpu-comparison

 

A Radeon 6450 or 6570 or NVida GT 430 or better should fit the bill here from what you’ve said and should fit in your budget just fine.

 

 

 

[umdivx]

[quote=jrandeck]A Radeon 6450 or 6570 or NVida GT 430 or better should fit the bill here from what you’ve said and should fit in your budget just fine.[/quote]

 

What he said: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150581

6450 for like $30 will get you all the advance hardware acceleration, get you HDMI audio, and then some.

 

-Josh

[babgvant]

I’d get a GT430 or GT440.  AMD’s hardware is good, but the drivers are very sketchy.

[Cuthroat12]

Thanks for the help, I’ll let you know how it goes.  I will probably go with the first.  I’ll keep it  updated.  I greatly appreciate the responses!  -Andrew

[umdivx]

Rolling back to the 11.4 drivers as you recommended before has greatly improved and gotten rid of all my previous issues.

-Josh

[babgvant]

[quote=umdivx]

Rolling back to the 11.4 drivers as you recommended before has greatly improved and gotten rid of all my previous issues.

-Josh

[/quote]

Exactly 🙂  There’s something horribly wrong when you get stuck at a specific driver rev.  I had the same thing happen the last time I used an AMD GPU in my main HTPC.  Any rev past a certain point was borked, but the one I was running wasn’t perfect either. 

[Cuthroat12]

Ok, I looked into everything.  I stumbled across a Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 5450 1 GB DDR3. It had a full gold plated HDMI port, DVI-Port and optional VGA.  I knew when I bought it I definently couldn’t go wrong because it even has an adapter to reduce the height and remove the VGA which means its designed to fit in a very tight case (HTPC).  The card was $34.99 with a $25 rebate that I already sent in.  So it cost me $9.99!  I installed all the drivers on the disc first just to see if the disk included the driver for TV support (updated drivers later), it plugged right in using HDMI.  Was up in running in no time and had the TV’s resolution right and audio working with no adjustments.  Supports HDCP too.  For $10 I am absolutely shocked at the quality of the card.  It has a nice fan and heat sink, runs cool, played multiple movies at once.  I think the two videos I tested ran simultaneously and were 1080 p and 1 in 720 but I cant be sure.  The card remained cool (that was a quick test, I might benchmark but not sure, I got what I wanted).  All I wanted was a cheap card but I got a much better card perfectly suited for it’s application for $10!!  The rebate is no longer available but if it was I would have bought another.  Thanks for all the help you all provided.  The guy can now maintain his job (selling on e-bay) with his injuries and enjoy a lot of media to keep him happy and it didn’t inpact anything but my time and $10 which I enjoyed.  Thanks again, I can’t get over the $10……..  All good answers!  -Andrew

[SJMaye]

[quote=babgvant]

I’d get a GT430 or GT440.  AMD’s hardware is good, but the drivers are very sketchy.

[/quote]

Agreed on drivers, but all that said I have had a more positive experience with my AMD HD5670 than my prior card, nVidia 8600GT.  The HD5670 worked great from the moment it was installed.  I did have some issues with drivers which you and others here have helped me with.  Now I have it set the way I want it and ignore any pop-ups indicating there are new drivers.

 

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