hdmi output

[Fireburst]

I am looking for a cheap graphics card with hdmi output for a media server I am building. I would prefer if the sound was also output from the hdmi (if thats possible).

The output is going to Be displayed at 1080p via blueray or movies stored on the hard drives.

The media server will be put together from old hardware and currently has 2GB ram and an Ati 3800x2 processor. I will be setting it up with either windows server 2003 or 2008 (I get both for free from the academic alliance through my university)

Any suggestions?

 

[Pandobear]

Have a look at the ATI 4650 or 4670, it is worthwhile getting one of the newer cards if you hope to do blueray at 1080P

 

[goujon945]

3850 will probs to the job just as well but they are roughly the same price, if same price might as well go for the newer tech really

 

[3dcandy]

plus 4670 doesn't need any extra power....

 

[goujon945]

plus 4670 doesn't need any extra power....

Yeah good point

 

[Lanz]

A £25 HD 3450 will do the job just fine if you just want 2.1 Audio over HDMI. If you want better audio, then go for a newer ATI 4xxx card

 

[Fireburst]

Thanks for the great advice all

 

[Rebelius]

on these cards, how does the HDMI work? do you get a little adaptor for the DVI ports or something? I've never seen a photo of a GFX card with an HDMI port on it, but they all say they have built-in HDMI these days.

I didn't think you could get sound from DVI ports.

 

[slimsymeat]

on these cards, how does the HDMI work? do you get a little adaptor for the DVI ports or something? I've never seen a photo of a GFX card with an HDMI port on it, but they all say they have built-in HDMI these days.

I didn't think you could get sound from DVI ports.

You cain't over DVI, thats correct however the dongle does attach to the DVI port, as the connection is universal, for example you can attach an analog vga dongle to it. The port has all the signals, the dongle filters the source for the device your outputting too.

 

[Lanz]

ATI card's need an proper ATI HDMI adapter if you want sound to work. The cheaper cards dont come with with, but you can buy them for about a £5+ from ebay etc.

 

[3dcandy]

most of the ati cards come with the dongle, been a while since I've seen one without apart from the really cheap versions...

 

[errata]

the ati cards that go into media pcs such as the 2400 pro and hd3450 usually do not come with the necessary dvi to hdmi, tha dapters for the 2000 and 3000 are also not the same. Its worht looking for those few cards from sapphire, asus and gecube that have the native hdmi