GeForce 9400 HDMI media Center

[Slipperyduck]

Hi guys,

I'm currently using my old GeForce 8800GT 512Mb and Audigy2 card, using Stereo out on the soundcard and DVI to analogue VGA cable out into my LG 32" 720p Panel in my lounge as my Media Center Machine. Couple o Tb hard drives for Storage etc. . .

I've been running it for a year or so, i works great, just that the darn 8800GT is a HOT single slot card and I'm thinking of just replacing it with an el-cheapo 9400GT with HDMI, Leadtek WinFast PX9400 GT HDMI - which runs cold and is cheap as chips.

Wanted to know if anyone else out there has this kinda setup? You think it would be a good way to go? I've hot HDMI cables sitting waiting for some goodness of the electrical nature. . . surely the quality would increase a fraction as apposed to the DVI/Analogue setup? What about sound quality via the SPDIF off an audigy 2?

Anyway, look forward to yer ideas/experiences.

[Degaron]

depends what you want to do with the cards, going to use it for a lot of HD decoding?

[Slipperyduck]

Yeah, HD decoding using CoreAVC with CUDA, surely the 9400 has enough stream processing power to do 720p?

[I am Penguin]

Hi guys,
. . . surely the quality would increase a fraction as apposed to the DVI/Analogue setup? What about sound quality via the SPDIF off an audigy 2?

Definately quality above analogue but basicaly the same as DVI (Digital video). The main difference is that instead of using DVI (Video) + SPDIF (Audio), via HDMI you get the sound and the video over one cable. But it all depends whether the LG32" you connect the HDMI cable to have the correct HDMI spec's to decode/use the HDMI A/V signals.

A 9400 or later gpu card with HDMI and sound decoding fuctions with included HDCP capability (Also look at ATI 4XXX) would be the best investment. Later add a BluRay player and there Ya go.

Sound via SPDIF can be send to a receiver for 5.1 surround sound. It also depends if the GPU card you buy would have its own sound capability or have tha capability to take an external input for the sound transfer to the HDMI cable.

Good luck!

[I am Penguin]

Yeah, HD decoding using CoreAVC with CUDA, surely the 9400 has enough stream processing power to do 720p?

Should do 1080p without any problems.

Check out this simple solutions in this thread. All inclusive in one board.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthre...09#post3234609

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• Gigabit Ethernet
• Onboard 802.11n WiFi (mini PCIe)
• NVIDIA® CUDA™ technology
• NVIDIA® PureVideo™ HD technology


Product Name:
ZOTAC ION ITX-F series

CPU
Intel® Atom™ 330 dual-core

GPU
NVIDIA® ION™

Display Options:
HDMI (Digital 8-channel LPCM Audio), DVI and VGA

Memory
2x240-pin DDR2-800 memory slots

Up to 4GB ram

Expansion: PCI Express x16 2.0

Mini PCI Express (occupied by WiFi card)

SATA
3 SATA 3.0Gbp/s

1 eSATA

Ethernet
10/100/1000Mbps

WiFi
802.11n integrated

USB 2.0
10 (6 on back panel, 4 via pin headers)

Audio
Onboard 6-channel high-definition audio

8-Channel LPCM digital audio (HDMI)

Optical & Coaxial S/PDIF audio output

DirectX support
DirectX 10 with Shader Model 4.0

Other hardware features
Mini-ITX form factor, OpenGL 3.1 compatible, NVIDIA® PhysX® ready, NVIDIA® CUDA™ ready, NVIDIA® PureVideo™ HD technology

HDCP Yes

Software Features: nView Multi-Display

Windows Vista capability: Windows Vista/7 with aero user interface comp

[Slipperyduck]

Looks like my LG32" Spec is all good. Think I'm gonna go get me the el cheapo 9400 hdmi - sall good n tha hood Thx for da tips

[Rocket-Boy]

You shouldnt listen to anything that slipperduck chap says... he is dodgy

[Slipperyduck]

you will be hunted down and beaten black n blue on the battle field :P