mobo with HDMi or graphics card with HDMI (1 Viewer)

[confusedguy]

Hello All,

I am a newbie building my first HTPC. I have a very basic question:

I have a 42 inch HDTV with HDMI inputs. I am looking for a micro atx motherboard that can play blu-ray/hd. I see there are motherboards with HDMI and also graphic cards with HDMI.

What is the difference?
Does the HDMI port on the motherboards just output video and not audio?
Does the HDMI port on graphics card just output video and not audio?
Can I use a simple microatx motherboard without HDMI but use a graphics card with HDMI to connect to the TV?
What is recommended in my situation. Mobo with HDMI/Graphics card with HDMI.
Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Spragleknas]

Hi and welcome

Does the HDMI port on the motherboards just output video and not audio?
- NO

Does the HDMI port on graphics card just output video and not audio?
- NO (some older nVidia need SPDIF wire, though)

Can I use a simple microatx motherboard without HDMI but use a graphics card with HDMI to connect to the TV?
- YES

What is recommended in my situation. Mobo with HDMI/Graphics card with HDMI.
- What is your situation?

In general, the 4xxx-series from ATi, and the 2xx-series from nVidia has good HDMI solutions (perhaps not if your an audiophile ...).
For IGP, I guess all 780G and newer/better cards from ATi are good enough. Not sure about nVidia, but I've used HDMI on a IGP9400 and did not notice anything "bad".

 

[Owlsroost]

Also take a look at Guide to Building a HD HTPC - Page 85 - AVS Forum

Tony

 

[confusedguy]

Thanks Owlsroost and Spragleknas,

I am thinking of buying this mobo...

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-G41M-ES2H LGA 775 Intel G41 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Do you think it is a good choice...?

 

[Spragleknas]

IMO (from reading only) Intel mobos are not a good choice unless you use a dedicated graphic card.

 

[Owlsroost]

If you are looking at Intel chipsets with integrated graphics, the G45 (with the X4500HD GPU built-in) is one to go for - the G41 has a basic X4500 GPU with limited hardware video decode acceleration and hardware deinterlacing support, but if you are going to add a video card this is irrelevant.

Basically, for BluRay you need hardware H264 decoding support - all modern AMD/nVidia video cards have this, as do the high-end integrated graphics (780G/785G/9400/G45). For HDTV you usually need good hardware deinterlacing support as well - this trickier since MP is harder on GPU performance than some other players, so a separate video card is probably safer in this situation if you want the best picture quality e.g. AMD HD4670 or nVidia GT220.

Tony

 

[confusedguy]

Thanks Tony and Everybody,

I bought the nVidia GT220 video card:

Newegg.com - XFX GT220XZNF2 GeForce GT 220 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

With this card, can I use the mobo that I asked about earlier:

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-G41M-ES2H LGA 775 Intel G41 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Again, sorry for my ignorance, I am just trying to make sure of everything.

If this mobo is not recommended...please make a suggestion, I have a Intel Dual Core processor that I plan to use...

Please remember I need to be able to play Blu-Ray/HD ...any suggestions will be greatly appreciated...

Thanks!

 

[Owlsroost]

No personal experience with that motherboard (I'd suggest doing a quick search here and on AVSForum to check if anyone has had problems with it), but if it has the I/O and CPU support you need then it should be fine.

Tony

 

[ranman]

I'm also looking at that video card to replace my current video card which is a XFX GeForce 7950GT ( I can't get Audio through HDMI with it). The card above is PCI Express 2.0 and I have a ASUS A8N5X 939 MB with only PCI 16X.
Will the new video card work with my current MB?
Do I have to buy a newer MB in order to get audio through HDMI and the performance of my current video card?

Thanks!

 

[Owlsroost]

It should be fine - quote from PCI Express - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "new PCIe 2.0 graphics cards are compatible with PCIe 1.1 motherboards"

Tony