Upgrading HTPC, what sound card to get? (1 Viewer)

jporn

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October 6, 2008
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I'm about to upgrade just about every component to my HTPC. Mainboard, cpu, ram,video etc. The one area I'm still not sure on is what to go with for a sounds card.

On my current system I was just using the onboard Realtek sound. It did the job but nothing all that impressive.

I don't mind spending a little cash on this so what are the recommendations these days??

Thanks!
 

kiwijunglist

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  • June 10, 2008
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    Depends.

    What kind of audio receiver do you have?
    What kind of connection do u want to run to the receiver? (Analog cables / HDMI / SPDIF Optical / SPDIF Coaxial)
    Do you want processing done on the PC or passthrough to the receiver?
    Do you need HD audio (ie DTS vs' DTS-HD)?
     

    kiwijunglist

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    If your bitstreaming HD audio then the ATI 5xxx video cards do this over HDMI, so you can upgrade gfx and sound with 1x card and only need 1x cable.
     

    jman06

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    June 8, 2009
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    If your bitstreaming HD audio then the ATI 5xxx video cards do this over HDMI, so you can upgrade gfx and sound with 1x card and only need 1x cable.

    x2. What kiwi said!

    If you want HD audio, and a more-than adequate GFX card, definitely go with the new ATI 5670 (i'm their new poster boy) and guess what? It's less than $100 for each manufacturer on newegg! Seriously, you can't go wrong with that deal...
     

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