Sound Card With Integrated Graphics

[Milb]

Hi Guys

Im building myself a HTPC / New Rig and I am hoping to run a soundcard whilst using the integrated graphics over HDMI. Would it be possible to disable the audio over HDMI and specify the PCI sound card as the output device? I know this can be done with graphics cards but I have not tried it with integrated graphics! I may just add a graphics card anyway to increase performance and avoid this problem all together!

Thanks

 

[XANADV]

Well, assuming you will be connecting your HTPC directly to a TV or AV receiver, a sound card will be an absolute waste of money. Firstly, HDMI ouputs both video and audio in a digital signal. Your TV/receiver is doing the converting of that audio signal to analog, which is part of what sound cards do. Also the digital optical connector on your motherboard outputs a digital 5.1 audio signal if you plan on outputting sound to a receiver that way. Either method has no bearing on sound quality; that is determined by your TV or receiver.

As for adding a dedicated graphics card, don't do that either unless you plan on running games. Most integrated GPUs nowadays will do 1080p video with aplomb.

However if you really want to run a sound card anyway for whatever reason you can disable audio over HDMI by using the software that comes with your card.

 

[jamesriley94]

Well, assuming you will be connecting your HTPC directly to a TV or AV receiver, a sound card will be an absolute waste of money. Firstly, HDMI ouputs both video and audio in a digital signal. Your TV/receiver is doing the converting of that audio signal to analog, which is part of what sound cards do. Also the digital optical connector on your motherboard outputs a digital 5.1 audio signal if you plan on outputting sound to a receiver that way. Either method has no bearing on sound quality; that is determined by your TV or receiver.

As for adding a dedicated graphics card, don't do that either unless you plan on running games. Most integrated GPUs nowadays will do 1080p video with aplomb.

However if you really want to run a sound card anyway for whatever reason you can disable audio over HDMI by using the software that comes with your card.

Ummm...

Not really true...

Very few soundcards have the ability to convert digital to analogue (DAC) in fact, the only one I know is the Essence STX/ST.

Most soundcards just process the sound at a higher quality so you get cleaner audio.

The OP doesn't necessarily have to have an AV receiver - why not just soundcard straight into speakers?

To answer the question - you should just be able to disable the onboard audio and HDMI audio in the BIOS. If not, you can just select the soundcard in windows instead of HDMI.

 

[Milb]

Thanks for the reply guys! Basically my reason for using the soundcard is that I want to plug my Astro mix amp directly into it (the soundcard) using the AUX output, as the sound which I get from the TV at the moment having them plugged into the headphone jack is pretty poor quality even when turned up to around half. Also thank you for clearing up the issue regarding the GPU its been a long time since I have built a computer and its good to know that the integrated GPU will be able to handle every day tasks such as 1080p video!