n00b htpc 3850 dvi to hdmi with audio

December 9, 2008 12:45 AM

I've got a Gigabyte HD3850 w/dual DVI outs and 1 Svid out.I went n00b and got a dvi to hdmi 30ft cable to my 42" LCD TV. Help?! E6850 duo + 2GB all overclocked and running flawlessly.

Before you judge, it's only oc'd to 3.6 ghz and the gfx card was oc'd via it's auto tune....

I've got this for what it's worth: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/toms-reference-system,1748.html

Being a replaytv/dvarchive user, I realized that after moving to a new address, I could connect my puter and 42" lcd to each other. I purchased a dvi to hdmi cable @ 35 ft.

No sound. I immediately assualted google and found avforums, et al. again... I've spent nearly 3 hours reading posts and posting 1 other myself.

I'm suspecting I need an ati dvi to hdmi adapter and a long hdmi(-to-hdmi) cable.

Otherwise I would be stuck with the svideo to svideo/component adapter included w/the product.

I would love love love to get the dvi-hdmi cable to work since it's strung. Darn bulky, some are. I'm suspecting that it just might be a one-off, though.

I'm a unix guy but I know my fair share of M$

BTW already tried realtek, ati, bios settings combos........ many, many combos...

Thanks

posted by prodevel to computers & internet (13 comments total)

So, what's the problem - no sound? DVI doesn't carry any sound information, analogue or digital. You'll need to arrange sound by other means.
posted by Pinback at 12:56 AM on December 9, 2008

Well it seems possible with _maybe this card, and definitely wi/others.
posted by prodevel at 1:05 AM on December 9, 2008

but you have to use the dvi-hdmi adapter/dongle from ait that comed w/the card, although I don't think mine came w/any.
posted by prodevel at 1:07 AM on December 9, 2008

Hmm... A quick Google shows that it is indeed possible with your card, but you may need the ATI adapter - I'm assuming they send the audio data over unused pins, since DVI doesn't support audio normally (AFAIK, though I may be a bit behind on my video interfaces knowledge).

What OS are you using? Have you tried setting the ATI card as your default audio out device?

Otherwise, I'd check eBay or the like for the dongle. If they are doing something weird with the jack, I doubt a standard DVI to HDMI cable will work.
posted by wsp at 1:21 AM on December 9, 2008

Thanks wsp. I can almost guarantee that my card came with only two dvi to vga adapters and a dual extender.

It's looking like it's possible but not probable. I'll keep searching but I've also got an adapter and 30' hdmi to hdmi cable almost on order. Same withe adapter.
posted by prodevel at 1:48 AM on December 9, 2008

I'm with Pinback. DVI doesn't normally carry audio, so this seems normal to me.

Even if it is somehow possible, what about your TV? Even older versions of HDMI won't carry audio. What kind of TV is it? Its HDMI port(s) need to support HDMI 1.3. Anything less and you won't get audio.
posted by poppo at 4:12 AM on December 9, 2008

If you are sure about the DVI carrying audio, make sure the card audio out is analog and NOT 5.1 or any format of digital. Apart rom that, I'm with poppo.
posted by Ferrari328 at 6:02 AM on December 9, 2008

This thread on AVS Forum seems to confirm that only the ATI dongle will enable audio, and also contains some interesting speculation as to the exact how/why of the situation. So, according to that thread, you'll either want to buy an HD3200 or order the ATI dongle. Obviously you don't want to downgrade, so you should probably order that dongle.
posted by owtytrof at 6:46 AM on December 9, 2008

Does your TV have any instructions for connecting a PC? Mine says to run a second cable from the soundcard for the sound to be matched up. Personally I just run an optical cable to my stereo.
posted by burnmp3s at 7:36 AM on December 9, 2008

If you have a receiver:

I run a coax cable (analog RCA jack... get a powered subwoofer cable) from my Audigy2 into my receiver. In creative audio console I set it up to do Dolby/DTS passthrough to the receiver so the receiver does the decoding.

For gaming, you need 3 sets of minijack to RCA (R/L). Plug em up for fronts, rears and center/sub. Test with the "6 channel test" files here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/Multichannel.aspx

If you just need stereo audio to the tv:
Look at what the TV is expecting (minijack or RCA R/L). Then run an audio cable from the computer. (I know, not what you're looking for)
posted by ijoyner at 9:04 AM on December 9, 2008

Oh yeah, forgot to say for analog 6 channel to use the Multi-channel analog input on the receiver for that purpose (Its there for DVD-Audio/SACD/older DVD players)
posted by ijoyner at 9:05 AM on December 9, 2008

Here's my TV, just in case:

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/televisions/product.asp?model=42hl67
posted by prodevel at 9:31 AM on December 9, 2008

And here's another dvi->hdmi dongle case:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/graphics-cards-tv-tuners-webcams/819776-ati-hdmi-dvi-audio-dongle.html
posted by prodevel at 10:04 AM on December 9, 2008