ATI HD 3540 + HDMI Audio Problem

[Dos_Box]

I've just brought one of these to go into my media PC at home: Sapphire HD 3450 256MB DDR2 VGA DVI TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card - Ebuyer
In preparation for my getting a Blu-Ray drive in the very near future. It has a few niggles such as the heat sink on it makes it larger than the low profile card it is supposed to be and I'm going to have to take one off of my old passive NVidia cards to make it fit in the case.
Anyway, my problem is this. It is supposed to have a HD audio chipset onboard putting the sound down the HDMI cable, but I simply cannot get it to work. You have to use a DVI-HDMI adaptor and one post on another forum mentions that you need an 'active' DVI-HDMI connector. Is this a different type, or will a normal one work too?
Any ATI fans (It's my first ATI card BTW) know the answer?

[DMcCoy]

It seems that the 3xxx don't support HD audio formats anyway, they would need to be hdmi 1.3 for that. The most you can get is 2CH PCM or 5.1AC3 from what I've just been reading.

Edit, hmm 1.3 is for bitstreaming the HD, but it seems the ATI can't do 7.1 LPCM anyway.

Does it show up as an audio interface? What OS as XP will may need the Audio driver update

[Dos_Box]

It's Vista, and yes, it does show, and the 'HD' series do have HD audio onboard.

[DMcCoy]

Needs a special connector, Like Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE DVI to HDMI Adapter Model 100912 - Video Card Accessories

Posts suggest the black version (v1) is the 2000s only.

It will still only do 2CH lpcm or 5.1 ac3. I've not found any info that suggests it can do HD formats, HD name or not, only the 48xx are supposed to do HD audio output.

[Dos_Box]

This is the card and its specs: SAPPHIRE HD 3450 256MB DDR2 PCI-E Low Profile PCB

[DMcCoy]

Probably just the adaptor you need then, as vista only needs the graphics driver. The ATI shop might not be much use in the UK, I've not looked. There might be some on ebay.

The specs list audio formats as "Integrated HD audio controller with up to 2 channel 48 kHz stereo or multichannel(5.1) AC3 enabling a plug-and-play cable-less audio solution"

So while the card will do the HD fine for bluray it would have to drop back to the old 5.1 DD for audio.

PS3 will do 7.1 LPCM output, no bitstream but good enough :P

[Dos_Box]

The one at Newegg is exactly the thing. Thankfully Ric lives a few miles away and had a spare. I'll test it at work tomorrow.
For those who are curious the DVI adaptoe has to have all pins populated to allow for audio. A normal DVI-HDMI adaptor has the 6 middle pins missing.

[kmount]

Isn't the 6 pins the difference between DVI Single Link and DVI Dual Link?

WHAT ARE SINGLE AND DUAL LINKS ?

The Digital formats are available in DVI-D Single-Link and Dual-Link as well as DVI-I Single-Link and Dual-Link format connectors. These DVI cables send information using a digital information format called TMDS (transition minimized differential signaling). Single link cables use one TMDS 165Mhz transmitter, while dual links use two. The dual link DVI pins effectively double the power of transmission and provide an increase of speed and signal quality; i.e. a DVI single link 60-Hz LCD can display a resolution of 1920 x 1200, while a DVI dual link can display a resolution of 2560 x 1600.

Info here


Single Link


Dual Link


Could be miles off, DVI confuses me at the best of times...

[DMcCoy]

It's not a normal DVI/HDMI adaptor, from an ATI info pdf on the HD2000 series:

Current DVI-to-HDMI connectors do not carry audio, thus do not enable
HDMI. ATI Radeon™ adapter handshakes with the board to enable audio via the DVI port; when the adapter is connected to the output of an ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 solution, it becomes a seamless HDMI output.

[kmount]

I see...

Thank you.