Maximum PC

Hello!

I have a PC (Specs below) that I want to hook up to my old Hitachi Ultra-vision TV (1080i/720p widescreen). I've never ran a computer as a media center before and want to know what I need to add to my PC to make it work well for movies/gaming (mostly for gaming on the big screen).

I have an ok surround sound setup with a new $500 price point Yamaha receiver with 4 HDMI inputs. So I want to get good audio out of the games on my surround sound when I play.

When I run HDMI from my video card to my reciever (most likely will purchase a 7870 GHz addition card) will it be worth while to have a sound card? How does this work, do I need to run sound separately?

The hookup would be Computer --HDMI--> Receiver --HDMI-to-DVI--> TV


Specs:
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz Socket AM3
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750 750W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (I love this case )

If you run HDMI from your 7870 to the audio receiver you might be able to get 6 channel PCM out. This would let you game in surround sound (for games that offer support).

Make sure you configure Windows for your number of speakers.

Do you know if your TV accepts 1080p, or 1080i only?

If only 1080i, you'll need to make sure you configure the Radeon correctly through the catalyst control center.

Make sure you also enable the scaling option. (Search for it if you need more info.)

n0b0dykn0ws

My TV is pretty old, and only goes up to 1080i

Thanks for the info, I will be ordering a 7870 soon. Should I just go with the onboard audio, or what would a separate sound card give my home theater set a boost?

I have a Radeon 6570 in my HTPC, and I've never found the sound output to be lacking. Since it's digital, and not digital to analog like onboard sound, it doesn't suffer from interference.

n0b0dykn0ws