http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3720
Looks to be a great card for a new build. It's a single slot, PCI-e powered, DX 11, Dolby True HD, and less than $100. Lower end 55xx and 54xx due to be announced Feb 6.
Always great to see more and cheaper solutions to give people bitstreaming the new HD audio formats. The price is just outstanding and the announcement of 54xx series coming within the month will give people a real surround sound solution. Due to limitations I may just have to wait and see them incorporate the technology into a chipset...I could be here a while.
Intel has bitstreaming of HD audio working with a Core i3 and H55 or H57 motherboard and integrated (on CPU) graphics. I imagine that it will be a while before AMD releases the 5000 series built into a desktop motherboard as they put out the 4000 series integrated not that long ago and those boards still don't even support 7.1 channel LPCM. Still, the mobile versions of the 5000 graphics are out, so maybe it won't take them as long as we think.
It is great that we are starting to see more HD audio support so that we can get just as good of an experience as stand alone players. It definitly took long enough. I bet the Intel platforms solution will be solid, but I am dubious about it since I havent heard many great things about their current lineup. I like to stick with AMD solutions due to cost limitations, but the moer who come to the party the more fun we all have.
Not sure how the double post happened.
Good news indded. I have a very good Sapphire 4650 with a passive cooler in a Shuttle-based Media Centre that I'm very impressed with. I've read on various news sites that there will be a passive, single-slot 56xx too - very good news for the HTPC user-base.
Well, as long as it doesn't exhibit the drawbacks of other ATI cards (inability to fill the screen seems to be the main complaint)
Mike
Win7 Ultimate x32 SP1, Harmony 700, Comcast Houston (cable co), Cooler Master Elite 360 Mini Tower case on it's side, ASUS M4A87TD-USB3 MB, AMD Phenom II 555 Black DualCore, 4G RAM, PNY GT440 1gb DDR5, 160GB SATA II (OS) - AHCI, 1TB SATA II (DATA) - AHCI, LG GGC-H20LK Combo drive, TMT3, Ceton InfiniTV 4, Onkyo TX-SR608, Samsung PN50C550
mmathenyWell, as long as it doesn't exhibit the drawbacks of other ATI cards (inability to fill the screen seems to be the main complaint)
I found that problem when I installed my 4650. It seems that unlike Nvidia cards, ATI underscans by default and the option to change this is burried deep within the (awful) Catalyst Control Centre. I find that selecting the driver only when downloading the Catalyst software prevents this from happening.
Now all we need is SoftSled to seal the deal. But this is good nonetheless. I recently got a new PC with an ATI HD4870. I thought I read that it did bitstreaming of the new HD audio formats. Could be wrong though.
rjairam I thought I read that it did bitstreaming of the new HD audio formats. Could be wrong though.
It will output 7.1 LPCM, but it won't stream the Dolby True-HD or DTS Master Audio signals. The 5xxx will.
mmatheny Well, as long as it doesn't exhibit the drawbacks of other ATI cards (inability to fill the screen seems to be the main complaint)
There is an easy fix for this - set the overscan to 0% in CCC. It's a buried option - but I'm sure a quick search will help you find it.
ebayaholic http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3720 Looks to be a great card for a new build. It's a single slot, PCI-e powered, DX 11, Dolby True HD, and less than $100. Lower end 55xx and 54xx due to be announced Feb 6.
Nice card - I'm going to wait and see how Nvidia's new offering compares before purchasing though. In general I like Nvidia better due to overall compatability and less "glitches" with many games and apps. If Nvidia doens't bitstream - no question though.
I currently have a couple 4850s, a 5850, and some old 9600GTs. The Nvidia cards are more solid accross the board (though obvsiously less useful for the latest demanding games).
SmoothMole mmatheny Well, as long as it doesn't exhibit the drawbacks of other ATI cards (inability to fill the screen seems to be the main complaint) There is an easy fix for this - set the overscan to 0% in CCC. It's a buried option - but I'm sure a quick search will help you find it.
Open up CCC, go to monitors (where it tells you what display is connected and which number it is) and then right-click the display in the bottom part of the dialog box (its like a horizontal display below the big main display) and then click properties. In one of those tabs there should be an underscan slider that will let you set it to 0.
I have a couple of problems with AMD cards. Installingt the default drivers makes my control of HDMI audio go away. I have to do a custom install and unselect the HDMI audio driver.
Secondly, it doesn't decode all (or as many) types of video as a nvidia card. I have a couple of x264 files that I can't play on my 4550, but play just fine with an 8500GT. I have an Opteron 165 so I just don't have the CPU power to decode those high-bitrate files that the AMD card doesn't like.
Just a quick update, I see newegg has them in stock now from multiple manufacturers starting at $99 for the 512MB and $114 for the 1GB. Almost all of the 5670's take up two expansion slots except for the XFX which retains the stock fan and only uses one slot. Most likely the 5650's will be single slot as they are less powerful. Says you need a min of a 400W power supply to run them.