I need some suggestions on video cards. Here is my set-up and what I want to do.
My situation:
My components are placed semi-remotely from the viewing area. Since I can’t see the TV I have a small std-def TV in the component rack so I can see what the display is doing while doing whatever with the components. I run all my components through an A/V Receiver (Denon AVR-890). For the HTPC I currently run s-video to the AVR and d-sub to a remote monitor for set-up etc. I now want to get HD from my HTPC.
Currently running: Athlon 64 X2 3GHz, 3GB DDR2. Card will go into PCI Express x16 slot. Win7-32bit, MC7
Desired Video Output:
-either HDMI or DVI out to AVR/TV, supporting 1080P Samsung LED TV (Monitor 1)
-Analog s-video or composite out to display in component rack (replicate Monitor 1)
-d-sub to monitor for when I’m working on the system / set-up etc. (Monitor 2, main)
Audio Output:
I currently have coax digital out to my AVR, and this has worked well so far. I don’t have a blu-ray as part of my HTPC, and don’t have any ripped blu-rays with HD audio yet. So not sure if I need HD bitstream compatibility. Since most of what I watch is TV programming with DD. That being said if I can get HD audio and still do what I want, then all the better.
So I’m wondering if I could get a 4xxx series ATI card with an s-video, DVI, and d-sub out to do what I want, or is there a better solution? There appears no way to convert Digital to analog (anti-piracy?), cheaply anyway. I don’t really want to buy an HD screen for my component rack (hard to find small ones)
So my questions are:
What is the best solution for my set-up?
What video card would you recommend to do this?
Thanks for any input.
-Eric
.
