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Looking for a replacement gfx card for a Vaio XL MCE machine......needs to be low-profile (inc. bracket !) and with onboard HDMI output and must be true single slot :(
Struggling to find anything that fits the bill - 4350/4550 seem ideal spec-wise, but those with low profile bracket are double width brackets :confused:
Anyone got any thoughts ? Would prefer ATi for integrated HDMI audio, but not necessarily the be all......
This Nvidia card comes with a low profile bracket:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...-DL-DVI-I-HDTV
Alternatively you could get a card and replace the existing bracket with a low profile one:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...-D-Sub-S-Video
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/XFX-L...-for-VGA-cards
It maybe worth this question on the Scan forum too!! :)
Get any model which has a detachable top socket and then get a bracket like this as well,
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/XFX-L...s-(-VGA-Only-)
It will limit you to a S-Video and DVI socket rather than HDMI but all ATI cards should come with a DVI to HDMI adapter, at least the non-budget cards so get one from Sapphire, Asus, Gigabyte, Powercolor etc probably avoid Palit.
Hmmm, would really prefer actual HDMI.....
But....do the ATi cards with DVI-HDMI provide full audio (5.1/7.1) over HDMI too ?
I guess I would prefer the cleanest solution - currently, the existing card is a 7600GTL with only HDMI output, and I am having to run a separate audio cable.......changing would ideally bring about an improvement in the cabling, as much as anything....
Everything from the HD3000 series upwards to my knowledge supports 5.1. I think the HD4000s add 7.1.Quote:
Originally Posted by kevpuk
Not every manufacturer includes the dongle though, and it's not a standard DVI-HDMI dongle - none of my 3 cards have had it (Club3D passive HD3450, Powercolor HD3870 PCS and Gigabyte HD4870 1GB) - but someone might be able to point you in a certain direction as to which cards include one as standard, or show you where to get one from separately.
The cleanest solution? You could get a motherboard which can do bluray+1080p decoding all on-board. I have a GA-E7AUM-DS2H and I was very surprised that it can do 1080p perfectly. It runs cool and doesn't use much electricity - I measured with an Aldi kill-a-watt and it uses about 48 watts when it's idle in Windows (no other PCI cards, standard Antec NSK2480 PSU, E5200 CPU, 500gig HDD).
As a bonus, if you later wanted to use it for gaming, you can plonk in a HD4850 or something and it can play all the latest games very well indeed.
*The* thread on the board is here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1087407
I got mine from CCL. I could test the onboard HDMI myself if I could find a cheap HDMI cable from somewhere!
edit: umm never mind, i suppose. I just looked a photo of the inside of a Vaio XL...
Well, OK, cleanest bar pulling apart the otherwise lovely XL-201 ;) Possibly the nicest MCE machine i have had, all tidy and intergrated IR etc........upgraded OS and stuck in an extra dual-tuner + RAM and it is pretty much all there.....
OK, thanks for the suggestions - seems a ATI card with included specific DVI-HDMI is the only route....
http://www.sapphiretech.com/uk/produ...gpid=236&grp=3
Something like that would do. The HDMI dongle should come with it, since it specifies HDMI. Yeah, it's a pain that the HDMI port isn't built in. It will eventually, I'm sure.
Do you have a dremel? or are you handy with a hacksaw? You could always modify a low profile bracket to fit.
Or if your feeling adventurous order a bracket from New Zealand!
http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.ph...detail&id=4179
Then the are a couple of 4350 and 4550 you can pick from which will give you HDMI without the dongle.