Low-profile (single slot !) and HDMI ?

[kevpuk]

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

Anyone got any thoughts ? Would prefer ATi for integrated HDMI audio, but not necessarily the be all......

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

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!!

[Webby]

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.

[kevpuk]

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....

[this_is_gav]

But....do the ATi cards with DVI-HDMI provide full audio (5.1/7.1) over HDMI too ?

Everything from the HD3000 series upwards to my knowledge supports 5.1. I think the HD4000s add 7.1.

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.

[smargh]

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...

[kevpuk]

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....

[aidanjt]

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.

[Webby]

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.