R600's secret weapon revealed

[Paranoid2000]

...I wonder if theres any way to use the audio if you don't use HDMI?

...or if there are any issues with another sound card installed (e.g. for EAX support).

[this_is_gav]

Nah, there won't be any issues with other sound devices - multiple devices can exist in complete harmony normally - running 2 devices based on a similar chip can be fun, with driver conflicts and the likes, but I've never had problems in with multiple sound controllers so far.

They'd also be completely mad to exclude premium names such as Creative (no matter how much I'd all like them to die) from co-existing with their own enthusiast products. Not gonna happen.

[DavidM]

Another good question

[Paranoid2000]

Nah, there won't be any issues with other sound devices...

Perhaps I should elaborate a little further then.

The R600's sound card is going to be connected via HDMI, either directly to a TV/monitor (using its own speakers) or to a home cinema amplifier. The "other" card (let's call it a Z-Fi) will most likely be connected via S/PDIF.

So how will the TV/monitor/amplifer know which sound input to use and when? If it defaults to HDMI sound (most likely) then your Z-Fi is useless unless the R600 provides a passthrough option to accommodate it.

If manual sound selection is available, then you'll need to use it every time you go from a game to a film or vice-versa. If automatic switching (based on whichever sound input is active) is available, this will work only if the R600 "keeps its mouth shut" when not being used for films (which should be possible, assuming the drivers are up to it).

There is another option of having two sets of speakers, one for the R600 and one for the Z-Fi. The downsides here should hopefully not need any debate.

There are also problems raised by HDCP's mandatory encryption but these aren't R600-specific.

[vrykyl]

forget this, what i want is an r600 i can buy NOW and a pci-express soundcard... :/

[shaithis]

Well, they would output simultaneously IMO, or its going to be a nightmare.

The only exclusion should be when playing HDCP-protected content, which then wouldn't come out of your soundcard.

Its all speculation but anything else would be a joke IMO.

[toolsong]

...and a pci-express soundcard... :/

RME HDSPe 9632
http://messe.harmony-central.com/Mus...New-PCI-E.html

The PCI version is awesome for everything (inc games) and already has rock solid 32 and 64 bit Vista drivers.