Media Centre PC Build (cheapish)

[little_pob]

Yes already know this (bumps price abit. But can find one for £55) looking for best value graphics card at mo...

I've used a 8400GS for bluray most discs are fine, but some discs stutter. So you're probably best going with an AMD Radeon HD 5450 or Nvidia GeForce G210. Again, just make sure it's low profile.

 

[SuperPP]

All ordered. Radeon HD 5450 1gb, slim blu-ray drive in a 2.2 dual core SFF 755 with 2gb ram.
Hope I can get it all to work :-D

Thanks for all the help, I'll let you know how it goes.

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[SuperPP]

now have all the bits and it's running.
1 problem I have though is no 5.1 sound only stereo being passed to my amp from the 5450 graphics card.
Searching the net this seems to be fairly widespread and driver related, but I can't fix it at the moment...

 

[oneman]

How is the PC aside from the sound issue ?

How are you getting the sound to the amp ? through HDMI ?

 

[SuperPP]

now have all the bits and it's running.
1 problem I have though is no 5.1 sound only stereo being passed to my amp from the 5450 graphics card.
Searching the net this seems to be fairly widespread and driver related, but I can't fix it at the moment...

OK, a further update.
It now appears my Sony TV doesn't even output 5.1 from the optical out, only stereo from external connections (proven by slaving in a HD sat box).
So had a quick look at sound cards and found this low profile 5.1 card with toslink out:
ASUS XONAR DG SOUND CARD *OEM* - 90-YAA0K0-0UBN0BZ - Scan.co.uk

Not sure about the PCI slot though as this looks different (although both are supposedly PCI 32bit)?
I'm no expert at this so any further advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SuperPP]

How is the PC aside from the sound issue ?

How are you getting the sound to the amp ? through HDMI ?

PC is fine, although it was supplied without a optical mounting tray, so I'm having to source one.
Also took me a while to work out that the 2nd SATA connection needed enabling in the BIOS to see the blu-ray drive.

PC HDMI to TV, TV optical out to AMP (losing the 5.1 and getting stereo only)

 

[oneman]

PC HDMI to TV, TV optical out to AMP (losing the 5.1 and getting stereo only)

I assume other HDMI devices are passing through 5.1 to the amp correctly ?

 

[SuperPP]

I assume other HDMI devices are passing through 5.1 to the amp correctly ?

No, I've now determined none do!
That's why I'm looking at the sound card as well.

 

[little_pob]

OK, a further update.
It now appears my Sony TV doesn't even output 5.1 from the optical out, only stereo from external connections (proven by slaving in a HD sat box).
So had a quick look at sound cards and found this low profile 5.1 card with toslink out:
ASUS XONAR DG SOUND CARD *OEM* - 90-YAA0K0-0UBN0BZ - Scan.co.uk

Not sure about the PCI slot though as this looks different (although both are supposedly PCI 32bit)?
I'm no expert at this so any further advice would be greatly appreciated.

Big fan of the Xonar sound cards (I have 3 in various machines). According to the spec sheet on the ASUS website the DG is PCI and has optical out, also comes with the low profile braket.

 

[SuperPP]

Big fan of the Xonar sound cards (I have 3 in various machines). According to the spec sheet on the ASUS website the DG is PCI and has optical out, also comes with the low profile braket.

the actual contacts strip on the bottom doesn't look normal to me though.
will it fit into any PCI slot?

 

[little_pob]

It's shaped to fit both 3.3 and 5 volt 32bit PCI slots, and will work in both.

 

[SuperPP]

thanks, you've been a great help.
looks like I'll have to order this to get my surround sound back.

 

[SuperPP]

Well here is the latest update, sound card arrived today (great service from scan) installed and digital surround sound is back. Now just need to finish playing with software

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