# How do I know if a video card supports audio over HDMI?



## borednerds (Oct 1, 2010)

I bought a Diamond Xtreme Sound 7.1/24 bit sound card for 2 reasons:
1) I couldn't answer this question before
2) I tricked myself into believing S/PDIF supports 7.1 (it does NOT)
3) the motherboard I bought doesn't have S/PDIF out.

So I guess I don't really need a sound card, but that's ok, it was only 10 bucks (rebate!) because some video cards support audio out.

Right now I have a Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS which supports HDMI and 2 channel PCM audio.
and my motherboard is ASRock G31 M-S R2, like I said, I got the sound card because I knew the motherboard couldn't natively handle 7.1.

I was told the Nvidia GeForce GT430 supports 7.1, but there's nothing on Newegg that states that.
I have also seen sound cards that claim video support. (Xonar HDAV 1.3)

Is the only way to know by checking the manufacturer's website on the product? I'll do it, but it seems pretty labor intensive.

If anyone has a suggestion for cards, I'm all ears! I'm not looking to spend a lot of money. The new mobo and sound card was only 50 bucks.


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## SAC (Dec 3, 2009)

borednerds said:


> Is the only way to know by checking the manufacturer's website on the product? I'll do it, but it seems pretty labor intensive.



Off hand, unless there is readily available product data indicated on the packaging or in a product description, the only other way I know to determine the information with certainty is to check the product's data sheet.

Of course, you can query the web, but that is not necessarily reliable - in which case you still need to check the product's data sheet...

That's simply part of performing one's due diligence in checking the specific product specifications/capabilities regarding any product.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

If the card says it supports bitstreaming of TrueHD/Master HD support, it will support whatever number of channels are in the original encoded stream. If it's 7 (rare but becoming more common with Toy Story 3, Pirates of the Caribbean), then you'll get 7.1.


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