Upgrade Part III - Final Thoughts

After checking the system last Sunday to make sure everything is working like I want it I find out I have no audio via HDMI. I was running audio via the S/PIDF digital out while testing so I thought maybe I have to disable the S/PIDF port. No, that doesn't work either. I can't find anything in device manager regarding HDMI audio so I figure it's time for more research. A quick stop by the AVS Forums and I find over 50+ pages on video/audio issues/fixes with HTPC's using the Asus P5E-VM-HDMI motherboard. Thanks to those guys in there I find the answer. I need to install the Intel HD Audio Drivers and disable the audio driver provided by Asus. Of course I do not find this out until Wednesday and with my son camped out on the TV playing COD4 & GTAIV I can't try it out until Thursday night. I download the latest G35 Intel Chipset drivers and hope for the best. Reboot - Success.

This little motherboard is something else. I have 720p video (limited by the front room TV) and all digital audio both over HDMI and via the S/PIDF out to my Pioneer amp. I am able to watch the HTPC in the bedroom as well. All-in-all this upgrade was fairly easy, cost less than buying a new HTPC and gives me all the functionality that I want or need for right now.

I will definitely need to go ahead and buy the WinTV-HVR 1250 (before Feb 09) and will probably add a Blu-Ray DVD combo drive and drop in another 500gb or 750gb SATA drive to handle HD recording. I would also like to try out Logitech's diNovo Mini bluetooth keyboard/touchpad just to see if it would reach all the way to the bedroom for computer control. I'm able to use my MacBookPro to control the HTPC plus my Harmony remote can control the BeyondTV interface.

There are more pictures of the upgrade on my flickr site here and information on G35 Intel Motherboards can be found in the AVSForums