Asus is no stranger to kicking out curious
motherboards and other peripherals that we geeks just can't help but love, and following up on its undertaking of
auxiliary displays and the
AquaTank PCI card is a couple of swank new video cards that tout an HDCP-friendly HDMI port. The half-height ATI Radeon X1600 EAX1600PRO was apparently crafted with the common HTPC builder in mind, as its diminutive size lends itself to becoming a perfect fit for those tight spaces within AV-like media center PC cases. But before you gamers get too excited, you should probably know that in-game performance is likely to be less than stellar, but HotHardware did note that its model wasn't shy when overclocked. Interestingly, this
HTPC-centric card comes bundled sans a true HDMI-to-HDMI cable, which leaves us all a bit miffed considering the niche it's trying to appease. The EN7600GT ups the ante by delivering the frame rate luxuries as only an NVIDIA GeForce 7600 can, but its full-height design will definitely cause problems in slimmer enclosures. Other extras found on this device are its SLI-capabilities, DVI / S-video outputs, and optical audio jack, but considering it packs just 256MB of GDDR3 RAM, the hardcore gamers in the crowd are still not likely to find themselves impressed. Still, with the EAX1600PRO ringing up at just around a cool hundred, and the more powerful EN7600GT asking just about twice that, these here cards look to be solid options if you're just getting around to creating your own HTPC.
[Via
Slashdot]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Subwoofer @ Mar 14th 2007 12:19PM
Does this mean that a card like this can be used with a Comcast or Cox STB to record encrypted HD material?
Andy @ Mar 14th 2007 12:36PM
It's not a video capture card, it's just a video card. HDMI is for output. I really don't see the need for this as most video cards have a DVI output (same signal as HDMI without the audio) and can be used with a DVI->HDMI cable (came with my TV), which I use and it doesn't lose any quality since it's a digital signal. HDMI is only useful if the signal is also going to carry audio, and I don't see yet how it can do that, until sound card companes and video card companies work together to make some kind of interface that willcombine the video signal from the GPU and the Audio signal from the SPU into one HDMI signal.
Andy @ Mar 14th 2007 12:36PM
It's not a video capture card, it's just a video card. HDMI is for output. I really don't see the need for this as most video cards have a DVI output (same signal as HDMI without the audio) and can be used with a DVI->HDMI cable (came with my TV), which I use and it doesn't lose any quality since it's a digital signal. HDMI is only useful if the signal is also going to carry audio, and I don't see yet how it can do that, until sound card companies and video card companies work together to make some kind of interface that will combine the video signal from the GPU and the Audio signal from the SPU into one HDMI signal.
Wryker @ Mar 14th 2007 1:05PM
Hmm- I've searched on-line and can't even find this card for sale any place. Plenty of EAX1600Pro's w/the DVI output - but not the HDMI.
William C Bonner @ Mar 14th 2007 2:51PM
Does a card like this also have sound, or at least pass through connectors? So I can use the single HDMI cable to plug in my digital display and digital sound?
GioNYC @ Mar 14th 2007 6:25PM
You can get the better sound from its optical out port. Its the black port you see there on the left.
glw @ Mar 16th 2007 11:43PM
the port on the left is a digital optical spdif input port for passthrough the hdmi port... basically connect the output from your sound card to the video card and it will be combined with the video on the hdmi port. simple.
Aaron @ Mar 14th 2007 10:50PM
Unless I am missing something, the EN7600GT has been available for quite some time in the HDMI variety. I bought mine from Newegg in October of last year.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121028
Know that you will absolutely need to replace the fan for any HTPC application as it sounds like a jet landing. If you accept this when you buy it, you will have no problem giving it a 5/5. Go with the ZALMAN VF900 CU 2 Ball VGA Cooling Fan/Heatsink and it will be nearly silent.