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#1
X700 to HD3850 - Video Card Upgrade and WOW!
I found an ATI HD3850 512 PCIe for $25 US on Craig's List. Replaced my ATIX700 Pro. Wow. My WEI graphics scores jumped from 4.1 to 6.9.
So, I enabled Aero and will try it for a while. I have always preferred the Classic/Standard themes and I am not crazy about the transparent title bar, but it does look good and my system is snappy as can be.
Of course, I lost my onboard Intel Matrix Storage controller for a while, and the the two RAID0 volumes it handles. That was scary but proved to be just a nuisance that I resolved in about an hour. I am going to take down the second RAID0 volume anyway to free up a SATA port for my Kreon firmware DVD drive.
Also, I want to use the HDMI audio out on the HD3850, but I think that I need an adapter. I already have a DVI-HDMI cable, but I think that there is no pinout for audio. I will experiment with the various HDMI ports on my Samsung TV as there seems to be some requirement for port 1 for PC monitor applications.
And I have a buyer for my old X700 card... for $25. Does that make me a capitalist or just plain mean?
P.S. If there is a question in all of this, I suppose it is:
Does anyone have direct knowledge regarding using the HDMI audio without requiring the proprietary DVI-HDMI adapter?