Sound card recommendation please

[nashmills]

I have a Sony KDL-40W3000 TV on a Sony RHT-G800 stand which outputs 5.1 audio. I have recently ordered a Dell Inspiron 530S pc. I intend replacing the included DVD drive with an LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD player.

I assume I will be able to connect the pc to the stand with a dvi to hdmi cable but I think I will have a problem with the sound. I don't believe the pc has optical out so I will need a separate sound card - either low profile or external. I don't want to spend more than about £50. Does anyone have any suggestions please?

 

[badbob]

Before you buy that drive, what Dell Inspiron 530S CPU did you buy?
As for soundcard, checkout C-Media. Optical out and does the job DD/DTS streaming. About £15.

 

[nashmills]

Before you buy that drive, what Dell Inspiron 530S CPU did you buy?
As for soundcard, checkout C-Media. Optical out and does the job DD/DTS streaming. About £15.

I've already ordered the drive. The processor is: Inspiron 530s Viiv E6550 Core 2 Duo Processor (2.33GHz, 1333Mhz FSB, 4MB cache). Do you have a model number for the c-media and is it half-height?

 

[stricko]

Hey Badbob

Why the question about the processor and LG blu-ray drive? Do you have a performance / compatibility concern?

I'm about to go down the same route with a 530s.

Cheers

 

[badbob]

Smooth Blu-Ray playback requires a pretty fast PC.