5.1 Surround over HDMI?

Now that I have my new Alienware with the GTX460M Im curious if there is a way to get 5.1 sound for *games* over HDMI to my amp.

Right now Im using a clump of 3.5mm to Phono which does work but causes interfearance just down to the cheap nature of the cabling.

I suppose what I would really need would be DolbyDigital / DTS *Encoding* to be outputted over the HDMI.

Anyone know if this is possible on the stock Alienware M15x hardware?

 

when i hook my laptop up to my receiver i configure the sound options for hdmi out from playback devices.
I just right click on the speaker icon at the bottom right of the screen to find it. you can set it to send 5.1 at Dvd quality and from there i use the receiver for any different sound styles.Not too sure if it outputs the DD/DTS encoding but i think it does though my receiver usually says the source type of the audio and from the laptop it just says multichannel pcm which means the laptop is doing the decoding,i haven't checked what format it is,but it sounds great and i kinda guess the format depends on the game/movie I'm watching

 

decided to check the supported formats in the properties and it has
DTS audio
DD plus
DTS HD
DD HD
DD

 

Huh!..

And that outputs 5.1 with Games as well? will have to try that when I get a chance

 

yeah.i play all my games in 5.1 from the laptop to receiver,they all sound great.

 

Strange, Connected my Amp to the laptop via the HDMI/DisplayPort connection, but the only audio option it gives me is Stereo.

Under supported formats it ists 24bit sound and Dolby Digital only; (Although my amp will playback everything up to DD/DTS HD) so thats clearly wrong.

Very strange.

 

have you right clicked on the hdmi out in playback devices all the options are there for me, the first option is configure speakers.
and for the supported formats it doesn't matter what your amp can do its only telling you what the laptop can do
I wonder if me having a 5850m is why we're seeing different things,I'm pretty sure you should get the same options anyway.

 

Well I used to have a 5850 card and had the exact same problem..

I went into the menu, but the only option I have are as below:



Only 2 channel Stereo..

 

when i connect to my receiver using the hdmi cable the audio settings are under ATI hdmi out, it doesn't actually say what the receiver is called.So I'm a bit confused.All i can think is have you got hdmi audio out to use? and are you using a old hdmi cable not capable of transmitting 6 channels of audio and hd video i think version 1.2 hdmi can do it but version 1.3 hdmi can for sure.Oh and switch you phone jack back to default maybe then the multi channel audio can go through the hdmi cable (just a guess)

 

Still having trouble with this haha..

Will check the cables and roll back to the Dell drivers tonight, perhaps that will help

 

thought i asked this already what is the full name of your amp?

 

Its a Denon 1910;

Moot point, Managed to get it working this weekend, ended up re-installing the Dell nVidia drivers, then the latest versions without updating the sound-drivers.

Have now got 7.1 outputting to the AMP Works fantastical

 

Asum news! Enjoy your gaming in surround sound goodness oh and! what speakers do you have? just out of interest.

 

Ah, right now I have a set of Eltec Classic's for the fronts, and Monitor Audio 45HD's for the backs and a MA Brozne for the center; Used ot have a sub but had to disable it for the neighbours sake

 

Thats a nice set up :O!!! I'm running on some andersson speakers ex700,400,300 and a sub by andersson too which i cant find the name of but its actually really good.
the speakers are pretty budget but i think they sound above ok and connected to a onyko 608.It's my first separate system so i can upgrade them slowly in about a year,but my TV is pretty awesome a LG le42850n