HTPC/Gaming Build (H55N-USB3 w/ AXP-140 Cooler) *pics*

Based on the specs, the Denon 590 has HDMI inputs? Depending on your GPU, you could try outputting the audio to your 590 through HDMI? It's what I do with my Onkyo receiver to get surround audio. This method does have some limits at least with my amp though, but it is worth a shot if possible.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, the amp does have HDMI inputs but my video card only has DVI out (8800GT). I will give it a try if I can get my hands on a capable card from somebody. I just don't want to buy one and then find out it still only does stereo for games.
 
Radeon 4000- and 5000-series as well as NVIDIA 400-series all can output game surround sound via HDMI without the need for any extra stuff.

For me the main problem seems to be that using HDMI audio out without also using it as video out seems to be tricky, since if I only use my computer display instead of both display + TV-via-amp, the drivers seem to disable the HDMI audio output even if the amp the HDMI is connected to is powered on. I have to force the card to output to both the display and the amp if the TV is off, which means the damn card runs at 3D clocks all the time and thus consumes more power.

Of course it's not a huge problem in the sense that if I want 5.1 audio, I'm either playing games (thus 3D clocks already) or watching movies (thus using TV output anyway) and for stereo listening I can use S/PDIF coaxial or optical output to save some energy :p And it's worth noting that this issue might not exist with your amp at all. And with the HD 4670 I had previously, it also wasn't an issue, so I guess it's more of an NVIDIA problem.
 
Why didn't I think of that... my desktop has a 5850 that I can test with. I had to lug the 50 pound system up a floor to where my TV is. I connected through HDMI only and I got 5.1 surround! My receiver says "Multi Ch In" instead of Stereo while playing games. I guess I'll be looking into getting a 5770 or something like that.

I'll only be hooking it up to the TV (no monitor) so that's not an issue. One problem I found using HDMI is that the picture doesn't fill the entire TV at 1080p. I have to manually go into Catalyst and adjust the under/overscan to 0. Everytime I start up the system though that setting isn't saved for some reason so I have to adjust it all over again.

As for the clocks, I can use Afterburner to lower it so it uses less power or overclock when I'm gaming. :)
 
Well, since you're only using the TV, the clocks shouldn't be an issue since it does downclock, and with an ATI card it probably shouldn't be otherwise either.

Odd with the scan setting not being saved, for me it stuck once set, except with a certain driver version at some point during spring where launching a game reset it each time.
 
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