
It is not unusual for the vendor provided user interface to hide some of the supported refresh rates, but I did find it strange that so many of the available options are not exposed through the NCPL. The utility does allow for custom resolutions which provides one approach to resolving the oddity, but before pursuing that option there was an additional check. 23.976 and 24.000 Hz playback) so I was somewhat surprised to find 23Hz missing in the NVIDIA Control Panel (NCPL) after connecting a 24p capable HDTV (either directly or through the AVR) to the GTS 450, with only 60 and 24Hz modes listed. NVIDIA has historically done a decent job of supporting proper 24p (i.e. I was initially concerned by the size of the HSF, expecting excessive noise and heat as it turned out, the fan was imperceptible during HTPC use so given the necessary space it is quite suitable even in quiet environments. Like most gaming oriented GPUs, the NVIDIA GTS 450 is a full length PCI-e card and takes two slots with its large heat sink and fan (HSF) as well as requiring an external six pin PCI-e power connection (the PC will not boot with it disconnected). Interestingly this did work with earlier drivers (260.63) and is an excellent value-add feature for those with mixed HDMI support in the home theater - hopefully it returns in future revisions.

Unfortunately, when both cables were connected I was unable to pass HDMI 1.4 (3D) to the TV and HDMI 1.3 (HD audio) to the AVR (audio/video was still passed to the AVR but the TV did not receive either) simultaneously. Mini-HDMI to HDMI and DVI to HDMI adapters were tested with both passing audio and video to the respective device when one cable was used.

The review sample did not include a full size HDMI port so additional hardware was required to connect up to the audio video receiver (AVR) and HDTV. HD audio bit streaming + frame sequential 3D) to the GTX 460/GTS 450/GT 430 (GTX 480/470 do not support HDMI 1.4) GPUs. NVIDIA’s 4×0 family became much more interesting to the HTPC enthusiast when they added support for HDMI 1.4 (i.e.
