HTPC build with bitstream audio output

[ALIAS]

ive been reading other posts on this forum and come to the conclusion that i should either go with a sandy bridge i3 or the amd A3850 APU as far as low power consumption and what the build is actually going to be used for. both costs the same right now. I want to be able to bitstream HD audio from the HTPC to my Onkyo 805 receiver and in order to do that it seems i need to get something like a radeon 6770 which can bitstream HD audio via HDMI. this way i shouldnt have to go buy that $250 auzentech sound card, right? I already bought a silverstone HTPC case a couple of weeks ago but i havent got it yet (it was backordered) but if i remember correctly it only fits mini or micro-ATX boards. I also already have a brand new corsair 430 W PSU sitting around, a blu-ray drive, and a hauppage 1250 tv tuner card. So my question is lets say i go with AMD A3850, can it bitstream HD audio via HDMI directly from the motherboard so i dont need the extra video card and if it cant, what would be the advantages of the AMD setup with a radeon video card ? Also if i was to put a 64 Gb SSD in this build, which would i be better off with, Intel or AMD?

[JustAnEngineer]

AMD's integrated graphics will handle digital audio over HDMI, but you may be limited in how many channels you can support. My AMD 785G motherboard with integrated Radeon HD4200 graphics works fine over HDMI, except that it doesn't allow 5.1 or 7.1-channel output.

Edit: If you install the Realtek version of the AMD HDMI drivers, you can enable DTS.

[ALIAS]

thanks for the tip engineer. i was reading that damian guy's how to article on www.mediasmartserver.net on how to set up bitstreaming from HTPC to receiver. he was using older parts and was getting it to work but he seemed to be using a video card and not onboard video so im still not sure if its possible to do it without buying a video card as i havent been able to find any applicable info on the new AMD APUs.

[maltonfolk]

The Fusion APU's do bitstream.
The problem is not all software support it yet.
It would seem PowerDVD is doing fine, but Arcsoft is a bit behind.

http://www.arcsoft.com/en/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8005&PN=1&title=tmt5-support-amd-fusion-6310m-bitstream-dtshd

[ALIAS]

thanks for the info malton. im actually using the Arcsoft software on my desktop right now with the blu-ray drive. now i know its not going to work properly. I think im probably gonna end up going with a 35 watt i3 and a Z68 motherboard that way if i ever want to upgrade the cpu later on, i can. the amd APU costs the same price but since i prefer to have a discrete video card, im gonna go with intel. hopefully arcsoft will update its software by the time i put this system together.