Hi...

I am running a Dell Dimension 4700, Win XP SP3. The BIOS is A05, dated 2004-11-23. I have installed an HD4670 graphics card, which has support for 8-channel audio onboard. The current audio device is a SoundMAX Integrated Audio device.

The question is this: can the existing motherboard/BIOS version support HDMI audio instead of the existing SoundMAX Integrated Audio?

On the RealTek site, I downloaded HDMI_R242 (ATI Audio Driver??) but did not install it due to notes that I have seen regarding a competing (??) audio standard of AC97 versus something else... it seems like when folks download and install this ATI driver onto an XP system, they run into trouble because the version of the BIOS they are currently running cannot support HDMI audio. 

I will not be hooking up my PC to an HDTV or anything like that (may in the future, but not for now)... the existing audio works fine. Should I just leave well enough alone? Is there an issue with the version of the BIOS I am running that would screw things up if I attmpted to install the HDMI_R242 drivers? Any sound advice would surely be appreciated. Have a blessed day!

Best regards.

Tony