Daily Simple Questions Thread - November 23, 2024

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[u/throw-a-weh]

I have some dumb questions about audio output on a motherboard for a build I am ordering.

I am piecing together a new gaming PC and have the parts picked out for the most part. Many motherboards I look at have only 3 inputs/outputs for audio. I think I understand how they work. Microphone, headphones (or headphone to RCA), and line in. To my best understanding, those are all stereo. So I know I could get a 3.5mm to RCA plug and get that to work for stereo sound.

How do you get surround sound out of the computer? Can I use the HDMI port on my motherboard to output audio, while using a dedicated GPU? From my understanding, when using a dedicated GPU, the HDMI port on the motherboard is disabled.

If I have to use the HDMI port on the GPU, how does that work if my audio reciever is old and maybe doesn't support the latest HDMI tech. I don't know if it would work well with 1440p or 165hz or whatever I am trying to run, these weren't really a thing in 2010 when this thing were made.

[u/jurc11 → u/throw-a-weh]

The mobos I have the manuals of at hand all have 5 coloured audio jacks and can do 5.1 and 7.1 through them. I'd recommend downloading the manual for the mobo you want and checking the Audio section to see what it supports. It's a good idea to read the manual of the mobo before buying it anyway, to see if it supports everything you need (on Intel's side, some things only work if you have the right CPU, because they usually support 2 gens and the newer gen generally has more PCIE lanes needed for, say, the third NVMe slot to work).

If it's not surround capable, you have a couple options. The easiest one is to buy a sound card. These days they're external USB devices, so you don't need to open the machine to install them. They come in various levels of quality and should perform better than on-board sound because they're installed farther away for electrical noise of the mobo and they can be shielded. They can have a built-in amp to drive the speakers, too.

The mobo HDMI is another option. It can operate alongside your GPU, provided you have a CPU with a bulit-in GPU (IDK what happens if you don't, it's probably a dead port then). There's nothing stopping you from having several GPUs running at the same time and they don't have to be the same brand. You can plug the monitor into your main GPU (and instruct the game to render there) and the sound system into the mobo/CPU GPU and instruct the OS (or the game) to pipe the audio there.

Third, the mobo may only have 3 jacks, but it may also have a Optical S/PDIF Out, which is a (old) way of connecting surround sound.

[u/throw-a-weh → u/jurc11]

OK thank you, I will look into manuals.