Do I need a surround sound card?

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Stackimaginable

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Jan 18, 2014
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Hi guys,

I'm about to go build my first gaming pc: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2719796/components-work-build.html

I'm getting the Logitech Z506 Surround Sound speaker system.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Peripherals/Speakers/5.1/Logitech+Z506+5.1+Surround+Sound+Speakers+-+75W+RMS+?productId=53982

Do I need to get some sort of a sound card for these speakers to be able to produce pure surround sound? If I don't get a sound card, will they just play the normal stereo sound?

Please help guys, and advice on which card to get if I need to get one, and link it to Amazon.co.uk or Ariapc.co.uk.

Thanks guys,
Damorihno.
 
Solution
B
You can use the realtek sound manager to force surround from the pink and blue audio ports. The orange plug will go to one and the black to the other.

You will get noticeably better sound from a dedicated sound card as the cheap motherboard is going to have low end audio.
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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You can use the realtek sound manager to force surround from the pink and blue audio ports. The orange plug will go to one and the black to the other.

You will get noticeably better sound from a dedicated sound card as the cheap motherboard is going to have low end audio.
 
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Solution
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andreii707

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Apr 25, 2015
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Hello!

I found something which may be of help here:

http://motherboards.specout.com/l/909/GIGABYTE-GA-970A-DS3P-rev-1-0

If you scroll down to the Audio section, it says the following:

"The GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P (rev. 1.0) comes with a 7.1-Channel Realtek ALC887 sound processor. This board will also be fully compatible with surround sound systems and thus, a third-party sound card is not required. However, it may be something to consider if the computer is being used for professional audio production."

So I think that your sorround setup will be supported.

Please bear in mind that I am by no means an expert and I may be wrong, the site says that it is indeed fully compatible with sorround sound systems, so I am 90% sure it does. I am not sure about the difference Rev. 1.0 and yours, which does not specify a Rev. version. Wait a bit before commiting to the purchase, someone more knowledgeable might answer.
 
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Stackimaginable

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Jan 18, 2014
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Thanks for your answer, and to know that for now I don't need a sound card, but I need to ask you(and I apologise in advance for being a noon) but what does the realtek sound manager come with, and where are the pink and blue audio ports?
 
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boosted1g

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Yes, the board can support a 7.1 system. Now when they say 7.1 they mean the side audio is just duplicated from the left/right.
So the board will directly output 5.1 sound from the 3 audio ports, and the side output of 7.1 will be the same as the left/right.

One thing that you should be aware of too, if the source is not 5.1 then it will only play 2.1. So if you go to a youtube video and it only outputs on the left and right speaker and sub that is why.
 
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boosted1g

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On the board there is green (l/r speaker), pink (microphone), and blue (line in) audio ports on the back. In the realtek audio software you can configure the pink and blue ports to be your rear (surround) speakers and the other to be your center and subwoofer speakers.
 
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Stackimaginable

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Jan 18, 2014
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Hi guys,
Thanks for all responses, however, I need to ask something. I also asked this question on the Aria Pc website. The technician that replied said that this motherboard dosnt have the necessary inputs for 5.1 surround sound. Any ideas?
 
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boosted1g

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A proper board for 5.1 has 6 audio ports
[img=200] http://i.stack.imgur.com/nSTnj.jpg [/img]

Your board only has the 3 basic audio ports
[img=200]http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v1/2053369472_5/Free-shipping-100-original-100-new-Gigabyte-970A-DS3P-DDR3-AM3-supports-AMD-FX-6300-CPU.jpg[/img]

The "tech" you talked to likely just saw that it lacked the 3 dedicated surround audio ports and thus told you no.

The Realtek chip is designed to "reassign" the blue line in and pink microphone ports so that you can have a 5.1 setup.
You will plug the black surround cable into the blue port, and plug the orange surround cable into the pink port, and of course the green cable to green port.
You will then need to configure realtek audio manager and windows for 5.1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmRbsOM0hU0
 
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Stackimaginable

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Jan 18, 2014
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Thanks a mil boosted1g. Expect more questions from me in the future!
 
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