PC Tech Thread

No need to link them for rendering.

Have been using a RX5700 in my hackintosh (using Octane X for rendering) for a while but I was getting a bit annoyed at the amount of crashes. Have decided that it’s best to stick with windows and Nvidia for this kind of stuff, much more reliable.

And yeah, no need to link them up.

Ta - think you said that before actually which goes to show goldfish.

Still no show on the PSU from Amazon so I've ordered the last one I could find in the country from another retailer - should arrive Tuesday before 12 and if the Amazon one arrives I'll return it.

Then build on Tuesday (hopefully). Can't wait to do some side by side render tests. Hoping for good things.

brains of lfgss. I use gmail and have just got a personal laptop for the first time in forever - what email client should I use that will have as much functionality as possible? Thunderbird or Mailbird Pro seem to be front runners, any other suggestions?

I am also trying to move towards making my internet presence more secure generally, if that makes any difference. Thank you!

t.o.

brains of lfgss. I use gmail and have just got a personal laptop for the first time in forever - what email client should I use that will have as much functionality as possible? Thunderbird or Mailbird Pro seem to be front runners, any other suggestions

Just use Gmail web interface! As soon as you use an email client with Gmail you actually lose functionality in my experience.

ha ok, thank you. I like having a separate icon/"app" for it, maybe I'll reserve chrome just for gmail/calendar

https://www.maketecheasier.com/access-gmail-on-your-desktop/

you can save a bookmark to a specific website as an icon/"app"

It works...

Haven't touched drivers/bios updates yet - it's quite loud but just for novelty value and comparison, first cinebench multi core score of 24040. Going to tinker with some stuff and see if that mitigates fan noise a bit.

Having some trouble with audio on the new computer - specifically relating to using a headset with a built in microphone - ideally bluetooth but also wired.

In the first instance, I can get my bose qc 35 ii to connect and listen to things. But when I launch an app, specifically PUBG, it disconnects. I can alt tab out to bluetooth settings and switch it on and off again, sometimes it works for a minute, sometimes when I run PUBG the only option it gives me is a 'hands free AG Audio' version which seems to capture the local sound (i.e. me breathing) and play that back to me as well as the internal sound from the software (leading to me hearing a very echoey/distant sound which isn't great for games).

Whenever I hear audio over bluetooth I'm never able to use the mic on the same devicea at the same time. I've tried deleting all knowledge of the headphones from device manager, tried clearing the memory on the headphones, tried reinstalling bluetooth drivers. I can't find my 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable so can't try the headphones wired instead of wireless but suspect I'd run into issues with the front headphone jack not accepting a mic/headphone combo? (I've ordered a 2.5mm / 3.5mm adapter which arrives tomorrow to test this theory).

The motherboard (a Gigabyte Vision B550 D):

*Realtek® ALC1220-VB codec

• The back panel line out jack supports DSD audio.
  Support for DTS:X® Ultra
  High Definition Audio
  2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
  Support for S/PDIF Out*
  
  

The rear IO panel :

The front IO has a single 3.5mm jack - I can't see anywhere that suggests it may accept both mic and headphone functions, but it may.

To complicate things there's also a 3.5mm jack on monitor (again, I don't know what functions it offers) and there are 2 x HDMI 2.1 and 3 x DP 1.4 on the graphics card all with nVidia sticking their audio oar in.

Ignoring bluetooth for now, I've tried connecting a pair of iphone headphones with in-line mic and can hear through them on the front panel but can't be heard.

I've tried connecting the iphone headphones to the monitor and can hear (but noticeably quieter max volume) but cannot be heard.

I've tried connecting the iphone headphones to all of the ports at the rear (just for the sake of it) and can neither hear nor be heard - the one I had hope for was using the iphone headphones as a mic via the rear mic slot and then other wired headphones in the front 3.5mm slot. No joy.

This is the gist of the options in Sounds using current settings for stable listening:

PLAYBACK

Headset
Bose QC35 II Hands-Free AG Audio
Ready

Headphones
Bose QC35II Stereo
Ready

Monitor
NVIDIA HD Audio
Ready

NVIDIA Output
NVIDIA HD Audio
Not plugged in

NVIDIA Output
NVIDIA HD Audio
Not plugged in

Zowie XL LCD
NVIDIA HD Audio
Not plugged in

Speakers
Realtek (R) Audio
Ready

PC FRONT
Realtek (R) Audio
Default device

Realtek Digital Output
Realtek (R) Audio
Ready

RECORDING:

Headset
Bose QC35 II Hands-Free AG Audio
Default Device

Microphone
Realtek (r) audio
Not plugged in

Line In
Realtek (r) Audio
Not plugged in

Stereo Mix
Realtek (R) Audio
Ready

-

I've tinkered while typing this and can now get the mic on the bluetooth headphones to remain consistently on (even with an instance of PUBG) and then using the wired iphone headphones as my audio monitor. So I hear with the in-ears and then put the Bose over the top of them as as the mic. It's far from ideal.

Coming from 'la it just works apple la' this is proving frustrating but presumably has some kind of overlooked simple fix -right? I've googled and seen lots of instances of the bose qc35 ii being problematic in windows 10 but none of the fixes I've seen have worked for me.

My next buy is a proper gaming headset (presumably something that uses a USB adapter e.g. logitech pro x wirelesss which shouldn't have any such issues, right?) or potentially a USB interface like a Scarlett 2i2. I have several nice mics but they're all phantom powered so can't just plug them in the mic slot on the back via 3.5mm-XLR.

But I'd prefer if my current headphones just worked. Any obvious end-user-idiocy things I'm missing that can be resolved without additional hardware?

Just tried connecting QC35-IIs to my laptop (coincidentally Gigabyte) and they also disconnect when a game launches.

From what I remember Bluetooth headphones can be set up in two ways, either as headphones or a headset. Think the headset is needed for microphone but then sound quality isn't as good.

Can't remember exactly but it's along those lines

this is the problem. /cc @CYOA

Bose try to play it off as a Windows issue, but the reality is you can either have Stereo (Music) or Mono+Mic .... I gave up and use a wired set of headphones+mic instead. There's a discussion about BT profiles on Bose site.

also the headphones don't support AptX so forget low latency audio. I really would not recommend them for gaming at all

That's how mine work. Sounds is shite in headset mode, presumably because of bandwidth. It shows as a separate audio output in Windows.

Yeah I don't love them but they were free and my B&Os got toddler'd. I liked to use them on the iMac I was using before this as they could connect to Google Voice on the iMac for the office line and then to my mobile so I just keep them on all day / listening to podcasts / taking calls / going on zoom and playing in the evening. Strangely though they worked in Bootcamp just fine - presumably because Mac hardware doesn't have physical different channels for audio in/out?

What a bummer. Wired it is. But wait, how do I know that will work based on the not working iphone earbuds with in-line mic?

I just had a round of PUBG with the bose as headphones and mic all over bluetooth and then when the state changed (went into a loading screen) I had a blue screen crash. Had it yesterday too in the same settings - i.e. after much fiddling finally being able to get into a game with headphones working as intended and it killed the computer.

Bootcamp gaming on a 6 year old iMac can't be easier than this, shirley. (Granted I wasn't getting 240 frames+ on ultra).

Gonna go to bed before I wake up with a credit card full of gaming headsets and audio interfaces.

If anyone sees a Logitech Pro X wired in stock anywhere, hmu (or a recommendation for something else).

Logitech Pro X wired

Could get the wireless one and connect the included cable
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3085747

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/gaming_headset/quietcomfort-35-gaming-headset.html

:D

@duncs I feel like that's the wired one but in any event not available for delivery or click/collect.

Would also be concerned that just wiring it up wouldn't work (based on lack of success with iPhone earbuds) but I guess will find out today when I attempt to bodge a cable fix with the qc35-II.

The closest I've come to a solution that works and gives good sound / doesn't crash using equipment is running a 416 into a camera, running that into a Video Assist 12g and running that via USB into the computer. But it's a lot of faff.

@Brun hard lol

The USB ones should work as it's the equivalent of an entirely new soundcard being plugged in.

Thanks. I've currently got discord running on my phone, qc35-ii connected bluetooth to the phone and can hear and be heard in discord, then also wearing earbuds connected to the front panel 3.5mm for in game. It is NOT ideal. But no crashes.

@giles337 @IrPOWERranger thank you!

Use wires.

The Bluetooth experience is bad... Windows is very bad at it, Mac is pretty bad at it (shows up less as people have fewer sound devices).

As said elsewhere, it's a Stereo vs Mono+Mic thing... and to change that it must disconnect and reconnect. The disconnect is instant, the reconnect not so much.

Not using bluetooth is the only sane solution AFAICT.

Ludicrous but thanks everyone. Will look and see what's good and in stock.