Anyway of finding out what motherboards have a SPDIF output without looking through EVERY mobo?

[Tcrumpen]

When i come to upgrade my machine because it's using an Intel Ivy lake CPU i'll need to upgrade my motherboard so i can use Ryzen; problem is that i connect up my 5.1 sound system to my computer via an optical cable; is there a quick way of searching for motherboards that have SPDIF outputs without going onto to every manufacturers website and looking through each motherboard in turn and looking at the specs? Also i am willing to buy a sound card if that would work out more cost effective

[SeanAngelo]

6 minutes ago, Tcrumpen said:

When i come to upgrade my machine because it's using an Intel Ivy lake CPU i'll need to upgrade my motherboard so i can use Ryzen; problem is that i connect up my 5.1 sound system to my computer via an optical cable; is there a quick way of searching for motherboards that have SPDIF outputs without going onto to every manufacturers website and looking through each motherboard in turn and looking at the specs? Also i am willing to buy a sound card if that would work out more cost effective

what are your specs?

[Dujith]

Most if not al higher end motherboards will have a SPDIF. But it will be down to the site where u buy to have that filter option.

I know the ones i use have it. 

 

For example this link -> Newegg with filters applied (AM4 and SPIDF) gives 154 results  so i think its harder to find a motherboard without SPDIF

[Nocte]

According to a post on tomshardware these mobos support optical cables:

Asus ROG Strix B350F Gaming (Uses FX S1220A Audio Codec)
Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 (Uses Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
MSI B350 Gaming Pro Carbon (Uses Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
MSI B350M Mortar (Uses Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
MSI B350M Mortar Arctic (Uses Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)

 

I would go with the Asus B350-F. You cannot go wrong with it. 

[Tcrumpen]

4 minutes ago, SeanAngelo said:

what are your specs?

For the machine i will be building?

 

Well i'll be reusing a lot of stuff from my current system

 

Graphics Card: GTX 1050Ti

Storage: 128GB SSD for OS and 2TB HDD for everything else (including games)

OS: Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit (Free upgrade from Win 7 when Microsoft were doing thier promo)

PSU: Can't remember brand but it's a 750W PSU

Case: Coolermaster Silenco (few years old but still good what wha ti need)

 

CPU, Mobo and RAM are what i'll need to replace

 

CPU - Ryzen 5 or 7

RAM - 16GB DDR4 (No need for RGB)

MOBO - To be decided

 

As i stated before might need a sound card if the price of the Mobo is to high and it's more cost effective to get a sound card

 

Will be mainly using it for gaming and light video editing/vfx work (side hobby)

[paddy-stone]

My board doesn't have optical out.. am using the ASrock AB350M pro 4. However, I am more likely to just use my TVs optical output to connect up to the soundbar or whatever, simply because then whatever I am using through the TV can use that 1 optical cable instead of having to either hook up multiple cables to the soundbar with a selector of some kind.. which I hate because if you CAN do it through 1 cable then I don't see the need for separate cables.

FWIW, the HDMI 2.0 on your 1050ti can provide upto 32 audio channels according to the HDMI spec, so anything you connect with HDMI 2.0 to HDMI 2.0 should theoretically be OK for transmitting the sound also.

[Tcrumpen]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

My board doesn't have optical out.. am using the ASrock AB350M pro 4. However, I am more likely to just use my TVs optical output to connect up to the soundbar or whatever, simply because then whatever I am using through the TV can use that 1 optical cable instead of having to either hook up multiple cables to the soundbar with a selector of some kind.. which I hate because if you CAN do it through 1 cable then I don't see the need for separate cables.

FWIW, the HDMI 2.0 on your 1050ti can provide upto 32 audio channels according to the HDMI spec, so anything you connect with HDMI 2.0 to HDMI 2.0 should theoretically be OK for transmitting the sound also.

My sound system only has 1 optical connection and 1 HDMI connection; HDMI is going to my TV for Blu Ray playing and my G-Card's HDMI is going to the other input for the TV

 

I don't have enough physical space for a separate TV and monitor setup

[SeanAngelo]

11 minutes ago, Tcrumpen said:

For the machine i will be building?

 

Well i'll be reusing a lot of stuff from my current system

 

Graphics Card: GTX 1050Ti

Storage: 128GB SSD for OS and 2TB HDD for everything else (including games)

OS: Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit (Free upgrade from Win 7 when Microsoft were doing thier promo)

PSU: Can't remember brand but it's a 750W PSU

Case: Coolermaster Silenco (few years old but still good what wha ti need)

 

CPU, Mobo and RAM are what i'll need to replace

 

CPU - Ryzen 5 or 7

RAM - 16GB DDR4 (No need for RGB)

MOBO - To be decided

 

As i stated before might need a sound card if the price of the Mobo is to high and it's more cost effective to get a sound card

 

Will be mainly using it for gaming and light video editing/vfx work (side hobby)

if you want a SPDIF, the ASUS B350 STRIX has optical out.

[paddy-stone]

1 minute ago, Tcrumpen said:

My sound system only has 1 optical connection and 1 HDMI connection; HDMI is going to my TV for Blu Ray playing and my G-Card's HDMI is going to the other input for the TV

 

I don't have enough physical space for a separate TV and monitor setup

Does your TV have an optical out? if so then that solves your problem.

 

So you'd have HDMI from your GPU to the TV, and then the optical out is transmitting the audio to the sound system.

 

As I just said, anything that has a connection to your TV through HDMI, would then output through that same optical cable.

[Tcrumpen]

3 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

Does your TV have an optical out? if so then that solves your problem.

 

So you'd have HDMI from your GPU to the TV, and then the optical out is transmitting the audio to the sound system.

 

As I just said, anything that has a connection to your TV through HDMI, would then output through that same optical cable.

Apart from the fact that i've also got the TV linked up to my sound system (should have mentioned that to); i have to use a 3 way optical switch to change between my PC and TV

 

So my sound setup is as detailed below:

 

Optical Out from Computer > Optical Switch > Sound System

Optical Out from TV > Same optical swtich > Sound system

 

HDMI from Graphics Card > HDMI 1 of TV

HDMI from Sound System (for Blu Ray) > HDMI 2 of TV

 

No more spare HDMI ports on my TV

[paddy-stone]

1 minute ago, Tcrumpen said:

Apart from the fact that i've also got the TV linked up to my sound system (should have mentioned that to); i have to use a 3 way optical switch to change between my PC and TV

OK, there's no problem then is there? I'm not understanding why you need optical from the PC then as it will have HDMI 2.0 to the TV (presumably HDMI 2.0, but even if it isn't I'm sure that on previous versions it still supported multiple sound channels)... then the TV is outputting that sound to the sound system.

So basically you would have:-

 

PC HDMI out from GPU ->TV

BLU-ray HDMI out -> TV

TV optical out -> sound system.... now ANYTHING connected to your TV can output to the sound system.

[Tcrumpen]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

OK, there's no problem then is there? I'm not understanding why you need optical from the PC then as it will have HDMI 2.0 to the TV (presumably HDMI 2.0, but even if it isn't I'm sure that on previous versions it still supported multiple sound channels)... then the TV is outputting that sound to the sound system.

So basically you would have:-

 

PC HDMI out from GPU ->TV

BLU-ray HDMI out -> TV

TV optical out -> sound system.... now ANYTHING connected to your TV can output to the sound system.

How can the computer output to the sound system?

 

The HDMI is a HDMI In to the TV the computer is not connected to the sound system in anyway so there would be no way of passing the sound to the sound system; passing it to the TV speakers yes but not to the sound system; unless i'm misunderstanding how audio works via HDMI connections

[paddy-stone]

Just now, Tcrumpen said:

How can the computer output to the sound system?

 

The HDMI is a HDMI In to the TV the computer is not connected to the sound system in anyway so there would be no way of passing the sound to the sound system; passing it to the TV speakers yes but not to the sound system; unless i'm misunderstanding how audio works via HDMI connections

OK, what ports does your sound system have? is the HDMI an input and output?

[Tcrumpen]

Just now, paddy-stone said:

OK, what ports does your sound system have? is the HDMI an input and output?

It's HDMI Out and Optical In

 

That are the only two connections it has (It was a budget Samsung system)

[paddy-stone]

37 minutes ago, Tcrumpen said:

It's HDMI Out and Optical In

 

That are the only two connections it has (It was a budget Samsung system)

Ahh I see, and you also use your sound system with the PC, but not on the TV?

[paddy-stone]

OK, I re-read the thread, I apologise for seeming so dense here, But I still can't work out why you have an HDMI cable going from your sound system to your TV for blu-ray... I can't see how that would work even, where is the input from the blu-ray to the sound system?

I'm just trying to wrap my head around your situation, so that I might be able to offer a workaround.

[Tcrumpen]

28 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

OK, I re-read the thread, I apologise for seeming so dense here, But I still can't work out why you have an HDMI cable going from your sound system to your TV for blu-ray... I can't see how that would work even, where is the input from the blu-ray to the sound system?

I'm just trying to wrap my head around your situation, so that I might be able to offer a workaround.

The sound system has a bluray player built in the amp and bluray player are one unit

 

I understand your reasoning but i've looked at some other products and unless i wanna spend over a grand on a amp and separate player all sound systems only have 1 input (optical)

[paddy-stone]

1 minute ago, Tcrumpen said:

The sound system has a bluray player built in the amp and bluray player are one unit

 

I understand your reasoning but i've looked at some other products and unless i wanna spend over a grand on a amp and separate player all sound systems only have 1 input (optical)

Nope, I have a soundbar, 5.1 sound DTS and everything, cost me around £150 getting on for 10 years ago

AUX in: Y
Apple docking compatibility: Not supported
Audio (L,R) in: 1
Audio output channels: 5.1
Colour of product: Black
Digital audio coaxial in: 2
Digital audio optical in: 2

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000W49NSY/

 

Anyway, sorry for all the questions, I was just trying to figure out if there was a way to configure your arrangement so you didn't have to get a board with optical output. Although that seems like it might be the only choice from what you have told me unfortunately. In which case I would also recommend the ASUS b350f as I have heard good things about that board, not least of which is that it has good VRMs and is great for OC'ing too

 

[Tcrumpen]

Just now, paddy-stone said:

Nope, I have a soundbar, 5.1 sound DTS and everything, cost me around £150 getting on for 10 years ago

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000W49NSY/

 

Anyway, sorry for all the questions, I was just trying to figure out if there was a way to configure your arrangement so you didn't have to get a board with optical output. Although that seems like it might be the only choice from what you have told me unfortunately. In which case I would also recommend the ASUS b350f as I have heard good things about that board, not least of which is that it has good VRMs and is great for OC'ing too

 

That's a sound bar style which do actually have more inputs; every home cinema system i've looked at from the likes of Samsung, LG etc. all only have 1 input

[paddy-stone]

1 minute ago, Tcrumpen said:

That's a sound bar style which do actually have more inputs; every home cinema system i've looked at from the likes of Samsung, LG etc. all only have 1 input

Yeah, exactly, home cinema systems typically include a BD player, which is most of the reason for less inputs. A regular sound system and soundbars have more inputs.

[Tcrumpen]

Just now, paddy-stone said:

Yeah, exactly, home cinema systems typically include a BD player, which is most of the reason for less inputs. A regular sound system and soundbars have more inputs.

If my room was smaller then a soundbar would work however as my lgune is also a kitchen (open plan room) a soundbar wouldn't work in a 19ft by 11ft room

[paddy-stone]

2 minutes ago, Tcrumpen said:

If my room was smaller then a soundbar would work however as my lgune is also a kitchen (open plan room) a soundbar wouldn't work in a 19ft by 11ft room

Yeah, that's unfortunate.. I love soundbars as I don't like having the wires around the room. Kind of ironic as I have pretty much every other cable going around my room, lol

I'm not actually using my soundbar ATM, as I had to take the TV off the wall last year, so don't have anywhere to put it right now as it would block a fair portion of the TV as it is HUGE. If I don't end up putting the TV on the wall again, I will most likely just buy another soundbar, with a much smaller footprint. Overall though I probably WILL end up mounting the TV again, I just need to work some stuff around, this time I will also mount the arm to a board with bolts instead of directly to the wall.... and then mount the board to the wall with many more anchor points, then affix another board to cover up the screwholes, just velcro'd maybe, so that it matches the decor and doesn't actually look like a board is there at all. That will also help me conceal most of the wiring too

 

Anyway, sorry I couldn't be any help to you with this. TBH though some of the B350 boards are surprisingly capable, and cheap, especially compared to some Intel boards. I love my ASrock board, very easy to use and is great for OCing, currently have my 1700 @4.0Ghz and 1.32V IIRC (can't remember the volts right now) and it stays under 50C under full load with a Cooler master Masterliquid 240mm Lite. Idle it is only approx 24-28C, which is approx 4-8C above ambient... right now I am mining on my 1050 and it's approx 26C as it's only on a 1-3% load so basically idle still even while doing quite a few tasks at the same time. I love my Ryzen CPU, it doesn't sweat it at all

 

[Tcrumpen]

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

Yeah, that's unfortunate.. I love soundbars as I don't like having the wires around the room. Kind of ironic as I have pretty much every other cable going around my room, lol

I'm not actually using my soundbar ATM, as I had to take the TV off the wall last year, so don't have anywhere to put it right now as it would block a fair portion of the TV as it is HUGE. If I don't end up putting the TV on the wall again, I will most likely just buy another soundbar, with a much smaller footprint. Overall though I probably WILL end up mounting the TV again, I just need to work some stuff around, this time I will also mount the arm to a board with bolts instead of directly to the wall.... and then mount the board to the wall with many more anchor points, then affix another board to cover up the screwholes, just velcro'd maybe, so that it matches the decor and doesn't actually look like a board is there at all. That will also help me conceal most of the wiring too

 

Anyway, sorry I couldn't be any help to you with this. TBH though some of the B350 boards are surprisingly capable, and cheap, especially compared to some Intel boards. I love my ASrock board, very easy to use and is great for OCing, currently have my 1700 @4.0Ghz and 1.32V IIRC (can't remember the volts right now) and it stays under 50C under full load with a Cooler master Masterliquid 240mm Lite. Idle it is only approx 24-28C, which is approx 4-8C above ambient... right now I am mining on my 1050 and it's approx 26C as it's only on a 1-3% load so basically idle still even while doing quite a few tasks at the same time. I love my Ryzen CPU, it doesn't sweat it at all

 

I won't be looking at overclocking; i know it's free performance gain but i cba with doing it i'm not interested in benchmark scores and nothing i do really needs the performance gain from overclocking, the most intensive game i play is Crysis 2 which can run at 60fps on my 1050ti no problem

 

As for CPU well i don't do a lot of CPU intensive tasks

 

But i'll look into the Asus board

[paddy-stone]

21 minutes ago, Tcrumpen said:

I won't be looking at overclocking; i know it's free performance gain but i cba with doing it i'm not interested in benchmark scores and nothing i do really needs the performance gain from overclocking, the most intensive game i play is Crysis 2 which can run at 60fps on my 1050ti no problem

 

As for CPU well i don't do a lot of CPU intensive tasks

 

But i'll look into the Asus board

It's your call man, no worries, but it really is very simple OCing, even just a light OC on that Ryzen 5 or 7 you will be buying is very easy, you just have to watch the voltage, but for say an OC to 3.7/3.8Ghz is do-able on ALL b350 boards I would say.  You say that you won't see any performance gains, but I disagree, it's not ONLY in benchmarks that you will see the benefit at all... yes it is less noticeable than say a performance increase by getting more logical cores in an upgrade and it DOES depend on what you do of course. BUT I think you should try it out on your normal usage/workload to see if there are any significant benefits at least.

If you don't OC, I think you are wasting the performance of that CPU and board. If you're only gaming, then I would stick with Intel, especially as you don't want to OC... maybe look at getting a cheaper 8 series board when they come out, and a i5 8400 or i7 8700 instead. You choice of course, I think you will benefit more from intel if you don't want to OC.

[Tcrumpen]

8 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

It's your call man, no worries, but it really is very simple OCing, even just a light OC on that Ryzen 5 or 7 you will be buying is very easy, you just have to watch the voltage, but for say an OC to 3.7/3.8Ghz is do-able on ALL b350 boards I would say.  You say that you won't see any performance gains, but I disagree, it's not ONLY in benchmarks that you will see the benefit at all... yes it is less noticeable than say a performance increase by getting more logical cores in an upgrade and it DOES depend on what you do of course. BUT I think you should try it out on your normal usage/workload to see if there are any significant benefits at least.

If you don't OC, I think you are wasting the performance of that CPU and board. If you're only gaming, then I would stick with Intel, especially as you don't want to OC... maybe look at getting a cheaper 8 series board when they come out, and a i5 8400 or i7 8700 instead. You choice of course, I think you will benefit more from intel if you don't want to OC.

I went with Ryzen due to them being a lot cheaper than Intel chips at least they were a few months ago when i was doing my initial research a i7 was around £150 more than a Ryzen 7