Surround sound from pc

[csprague]

I have been trying to get surround sound out of my PC to no avail. Is it possible to get surround sound out of this set up? If not, what are some low cost options?

Sony Bravia KDL-46EX500
RCA RT2770
Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Windows 7

 

[Unolocogringo]

First you will need an optical SPDIF cable from the pc to receiver.
Next go into the sound properties and enable SPDIF out.
Set you speaker configuration to 5.1.
Set your game sound settings to 5.1 in the in game menu.
This should give you 5.1 sound for most everything except some online videos etc.

 

[thee_prisoner]

We need a lot more information. Are you using a PC speaker system and what kind? Are you using home speakers? Do you have home electronics like a receiver or separates? Are you using this for gaming, music, movies or all three?

You have a number of options:

1. Analog outputs on the mobo for up to 7.1, it works very well if you have analog inputs on the devices you are hooking them up to.
Great for gaming, movies and music. The problem is that it is getting harder to find AVR(Audio video Receivers) that have the inputs.
In the more audiophile community type components, it is easier to find using pre amp surround sound processor equipment.

2. SPDIF: It has it's limitations in bandwidth for 5.1(it doesn't do 7.1 or a few other things), depends on what you need in terms of
5.1(like DTS, Dolby and etc) Works well with music in 2.0 mode.

3. HDMI: Your mobo and your video card both have HDMI outputs. This is a very good option. Easier cable management then analog, much better bandwidth than optical(SDPIF) and an evolving tech unlike SDPIF. Also, I saw that your mobo supports Dolby home Theatre(used to be called Dolby Digital Live). Which would be good for movies.

So it comes down to what other equipment you have and how you are going to use them.

And like Rick said, you will have to configure your settings depending on what you want or need.

Happy listening, the Prisoner...