[SOLVED] Dead Realtek onboard sound - 3600 + B450 AORUS M (ALC892)

[mtalarek]

Hello, i haven't posted here much and havent been for a while but i am looking for someone with some help regarding my onboard sound in my M-ATX main gaming PC.

I was trying to diagnose a gaming stuttering issue, whenever audio or new sounds were in even a old game, or just when booting it up, or in regular intervals, i would get a serious frametime 'pause'. Either way something was off, for sure.

I disassembled and cleaned my PC using isopropyl alcohol, some brushes, some fabric (not electrically charged) and used a UK IT approved duster to push all the dust away (no contact though)
And i took my ram and cpu and gpu out and in to make sure. GPU and RAM is fine, but dont think so about CPU - some of the pins were swayed. So i tried to straighten them, and i had no 'Realtek High Definition Audio' visible, present, sounding or in Device Manager.

Tried again, no luck for 3 times, then eventually the sound came back temporarily, but it was quieter at max volume than i remembered - so i played a game, alt tabbed out of it, and i put foobar2000 but before i played a MP3, the sound just disappeared. No in Device Manager. Dead.

But this stutter, even when the sound was working (sound is more an issue now but there is no stutter using USB DAC, at least that works for now) did my head in. I was triyng to game, watch a movie, multitask.
I tried two RAM kits - a Crucial 3200 C16 Ballistix 2x16GB 32GB and Team Group 3600mhz CL16 2x8GB 8Pack 16-16-16-36 ... You get the idea, i tried two GPUs, two rams, two hdmi cables, it was NOT my graphics cards (i tried RTX 2060 Super KFA2 and a RX Vega 56 with 64 Bios from AMD).

Now i am confused because i only have a few days till end of week to purchase a computer part replacement, my budget is £200 and i want to buy a R5 3600X if the CPU is damaged, but if its the motherboard, i need to KNOW, it will make me feel relief on what to do next.


But could the stuttering been caused by a old Realtek ALC892 chipset, or could it just be my CPU?

Also i tried a sound card but my only PCI-E sound card (no PCI slot) is a X-Fi from 2008 and that doesn't play well with Windows 10 or Ryzen at all, sound crackling, stutter too (but a lot less) and my only other card is PCI asus xonar DG from years ago, back when i built my first PC, pre-Ryzen, with AMD FX 6350 and GA-78LMT-USB3 Gigabyte board, sound was dead on that too , or 'dead' if i botched the CPU install.

Its probably the CPU, but id like to know before tomorrow.



Specs:
Realtek 7.1 ALC892 onboard audio
Gigabyte B450 AORUS M M-ATX AM4 Motherboard (latest F51 BIOS 'Combo V1 1.0.0.6')
Cooler Master NR400 MATX Case
Ryzen 3600
RX Vega 56 Blower
TX750M PSU
Windows 10 Pro v2004 19041.450
Realtek HDA Driver from Tenforums (i tried UAD too)

 

[hang-the-9]

Hello, i haven't posted here much and havent been for a while but i am looking for someone with some help regarding my onboard sound in my M-ATX main gaming PC.

I was trying to diagnose a gaming stuttering issue, whenever audio or new sounds were in even a old game, or just when booting it up, or in regular intervals, i would get a serious frametime 'pause'. Either way something was off, for sure.

I disassembled and cleaned my PC using isopropyl alcohol, some brushes, some fabric (not electrically charged) and used a UK IT approved duster to push all the dust away (no contact though)
And i took my ram and cpu and gpu out and in to make sure. GPU and RAM is fine, but dont think so about CPU - some of the pins were swayed. So i tried to straighten them, and i had no 'Realtek High Definition Audio' visible, present, sounding or in Device Manager.

Tried again, no luck for 3 times, then eventually the sound came back temporarily, but it was quieter at max volume than i remembered - so i played a game, alt tabbed out of it, and i put foobar2000 but before i played a MP3, the sound just disappeared. No in Device Manager. Dead.

But this stutter, even when the sound was working (sound is more an issue now but there is no stutter using USB DAC, at least that works for now) did my head in. I was triyng to game, watch a movie, multitask.
I tried two RAM kits - a Crucial 3200 C16 Ballistix 2x16GB 32GB and Team Group 3600mhz CL16 2x8GB 8Pack 16-16-16-36 ... You get the idea, i tried two GPUs, two rams, two hdmi cables, it was NOT my graphics cards (i tried RTX 2060 Super KFA2 and a RX Vega 56 with 64 Bios from AMD).

Now i am confused because i only have a few days till end of week to purchase a computer part replacement, my budget is £200 and i want to buy a R5 3600X if the CPU is damaged, but if its the motherboard, i need to KNOW, it will make me feel relief on what to do next.


But could the stuttering been caused by a old Realtek ALC892 chipset, or could it just be my CPU?

Also i tried a sound card but my only PCI-E sound card (no PCI slot) is a X-Fi from 2008 and that doesn't play well with Windows 10 or Ryzen at all, sound crackling, stutter too (but a lot less) and my only other card is PCI asus xonar DG from years ago, back when i built my first PC, pre-Ryzen, with AMD FX 6350 and GA-78LMT-USB3 Gigabyte board, sound was dead on that too , or 'dead' if i botched the CPU install.

Its probably the CPU, but id like to know before tomorrow.



Specs:
Realtek 7.1 ALC892 onboard audio
Gigabyte B450 AORUS M M-ATX AM4 Motherboard (latest F51 BIOS 'Combo V1 1.0.0.6')
Cooler Master NR400 MATX Case
Ryzen 3600
RX Vega 56 Blower
TX750M PSU
Windows 10 Pro v2004 19041.450
Realtek HDA Driver from Tenforums (i tried UAD too)

You said something about no stutter when using a USB DAC, just continue to use that.

 

[mtalarek]

You said something about no stutter when using a USB DAC, just continue to use that.

So could this just be the crappy implementation of the (now ancient but still in low budget boards) Realtek codec? Might be why i was so annoyed in the first place. I guess i'll get a new mobo anyway, because i had the nicest sound from alc1220 based mobos, and since i am buying a 3600x with intention to upgrade to a 8/12 core zen 2/3 i might as well as the 4+3 phase VRM on this 'B450 AORUS M' isn't going to run it decently.
EDIT 21:05 GMT: Probably it's the last gen chipset giving issues or bugs with 3rd gen Ryzen and that somehow falls onto audio? It happens. But i wish i knew if my CPU is just unstable. I can't RMA because i got it from Amazon and the return window closed about 1,5x a month ago, but since i did damage to it in some way (i'm guessing since i did make mistakes in the past) i might just have to get a new CPU and a new board at once so i can avoid headaches.

 

[JohnnyAx222]

I disassembled and cleaned my PC using isopropyl alcohol

But why?Compressed air does the job, alcohol can help if u have like bbq near ur pc.

 

[mtalarek]

It wasnt the wisest idea, i know, my OCD kicked in with that cleaning, but i wanted to make sure if i chipped something off, which i could have, and because i cleaned with a toothbrush that i used before, i had to sanitize it a bit.

I just thought i screwed something up during building and caused some damage but since the board and PC works, i did a OCCT test for over 1 hour (bone stock, nothing in bios) and everything was fine no errors.
Ram actually runs at 3600mhz on the XMP on this CPU and b450 mobo, which proves my theory that you dont lose that much getting cheaper mobo, aside from overclocking power and thermal performances and niceties.

Anyway thanks for the DAC idea, ill probably get a pci-e x1 sound card soon which has alc1220 so maybe this isnt a unsalvegable situation after all Just hope those few skewed pins if they dont contact it doesnt fry cpu lol.

 

[mtalarek]

Okay so i found out it was my motherboard , i upgraded to a AsRock B550M Steel Legend and the sound is there and perfect, so it was NOT my CPU. Unfortunately i did purchase a 2700x for a bad reason, i will probably sell it or give away to a friend, but i'm glad my PC is usable (for now). I need to sort out a lot. Thanks all.