[SOLVED] Simple sound solution for HP Z800

May 29, 2020
20
0
10
I got an old HP Z800 a few weeks ago that needed a HDD and GPU which I installed and that has worked out. I was also told it needed a sound card which I thought might be wrong because it has sound jacks front and back. Which aren't active. I've been doing a little online research about how to go into BIOS to turn disabled sound back on but none of that is clear to me and it seems like there is much I could muck up if I'm not careful.

Right now I'm looking at getting a USB sound card like a Creative SOUND BLASTERX G1 Up to 24-bit / 96kHz USB Interface Sound Card. Is that going to allow me to plug in headphones or speakers that will be active with the Z800. Or do I really need to enable the onboard mobo sound before a USB sound card will work. Right now all my sound is coming through the Nvidia 1030 GPU and the TV speakers which is alright. But some sounds are dropped as in gaming where some warning claxons are not active with some interesting results at times.
I'm just looking for a simple low cost solution for now mostly for use with headphones. A USB sound card looks like the best option but with all the variables I'm not sure what will work.

Thanks.
 
Solution
I got an old HP Z800 a few weeks ago that needed a HDD and GPU which I installed and that has worked out. I was also told it needed a sound card which I thought might be wrong because it has sound jacks front and back. Which aren't active. I've been doing a little online research about how to go into BIOS to turn disabled sound back on but none of that is clear to me and it seems like there is much I could muck up if I'm not careful.

Right now I'm looking at getting a USB sound card like a Creative SOUND BLASTERX G1 Up to 24-bit / 96kHz USB Interface Sound Card. Is that going to allow me to plug in headphones or speakers that will be active with the Z800. Or do I really need to enable the onboard mobo sound...
I got an old HP Z800 a few weeks ago that needed a HDD and GPU which I installed and that has worked out. I was also told it needed a sound card which I thought might be wrong because it has sound jacks front and back. Which aren't active. I've been doing a little online research about how to go into BIOS to turn disabled sound back on but none of that is clear to me and it seems like there is much I could muck up if I'm not careful.

Right now I'm looking at getting a USB sound card like a Creative SOUND BLASTERX G1 Up to 24-bit / 96kHz USB Interface Sound Card. Is that going to allow me to plug in headphones or speakers that will be active with the Z800. Or do I really need to enable the onboard mobo sound before a USB sound card will work. Right now all my sound is coming through the Nvidia 1030 GPU and the TV speakers which is alright. But some sounds are dropped as in gaming where some warning claxons are not active with some interesting results at times.
I'm just looking for a simple low cost solution for now mostly for use with headphones. A USB sound card looks like the best option but with all the variables I'm not sure what will work.

Thanks.
USB sound cards have own CODEC chip so they don't depend on onboard sound. Only requirement is that they are recognized by OS and have drivers installed.
 
Solution