Sound, MIC, and GPU problems

[FatAlbert]

 

Hi Fellas,

I needed some help.  I am at wits end.  Multiple issues here....Surround sound, MIC, and GPU.

Specs (I built in 01/2011) : Win10 w/latest updates / 1155 mobo / i7 Sandybridge / Logitech G633 headphones (latest logitech drivers / HD6970 GPU

1) PR MIC not working.

A couple days ago, I jumped onto PR (it's been a long time).  My mic wouldn't work in-game.  I could hear the *beep* when I pressed push to talk for in-squad chat, but no one could hear me.   I checked the Mumble settings, nothing seemed to be different.  Tried using the automatic setup.  still nothing.  yesterday, I jumped onto PR again.  I noticed that even though I joined a squad, I wasn't in that squad in Mumble.  I forgot how to fix that.  Regardless, I tried restarting mumble only.  I tried clicking on the squad, dragging myself into the squad.  Still couldn't move.  No one could hear me in local speech either.

When I go to the windows 10 settings, my mic starts working (I know because I can hear my voice or ambient room sounds, the way I have it setup).  The moment I leave the win10 settings dialogue box, my mic stops transmitting - I hear no ambient room sounds or my voice.   I tried another game, World of Tanks.  Audio worked great, I connected to a friend in Teamspeak.  Had to go through the audio wizard again, but my mic eventually worked.

What am I missing with Mumble?

 

2) Surround sound stopped working

After my issues in PR, I decided to uninstall then re-install my logitech gaming center (which controls my headphones....supposedly).  Afterwards, I tested in RainbowSix.  My surround sound stopped working.  I hear some audio perfectly, but sounds sent through another surround channel are gone.  Before re-installing my logitech drivers, RainbowSix had worked perfectly.  I noticed a new 7.1 surround sound setting in Windows10.  Never seen it before.  Must have come in recent updates.  I tried testing my surround sound in Win10 settings and found that only my front left and front right channels worked, even though 7.1 surround was selected in win10.  Logitech gaming center shows my headphones as stereo or 7.1 audio and it's set to 7.1 audio.  

I have updated all my audio drivers to latest version (win10, logitech, realtek)....or basically my PC said I was running the latest verseiion when I tried to update them.

Now what?

 

3)  GPU dying?

A couple weeks ago, my PC started to make a horrible grinding noise when I started it.  I noticed my top 200mm fan had stopped working and was hot.  So I unplugged it from the mobo.  Unfortunately, I still heard a grinding noise and thought it was coming from my GPU fans.  Then the grinding noise stopped.  Now, when I start my PC, my center screen (3 monitor setup) turns pink and takes afew minutes before I get the normal desktop....as if it's refreshing horizontally from top to bottom.  I don't think the fan matters right now, It's 50F (12C) in my house (I'm poor- now) so I don't think heat is too much of an issue.   

I've built my own PCs (PIII, I5, i7), rebuilt this PC many times, Installed - re-installed Win3.1, 98, 2000, Vista, win7 many, many, many times.   I'm pretty sure, I was one of the first, if not the first, person to get PR completely working in 5760x1080 resolution back in 2010.  At least based on the information I found on various forums back then.  I think I posted a "How to" in the PR website forum as well (under my original name).  My 2GB card is plenty good enough to run PR in the best graphics mode at that resolution......so it's not like I am a noob at doing this kind of stuff.  

Any thoughts? or help?  Could it just be feedback from a bad fan not working and affecting the GPU?

 

 

Lastly, I was looking at getting a new GPU anyway.

My 2GB HD6970 (XFX brand, btw, was rated as the lowest performing of the various brands - bummer) with Accelero Arctic triple fan cooler is probably at the end of it's life cycle with the newer gen of games coming out.  

I'm looking at a 6GB? (can't remember) 1060.  Is there something more cost effective or better performing (but not higher priced?)

I run triple 23" screens @ 1080p.  I'm trying to save for triple 27" 1440p for my racing sims.  I run my racing sims at 5760x1080 resolution on mixture of High/med/low individual settings in each racing sim -whatever gets me to at least 60FPS, but my 2GB card ususally nets me around 50-80fps depending on the sim game.  PR is no problem.  >100fps at 5760x1080 with 1, 2GB card.  I don't play BF3 or BF4 anymore (too much run and gun and spamming) so I don't need crossfire.  And I generally try to limit fps to 60 anyway.

Anything is a huge step up compared to the HD6970.  But I also kinda want to be cognizant of the power usage too.  My electric bill has gone down quite a bit since I stopped using practically 700W of Crossfire constantly (1150W PSU).  lol  

 

1280x720 resolution is how I play on single screen (not 1920x1080)

 

5760x1080.

 

  

What I see.  

[=VG= Kavelenko]

1 hour ago, FatAlbert said:

 

Hi Fellas,

I needed some help.  I am at wits end.  Multiple issues here....Surround sound, MIC, and GPU.

What am I missing with Mumble?

Any thoughts? or help?  Could it just be feedback from a bad fan not working and affecting the GPU?

 

What I see.  

Yeah get another PC or try using one monitor like the rest of us mortals!! lol. Reset the profile in the launcher, that normally fixes most things in PR.

How the hell are ya bro?! Good to see you're back with us man. Get yourself on TS or even Discord and we'll get some heads together and sort it. Jeez I've only ever done one install of PR on this crappy laptop and mumble has always worked for me without needing to switch into the mumble console. On the times when it hasn't its always been the server or an update that's been the issue. I'm still on Windows 7, and I'm still the slowest loader into the VG server!!

VG has a discord server and you can also hook up with me at https://discord.gg/HcdrjWR

Kav

[SoldierOfMisfortune]

Issue 1 has been happening to me way too much lately so I feel you. Only a hard restart gets mumble back online and sometimes I lose mumble all over again few moments into a game despite the restart. I think I remember seeing the error "remote server refused the connection" in mumble once or twice 

[WarGhost]

This can sound crazy but i had same problem with mumble on win10 updated, i mean mic work but not in mumble. Then i reinstalled win10 avoiding any updates for windows but got all updates for drivers and then the magic happend, everything was working just fine.

My mumble was also working with previous install of win10 just before the update, i think it was october update (the big one).

I'm not telling you what to do here, i'm just telling what i was going through, it's up to you.

But you can also try to disable all others audio devices that you are not using and keep only logitech one, this may help with mumble.

[FatAlbert]

31 minutes ago, WarGhost said:

z This can sound crazy but i had same problem with mumble on win10 updated, i mean mic work but not in mumble. Then i reinstalled win10 avoiding any updates for windows but got all updates for drivers and then the magic happend, everything was working just fine.

My mumble was also working with previous install of win10 just before the update, i think it was october update (the big one).

I'm not telling you what to do here, i'm just telling what i was going through, it's up to you.

But you can also try to disable all others audio devices that you are not using and keep only logitech one, this may help with mumble.

I was afraid someone would say that.

I would love to do that.  The last time, it took 3 days to re-install win7, update it to win10, then search, verify compatibility, download and re-install all the drivers and various software I had purchased over the last 7 years. 

Unfortunately........

someone hacked my email addresses I used to purchase software/computer parts.  All my receipts, personal bills, payment information and activation codes were in those email addresses.   if I re-install, I lose most of the software since I won't have the activation codes.  I'm trying to stave off the inevitable.  

Maybe if I rollback the updates.......

 

[=VG= keed]

To reinstall Windows 10 all you need to do is search "reset" in the windows search function and reset your system. No need to reinstall or fiddle around with product keys. It works just like resetting your phone to factory settings when you want to sell it i.e. 

 

[=VG= 0100011000101]

On 1.1.2019 at 3:18 AM, FatAlbert said:

1) PR MIC not working.

Try Right-click (or press and hold) the volume icon on the taskbar and select Sounds. 

In the Recording tab, select the microphone. Select Configure.

in the last tab there is an exclusive mode for the audio behavior. look if there are both ticks set.

in the tabs before you could also check if everything is right.

maybe your 3rd-party-software mixer will also have audio settings. something can remain activated even if you uninstalled the software .... so if you have used the manufacturer mixer in windows you should look if you can adjust audio behavior / phone mode there.

On 1.1.2019 at 3:18 AM, FatAlbert said:

2) Surround sound stopped working

same here.

that sounds like you have totally bent the mixer settings. maybe you should uninstall the sound card correctly (also in the device manager), reboot, ccleaner run over it, reboot and have a clean install.

On 1.1.2019 at 3:18 AM, FatAlbert said:

3)  GPU dying?

exchange monitors, cables or graphics cards (against each other) ... if the error moves, you can make out so which part has a defect.

 

By the way, 5760 x 1080 is a cool idea ... I never thought about trying another ratio.

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

On 12/31/2018 at 6:18 PM, FatAlbert said:

My 2GB card is plenty good enough to run PR in the best graphics mode at that resolution......so it's not like I am a noob at doing this kind of stuff.  

Any thoughts? or help?  Could it just be feedback from a bad fan not working and affecting the GPU?

Yes, most certainly can be the fans on the graphics card failing.  Assuming you've already cleaned off all the dust bunnies, you can go so far (if you want) as to completely remove the fan and heatsink assembly, clean off all the dust and any thermal paste,  replace the fans if possible, reapply thermal compound and reassemble the whole lot.  Other option is to buy a new card when that one finally overheats.  Rattling from fans is a sign of unbalancing due to uneven residue buildup and/or failing brushless motor.  Teardown and deep cleaning *may* solve that, otherwise the alternative is throwing money at the problem with a new GFX card and it's not a good time to buy.

PC Case fans can always be replaced, but GFX card fans can sometimes be proprietary or molded into fixed positions and therefore irreplaceable (for now).  I assume in 15-25 years time, 3D printing at home will allow for a number of plastic proprietary pieces to be remade and replaced when normally this is the death of even fully working devices ... snap off one plastic tab in the wrong spot and things become bricks.  Functional bricks, but bricked nonetheless.

Also, don't consider the 1060.... 1070FTW all the way.  Check the reviews, watch some benchmarks on YT, check the benchmarking websites, etc.  Even on a budget, it's better to wait and save up the extra $70-150.  Price per Performance is a factor, and it's worth it to consider in this case.  It will last for 3 years at least -- consider that price over time and it's a GFX card that costs about $10.14 per month to own, and every month after 3 years lowers that cost.  I've had my ~$350 GFX card for over 3 years now, and it's still running strong.  A good investment.  Expensive, but good.

Final note, now that you know, don't get XFX, or rather, get the card brand/version that other enthusiast PC gamers are using based on benchmark tests and demonstrations.   Also never buy the reference card (the card built by nVidia, branded nVidia) - third party card makers have much better cooling solutions so they push performance and achieve better clock speeds every time.  MSI and EVGA are often the front-runners, with Zotac making some headlines, too.  I'll stick with EVGA myself (SC or FTW depending on which tests better) due to their "silent under load" ACX2+ cooling and ability to keep the card at 60 C, and I'll likely buy EVGA for my next GTX/RTX card depending on reviews at the time.  It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway for the uninitiated readers that happen upon this thread in the future; remember that the best benchmarks are from the game, and games you actually will use the card for.  Not gonna find any PR examples, but several racing games make it into many of the benchmark tests on YT and elsewhere.

 

[WarGhost]

I totaly disasemble my pc and even power supply and graphic card heatsink every year for big cleaning, my pc never ever crashed, i also do a software cleaning almost every two weeks.

After the first install with all updates and drivers up and all cleaned, i did a system backup using AOMEI Backuper (free software) so if something goes wrong with the software side, i just backup my files to another drive and use backuper tool to resotre the system in a blink of an eye (15 mins), i'm not fan of restore point windows feature, the backuper tool is literaly doing a complete disk image, i don't like doubts.

PS: I have to admit that windows 10 is the strongest version of Windows i have experienced. It seems to fight against any attempt to crash it (except if there is a hardware issue).

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

On 1/3/2019 at 2:40 AM, WarGhost said:

I totaly disasemble my pc and even power supply and graphic card heatsink every year for big cleaning, my pc never ever crashed, i also do a software cleaning almost every two weeks.

After the first install with all updates and drivers up and all cleaned, i did a system backup using AOMEI Backuper (free software) so if something goes wrong with the software side, i just backup my files to another drive and use backuper tool to resotre the system in a blink of an eye (15 mins), i'm not fan of restore point windows feature, the backuper tool is literaly doing a complete disk image, i don't like doubts.

PS: I have to admit that windows 10 is the strongest version of Windows i have experienced. It seems to fight against any attempt to crash it (except if there is a hardware issue).

FTR, Windows 10 crashes or hangs up plenty - you've just been lucky.  In Windows 7 (using PC for same shit I do now) I used to have up times of 3+ months.  Now I'm lucky to get through a month without something getting porked and having to restart, let alone the Windows crashes making it difficult to test the stability of, say, an overclock.  Windows 10 doesn't fight shit regarding issues that want to crash a computer, regardless of whether it was due to hardware, software, firmware, shareware, or binary chlamydia.

 

Also, Windows Restore Point feature is for rolling back recent changes to the operating system environment.  It can and should be used before every new program installation and every Windows Update, and make custom names that you can recognize like "before AOMEI installation" or "before Oct2018 WinUpdate".  Windows Restore Point is not a backup disk image creator as you suggest, and therefore you are right when you say that your AOMEI Backuper is better than Windows Restore Point at restoring files from a hard drive backup source.

Windows Backup and Restore is a built in feature complete suite of functions that can create a system repair disc, create a system image, restore all users' files, select another backup to restore files from, and run tasks on a schedule for maximum protection.   In Windows 10, the feature that does what your AOMEI Backuper does is called "Create a system image", and it's found at the link Control Panel\System and Security\Backup and Restore (Windows 7)

Using a third party software for file system backup and restoration is a personal preference, but I will say that it is a bit redundant.  And the way you say "I don't like doubts" infers that you don't trust Windows to perform these tasks, so you use this third party software AOMEI.  Let me ask you this:  why do you trust Microsoft to be the backbone of your entire file system, to be your Operating system, yet you don't trust the tools it comes with?  Is it just for the user interface that AOMEI provides?  Because Windows backup is perfectly fine, works very well, and can be depended upon just as much as any backup.


I've never heard of AOMEI myself, I've been around the block a few times, but I had to look it up. I'm familiar with Acronis, NovaBackup, SpiderOak, Carbonite, Dropbox, etc.  but I gotta say I was not surprised when I found AOMEI in a Top 10 Free Backup Software advertisement that looked like an actual article about backup softwares.  I'm sure they are fine, but all things not being equal, there's no reason to recommend to someone that they backup their computer for peace of mind, and by the way, use this AOMEI software to do it.   Windows can do all of this and if you can trust it to manage your files 24/7, you can trust it to create your disc image backup files, too.

*Don't be confused by the "(Windows 7)" in the title, it was stupid of them to leave that there and is maybe just to delineate between a replacement system that is perhaps coming in the future, who knows.  It works for all systems, and is the best solution for making a Windows OS installation repair disk and a System Image disk, both together being the entirety of your C: drive and OS.  Personally, I use 2 separate Class 10 USB flash drives (16GB and 256GB respectively) and while I have copies of these on external hard drives, I trust that these two USB's have everything I need to restore my system.  These drives are not in the same building as the PC in case of fire.

 

I use RAID-0 across 2 Samsung EVO 120GB SSD's, the M.2/NVMe drives being brand new and too expensive when I built this, and so I could literally lose everything in the blink of an eye (300ms).  I run a backup schedule to internal HDD's that are not the C: drive, and I run the System Image creator monthly.  I already paid nearly $300 for Windows 10, I'm certainly not going to pay some other company for a tool that is included in Win10, and DEFINITELY would not install any redundant "freeware" onto my system unless there is no other alternative.  But again, third party software tools can be a personal preference, for say, the UI, or other features.  Still, Win10 can do it all already, was my point.

[=VG= STRONTIUM-DOG (Inactive Duty)]

I'm going with dedicated drive, OS settings for PR only. then its easy to workout any bugs, and then its stable for the next up date. lol 

BOOT PR DRIVE- head bending wire gimp brain lock eek eek hahah.   i'm a simple man  

[=VG= keed]

@STRONTIUM_DOG You have an instance only for PR? Funny if true 

@FatAlbert Did you resolve the matter?

[=VG= STRONTIUM-DOG (Inactive Duty)]

Drives are cheap, a full head of hair is expensive hahaha i built my PC for PR its all computers are good for : )  

Hows the beast Burt, did you get her running yet. My best option is 2 Nvidia cards with cross fire, so you can double up. they split the work load and run well.  

Ya Gotta get Win 10 or life will be made hard for you by the Gates foundation, If your OS ever looks at you side ways hit the built in factory reset button, there just like cell phones now. resetting the OS is like a clean install. then only install PR : )  

 

IT COWBOY forever i went to the Gates Foundation once. 

 

 

[FatAlbert]

LOL!!!

I did resolve the problem.  After days of scouring the internet, the only solution to my problem was a RE-FORMAT.  Unfortunately - somehow, I had no restore points or backups.  Apparently, the issue is between Win10 and Logitech sound drivers - both saying it's not a problem on their end.  So neither company offered a workable solution.  I had to wipe and re-install everything to get my sound working again.

"Rumors" are that Microsoft is trying to push their version of PAID APP surround sound.  Logitech is trying to push the Dolby surround sound.  Somewhere along the line, one (Microsoft) is creating conflicts with the other to get you to switch to their paid version.

My sound is working now, but I haven't had the opportunity to test it in PR.  And I haven't installed the Logitech drivers for fear of running into this conflict again.

Thanks for all the suggestions though.

 

BTW, I thought my GPU was dying.  it turns out, it's the middle monitor that is dying.  For a week, my middle monitor had red lines that worked it's way from the bottom to the top of the screen and then I would get a picture.  Then, nothing but black and my monitor power light was blinking for a few weeks.  Then, out of the blue, the monitor started working again.  Researching this issue, the monitor power modulatin thingamajiggy - is dying.  I guess I will have to resort to 1 monitor like most of you mere mortals.  lol