How can I find what my sound card is?

captcadaver · 27 Dec 2009

I've tried Device Manager in Control Panel, but I'm only given a very generic name. (I just tried to open Device Manager again, but I can't for some reason... I'll edit this shortly.) I tried running dxdiag, and it claims it couldn't find a sound card.

I just installed Windows 7 Home Premium. I was previously using Windows Vista Ultimate.

I'm at home from school, and I didn't feel like bringing my speakers. So, sound would come from my sound card. I reformatted and installed Windows 7 with a headset plugged in, and I'm only able to hear sound through that.

I also hit system lag spikes when playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Sound, during these spikes, becomes a cackling noise. I think I need to update my drivers. If I take out the headset, sound becomes muted because it doesn't recognize my sound card or whatever.

I'm fairly certain I need the stickied Realtek HD drivers (I think I've seen the name before), but I want to confirm.

Ideas?

Jonathan_King · 27 Dec 2009

Hello,

To find out, follow the instructions here for posting your specs. Or you could download Speccy, which simplifies things slightly.

Hope this helps,
~Jonathan

captcadaver · 27 Dec 2009

Done. Mostly... I'm not sure which field tells me my motherboard.

My sound card is "High Definition Audio Device". Do I want to download those Realtek HD drivers that are stickied?

Jonathan_King · 27 Dec 2009

My personal take on the issue is leave well enough alone. Unless you are having troubles with something, I would just stick with your current drivers. If you are interested, look through the release notes on the drivers in question, to see if you would benefit from an upgrade.

captcadaver · 27 Dec 2009

I can't find the release notes for the Realtek HD Audio R239 driver. Where can I find them? Why doesn't Windows 7 just give me these drivers? What has to happen? Are they not approved or something? Why not?

I need to fix this to play Modern Warfare 2. Thank you.

Edit: Actually, I think I'll give it a shot...

stormy13 · 27 Dec 2009

captcadaver said:

My sound card is "High Definition Audio Device". Do I want to download those Realtek HD drivers that are stickied?

"High Definition Audio Device" usually means that the sound card is running on whatever basic (very basic, as in just enough to get sound) driver that Windows installed.

And no you do not want the Realtek driver as it wouldn't do you any good. You need an ADI based driver that is compatible with the ADI 1884 codec. Full specs on your computer here,

HP Compaq dc7800 Small Form Factor PC specifications - HP Small & Medium Business products

One interesting thing about what it says for the audio,

Integrated High Definition audio with ADI1884 codec (all ports are stereo)

Which if that is the case and you are getting sound, I wouldn't worry about trying to find a Windows 7 compatible driver (and people complain about Creative having bad driver support, ADI is a worse).

If you want to try and find a driver for it start with searching this forum for ADI and/or Soundmax and see if you can find one that will work.

aem · 28 Dec 2009

Don't be alarmed that w7 has built-in drivers for your dc7800. These drivers are more than like compatible drivers which should work ok. What you need to do is to go to the vendor's website and update your drivers to the specific device drivers. I build alot of machines to w7s and like i said w7 is "loaded" with built-in drivers.