HP Pavilion 690-0034 Gaming Desktop PC - 5.1 Surround is possible

[JofreJKD2]

More of a help comment-

Support page has false info: 

HP Pavilion 690-0034 Gaming Desktop PC Product Specifications

NOTE: The motherboard supports 5.1 surround sound. If the computer does not have the required audio jacks for a 5.1 configuration, additional hardware is required to use 5.1 surround sound.

***YES IT DOES SUPPORT 5.1 SURROUND WITHOUT EXTRA HARDWARE***

I have the HP Pavilion 690-0034 Gaming Desktop PC - here's a few quick things to know about it:

I'll start by saying I love this PC. Performance is phenomenal. so fast. and multitasking is awesome. I use primarily for multimedia/graphic design work (Photoshop/Illustrator/video editing and conversion). Gaming works very well. more than enough RAM and video card more than ample.

My set up is with a dual monitor set up (HP Pavilion 23xw's)
I also have a an HP external USB Floppy Drive (I have a Yamaha keyboard/piano that uses floppy) and I use a Logitech Z506 5.1 surround set up.

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2 changes I had to make for this system (this is to help others avoid problems).

- The Primary SSD hardrive is by far the fastest type of hard drive (NVMe M.2 SSD) and was great; however, the small 128GB size was not sufficient for someone like me who installs Adobe suite/etc. I upgraded to a Western Digital Black SN750 500GB NVMe M.2 SSD (up to 3470MB/s). It also increased performance/speed slightly and slightly noticeable faster boot up as well. set aside original as a back up.

- sound: some will find this very helpful- PC has many ports even for video, but sound is where I found it lacked. If you are okay with your sound being provided digitally through the HDMI port or the several DPorts of the graphics card, you're all set. For those who use standard speakers... It has 1 analog sound output jack on the rear for stereo only (virtual surround at best). No bueno. One might suppose to simply buy the latest Asus or Sound blaster card as I did- I mean, it has an open PCI-e slot right? WRONG. it's physically there. you'll install the card. it will show the card hardware in Device Manger. it will not install software or function at all despite Windows even identifying it. It's listed, but not there. Listen carefully. The PCI-e slot is not to be used while you are using aNVMe M.2 SSD drive. It utilizes the PCI-e slot's pathway to function (part of why they are so fast verses standard SATA SSD's. so the slot is not functional.
Workaround: press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open Task Manager. scroll down to find Realtek Audio Manager. Right click it and select OPEN FILE LOCATION. Right click the same icon (now labeled as RtkNGUI64 app and create a shortcut for yourself (make life easier). open the audio manager. click on Listening Experience. then on Speaker Configuration. adjust to your 5.1 set up (check mark Center, Subwoofer, Side Pair. Bottom shows Back Panel where colored ports are for Stereo out, Mic in, and Line in. plug your main stereo wire to the main port (green). then plug in the pink one your center/subwoofer, then the blue one side speakers. It automatically configures those input ports to now be output ports. VOILA!!! you have full surround sound. (Not as premium as a dedicated sound card, but it works just fine.
- If you need a mic, buy a USB mic or headphone/mic set. If you still need a premium sound card, rest assured that the many USB 3 ports on the back of the PC will gladly take an external sound card, which will work just fine also. If you switch to a SATA hard drive (solid or not), the PCI Express slot should work.