Hi, if I understand you correctly, I should start ArmoryQT alone with the "manage bitcoind..." setting switched OFF.
Just did that, deleted current databases directory and the logfiles before. Rebooted th PC.
Then started ArmoryQT which immediatelz reported an error "unable to spawn the DB"

armorylog.txt: https://pastebin.com/0AsthNUL

p.s. my PC is "anemic"? :-) It is a dell workstation grade PC with intel xeon processor and 12 GB of ram. minumum software installed and windows 10 up to date. It is pretty fast actually just from the feel.
What makes it kind of exotic is, the fact that "Hyper V" and "docker for windows" is installed and their services are running.