Need help, THGCers! (GA-8IK1100 ,Rev 2.0)

[oymd]

Aloha to all!!!

After my little mishapps with my current rig...I decided to upgrade, FINALLY!!

I bought this canterwood board...GA-8IK1100 (Rev 2.0)

http://tw.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_Spec_GA-8IK1100 (Rev 2.0).htm


hope its a good one...but there are two things about it that i would need some help in..

1- If you navigate to the site and enlarge the MB's pic...you will notice there is a POWER connector on the MB just beside the AGP Pro slot. In the manual it is called "AGP +12Volt Power connector"

What is this connector exactly??? Can i plug my Radeon 9800Pro into it directly instead of a molex one from the power supply?


2- The MB has onboard Audio: Realtek ALC658 CODEC
I do not intend to buy a new Sound card, and was planning on using my Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 card from my older rig.
Question is....which is better...the current onboard "Realtek ALC658 CODEC" audio chip, or the older live! 5.1 card??
and will the onboard audio go well with my 5.1 speakers....



The reason that I cant try for myself all these things is i'm waiting for my new PSU and DDR400 ram to arrive....but its good to know this stuff ahead!!

Thanks

 

[Cybercraig]

Yes to both questions. Try your onboard sound first before the SB card. You may find it's better or equal.

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[oymd]

I contacted Gigabyte support and they say the power connector is ONLY for AGP Pro cards??!!

 

[etp777]

Your motherboard has an AGP Pro slot. This slot has extra power pins to allow more power than normal AGP bus supplies. This power is provided by pluggint in that power socket next to the slot. You can't run plug your radeon into this. Radeon isn't an AGP Pro card, it has the power connector on it instead, so ahve to still plug your video card into your power supply.

 

[Crashman]

What they're saying is that the connector is an INPUT, not an output. If you had a professional workstation graphics card, it might use the extra power pins on the AGP Pro slot not used by your current (or any consumer level) card. And those pins would get some of their power from that input.

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