Sound Cards Help

[King Lofthouse]

Si Im thinking about getting a dedicated sound card for my new rig, but Ive just got one problem, I dont know where it goes?

Does it go in the PCIE ports?

 

[Rogue Leader]

Yes you would plug it into one of the short pcie slots. However if you don't have one (or your GPU is blocking it) you can also install the card into a full size PCIe slot (like for your GPU) and it will only utilize the pins it connects to.

A lot of people these days say don't waste your money on a sound card the onboard sound is just as good. And maybe when it comes to lower end cards thats true, but I am running a Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium HD that puts out sound that no onboard sound system can ever touch. And I've heard a lot of them, they are junk compared to a good higher end card. I run mine to a set of powered monitors and playing games on it is incredible.

 

[King Lofthouse]

So it would gointo a 4x PCIe? if iI was running Crossfire aswell?

1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16
1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x8
1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x4

 

[Rogue Leader]

So it would gointo a 4x PCIe? if iI was running Crossfire aswell?

1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16
1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x8
1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x4

Yes if that was your only free spot you can put it there.

Its preferable to use one of the short slots but any will work.

 

[King Lofthouse]

Dont most mobos these days only have multi x16 slots but capped at say x8 or x4?

I see some have x1 slots, is that what you mean when you say short?

 

[Rogue Leader]

Dont most mobos these days only have multi x16 slots but capped at say x8 or x4?

I see some have x1 slots, is that what you mean when you say short?

Yes x1 slots are the short orange ones in this pic:

And yeah most motherboards have x16 slots but when used like in crossfire they are x8 or x4, this is due to the number of PCI lanes in the board.

 

[King Lofthouse]

Thats great then, if I can put a sound card in a X1 and leave the larger slots open for future expansion of GPU's.

Been a great help, thanks a bunch.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Thats great then, if I can put a sound card in a X1 and leave the larger slots open for future expansion of GPU's.

Been a great help, thanks a bunch.

Yep exactly. Some motherboards are unfortunately setup that GPU's end up blocking all the x1 slots so you end up using a full size slot instead.

Enjoy good luck!

 

[King Lofthouse]

But dont the GPU's need x4 or x8 to run minimum?

Or do you mean blocking up by bulk/space and not in the x1 slot?

 

[Rogue Leader]

But dont the GPU's need x4 or x8 to run minimum?

Or do you mean blocking up by bulk/space and not in the x1 slot?

Yes, the double sized coolers on the cards block the x1 slots in many cases

 

[King Lofthouse]

Thank you very much again, Rogue.