FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

Advice on appropriate sound card

Post Date: 2014-01-02
 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
antinaka View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 05 Mar 2013
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12 		  Quote antinaka Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Advice on appropriate sound card
    Posted: 02 Jan 2014 at 6:22pm
So I have a Sabertooth x79 Motherboard. I am attaching the image where the PCIe slots are located based on my manual.




I have two GTX 780 SLI already installed in #1 and #4 so they practically block the other slots. There is a marginal space between the two cards in SLI that a sound card could possibly fit in a PCIe 2.0 but I am scared that the two video cards might over heat with the sound card sandwiched in there? The PCI slot between the second and third PCIe 3.0 is completely covered by the second 780.
I'm up for kind suggestions about either bothering to get a sound card with a PCIe 2.0 slot like the Creative X-Fi Titanium HD 24-bit 96KHz 7.1 or get a FIIO E17 Alpen USB DAC headphone amplifier or something similar to improve the sound quality externally while hooking up my Sennheiser PC360 headset I got for xmas.




Edited by antinaka - 05 Jan 2014 at 5:21pm
Back to Top
fstcvc View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 06 Jul 2013
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2551 		  Quote fstcvc Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jan 2014 at 6:34pm
I would recommend putting your sound card in the last/bottom slot. This way you will be able to keep some airflow between the 2 780s. The X-Fi Titanium uses a Burr-Brown DAC (although not specifically listed but info on the DAC can be found on various websites) so it's one of the better sound cards out there. Don't know much about the Alpen so I can't help much there.
HailStorm II
i7 4770K @ 4.5GHz
Asus Maximus VI Extreme
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum
3xSLI EVGA SuperClocked GTX TITAN
Samsung 840Pro SSD 256GB+512GB
HydroLux+XSPC CPU/MoBo/GPU Liquid Cooling
Back to Top
antinaka View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 05 Mar 2013
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12 		  Quote antinaka Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jan 2014 at 6:48pm
I was thinking that too but can a sound card with a PCIe 2.0 fit in the PCIe 3.0 slot? I tried fitting my friend's Asus Xonar D1 sound card in the last slot it uses a PCI slot but it wont fit its too short length wise, when the metal bracket of the card is flush with the body of the chassis the card is shifted too far to the left.
Back to Top
fstcvc View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 06 Jul 2013
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2551 		  Quote fstcvc Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 03 Jan 2014 at 8:36am
PCI & PCIe are two different things. Note how #5 is slightly further forward in your pic above. Your first 780 should be in slot #1 covering the second slot. Your second 780 should be in slot #4 covering 5 (the old PCI slot) leaving 3 & 6 open. PCIe slots come in various lengths - x1, x2, x8, x16 with different cards using those lengths but since it's a x16 slot, you can put in anything from x1 - x16 into that space. 2.0 & 3.0 are just versions and determine speed of the slot (think of USB 2.0 & 3.0 - same connector, different speed). You can put PCIe 2.0 cards in 3.0 slots and vise versa.
HailStorm II
i7 4770K @ 4.5GHz
Asus Maximus VI Extreme
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum
3xSLI EVGA SuperClocked GTX TITAN
Samsung 840Pro SSD 256GB+512GB
HydroLux+XSPC CPU/MoBo/GPU Liquid Cooling
Back to Top
Nav View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group

Digital Storm Employee


Joined: 15 Jan 2021
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1581 		  Quote Nav Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 03 Jan 2014 at 1:04pm
Keep in mind, if you are running Windows 8.1, the X-Fi Titanium HD has compatibility issues.
Back to Top
antinaka View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 05 Mar 2013
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12 		  Quote antinaka Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 05 Jan 2014 at 5:15pm
Originally posted by Nav

Keep in mind, if you are running Windows 8.1, the X-Fi Titanium HD has compatibility issues.


I am running Windows 7 thankfully.

Originally posted by fstcvc

PCI & PCIe are two different things. Note how #5 is slightly further forward in your pic above. Your first 780 should be in slot #1 covering the second slot. Your second 780 should be in slot #4 covering 5 (the old PCI slot) leaving 3 & 6 open. PCIe slots come in various lengths - x1, x2, x8, x16 with different cards using those lengths but since it's a x16 slot, you can put in anything from x1 - x16 into that space. 2.0 & 3.0 are just versions and determine speed of the slot (think of USB 2.0 & 3.0 - same connector, different speed). You can put PCIe 2.0 cards in 3.0 slots and vise versa.


Oh ok I made sure the card I picked is PCIe instead of a PCI card. I ended up buying a ASUS PCI-Express x1 7.1 Channel Sound Card XONAR_DX versus X-Fi Titanium HD since I read on the amazon reviews that X-Fi cards make a weird popping noise when you have two video cards in SLI mode. It will arrive tomorrow morning. Thanks so much for the helpful information!


Edited by antinaka - 05 Jan 2014 at 5:20pm
Back to Top
Judist View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 29 Oct 2013
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 16 		  Quote Judist Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Jan 2014 at 9:05pm
Looks like you found what you need.

I've heard wonderful things about the ASUS Xonar USB DACs, which is probably the direction I'll be going.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.046875 seconds.