PCI or PCI-e?

rumble291 · 12 Apr 2010 at 16:43

Hey guys,

Just a couple of quick questions. If I was to have 2 5770s in crossfire and a soundcard sandwiched in the middle would it overheat? If so then would it really matter if i get a PCI sound card instead, as everything seems to be going PCI express?

Pics below (I used a PCI sound card to show the gap there would be between the first graphics card and the soundcard).

Cheers guys,

Kurt

cmndr_andi · 12 Apr 2010 at 17:21

It probably won't overheat (the 5770s are relatively cool) however it will get hotter. Looking at that motherboard I would suggest going for the a PCI card and placing it in the last slot.

Please bear in mind that PCI is more than sufficient for a modern sound card. The lovely ASUS Xonar DX and D2X sound cards may be PCIe, but they are actually just running through a PCI converter. Hence the PCI versions (the D1 and D2) perform just as well and usually cost a bit less.

rumble291 · 12 Apr 2010 at 23:29

Cheers for the reply man, Yeah i was looking at getting a creative x-fi titanium but its only PCI-e. The low profile ones just the same as normal ones? the reason for not getting a D2 is cause they dont have a front panel connector! which I would like really.

Thanks,

Kurt

alex24 · 12 Apr 2010 at 23:39

Interestingly, I have the opposite problem. I'm migrating my kit to a Crosshair III Formula, but I have a PCI card (Creative X-fi xtremegamer) and the only PCI is going to be right between my 5770 CF I have planned.

The Crosshair III Formula comes with a sound card, but I don't think it will be as good as the x-fi, and I'll be damned if I'm downgrading!

I can now see why PCI-E cards are useful sometimes though.

Kurt, do you already have a PCI-E sound card then?

Ch3m1c4L · 13 Apr 2010 at 11:10

itll be fine. I ran a D2 in between a couple of rev 1 280s for a short while. even at lan which raised all my temps by ~10c and was still all good.

rumble291 · 13 Apr 2010 at 11:31

its bloody annoying. Nah I haven't got a PCI-E card yet, the reason I wanted to get one was because looking at the high end motherboards it looks like the boards in the future will only be PCI-E and my audigy 2 zs (in picture) has lasted about 4-5 years, the only reason im getting rid of it is because it runs bad on windows 7 and I would like to be able to run through the front panel with headphones then theres no messing around with wires to plug my speakers in!

I'll be getting a Sapphire Vapour X one though so maybe I could put that behind the soundcard, will it be alright like that? Problem is my case is like an oven (sileo 500) so I need to really think about cooling. Currently im running it with the side off with a desk fan next to it just to keep the CPU cool as its overclocked to 3.6Ghz lol!

Cheers guys,

Kurt

Liampope · 13 Apr 2010 at 11:58

As it isn't generating significant heat itself, it's very unlikely you could pump enough heat into a soundcard passively to actually damage it. Even if it's sandwiched between two gfx cards. Theoretically the sound card's noise floor would be higher if its temps are higher, but unlikely you'd hear anything in practice at normal volumes on standard PC speakers.

rumble291 · 13 Apr 2010 at 14:57

Opps my bad I worded my first post wrong. I mean't to say "Would the soundcard make the 5770 overheat due to the lack of space to draw air into the fan"

Thanks for the reply anyways man.

Kurt

joey2cool · 14 Apr 2010 at 01:40

i would imagine it will draw air in from wherever there is space, ie it will suckin the air immediately in front and air will fill that void. The card may have to work a bit harder to keep cool tho. If there is space for a side case fan above those cards i would deintely recommend putting one there to force air into the space

Jokester · 14 Apr 2010 at 01:48

Annoying thing with the PCI-E Xonars is they need a floppy power connector as they can't get enough power from the socket.

joey2cool · 14 Apr 2010 at 01:58

Jokester said:
Annoying thing with the PCI-E Xonars is they need a floppy power connector as they can't get enough power from the socket.

as opposed to a stiff power connector

stulid · 14 Apr 2010 at 02:00

Jokester said:
Annoying thing with the PCI-E Xonars is they need a floppy power connector as they can't get enough power from the socket.

I have just had to check some pictures of these cards after reading that!

low and behold! there's a floppy connector on the back.

well that's complete fail in my eyes.

joey2cool · 14 Apr 2010 at 02:00

looks like a pci alternative now perhaps? would solve a few of these issues!