Audio Ports

Frame352 · 21 Jul 2007 at 19:56

Hi guys,

Newbie question here, concerning the ports at the front of a case.

I'll be buying an Antec P182 case, and see that it has USB, headphone and microphone ports at the front of the case. I intend to buy a sound card as well, when I'm building my rig (probably an Xtreme Music).

My question is, will the soundcard make these ports at the front of the case useless, as I'd have to plug the speakers/headset into the back of the pc? Or can both the front and back be used, so that I don't have to keep changing between the speakers and headset?

Sorry if I diodn't explain all that correctly, but thanks in advance for any input.

GG

LazyGit · 22 Jul 2007 at 18:45

I'm not totally sure but I think all sound cards now come with pins to which you can attach cables from those ports in the same way that you can attach the USB port to the motherboard. This would mean that you would be able to use the front ports as well as the back ports.

Mansize_tissue · 23 Jul 2007 at 15:14

It really depends on which sound card you get. Most of the X-Fi cards only use a proprietary connector, so you can't connect your case's front audio ports. I think the Xtreme Gamer is one of the only exceptions, but what it makes up for on the case-audio-port-connections front, it lacks in the quality of the actual card.

Because of this, i got the Fatal1ty card which came with a front i/o bay.

Frame352 · 23 Jul 2007 at 18:43

Ah, okay. Thanks for the replies guys.

Just one point about the X-Fi Gamer; is it a poor purchase compared to the X-Fi Music in general, or only musically? What I mean is, I won't be using the pc for much audio stuff, just a helluva lot of gaming. I only looked at the X-Fi music because has been recommended a lot. As a gamer, would the Gamer card do a good job?

Thanks again for all your feedback