Going back to onboard

Devrij · 20 Sep 2013 at 23:05

I don't want to, but my PCI slot that currently houses my Asus DG card will be covered by my incoming 7950 (xfire). Should have got the pcie version, but hindsight is always 20/20.

So do I go back to onboard, repurposing my existing card to my htpc downstairs (I think it has a free pci slot anyway), or do I flog this nearly worthless card and spend cash I don't want to spend on a new pcie card (at worst the DGX)?

Was it really that bad? I may soon find out!

d_brennen · 20 Sep 2013 at 23:18

It most likely is as bad as you remember, if not worse. How about trying a PCI riser ribbon cable - there're only cheap (if you look around). Even if you can't fit the DG in be PCI bracket of the case, you could cut a slot vertically, or perhaps below the bottom slot

Rozzy85 · 21 Sep 2013 at 00:46

I had a similar situation with only two PCI slots and had to swap out for a Wifi adapter for a couple of days until I could be bothered to install my D2X again. There's was definite difference. The onboard wasn't powerful enough to drive the headphones and the higher frequency ranges were more washed out. It wasn't terrible and I could've used it but I'm too use to my D2X to go back.

Devrij · 21 Sep 2013 at 13:34

Rozzy85 said:
I had a similar situation with only two PCI slots and had to swap out for a Wifi adapter for a couple of days until I could be bothered to install my D2X again. There's was definite difference. The onboard wasn't powerful enough to drive the headphones and the higher frequency ranges were more washed out. It wasn't terrible and I could've used it but I'm too use to my D2X to go back.

This is what I'm worried about. I think I'll have to just suck it up and get a pcie card

This is what I'm working with, so it'll be tight for space either way! Unless I get a card with a pciex1 slot.

Rozzy85 · 21 Sep 2013 at 13:50

I was thinking I should have done the same with the D2. The other PCI slot has a TV card in it so I was planning to replace that with a PCI-E one that supported DVB-T2 but it's not really worth bothering ATM. I'll probably get a new PC by then so will know about this problem next time round.

I'd probably consider a replacement in your case as the DG is relatively inexpensive and you can still re-use it in your HTPC.

anything I don't mind · 21 Sep 2013 at 14:03

I own a esi maya 44 which i was using for optical cable bitstreaming. But since getting a new motherboard for haswell chip, I have been using the onboard and in my opinion its far superior than the maya 44 was. The maya 44 was more of a sound recording sound card or sound production soundcard than an entertainment card. I could also use the hdmi port on my 7850 but as my monitor does not have hdmi then i would have an non existent second monitor.

I have not tested dolby hd and dts hd bitstreaming through the optical on the onboard but the normal dts and dd works great with what seems like more low end than my maya 44.

Devrij · 22 Sep 2013 at 08:07

Interesting. I think I will miss the headphone amp when I take it out, so we'll see how bad it is.

Marsman · 22 Sep 2013 at 12:35

groen said:
I own a esi maya 44 which i was using for optical cable bitstreaming. But since getting a new motherboard for haswell chip, I have been using the onboard and in my opinion its far superior than the maya 44 was. The maya 44 was more of a sound recording sound card or sound production soundcard than an entertainment card. I could also use the hdmi port on my 7850 but as my monitor does not have hdmi then i would have an non existent second monitor.

I have not tested dolby hd and dts hd bitstreaming through the optical on the onboard but the normal dts and dd works great with what seems like more low end than my maya 44.

Dolby and DTS HD can't be used with SPDIF. The bandwidth of SPDIF is not enough to support multi channel lossless audio formats such as DD/DTS HD. SPDIF can support lossless, but only in stereo.