Running a soundcard via PCIe 16x?

Associate
Joined
30 Nov 2005
Posts
507
Location
London
Just purchased a new system I thought the onboard sound provided would be sufficient. In all honesty it really isn’t that bad but it does seem to lack oomph and does eem quiet compared to my old soundcard.

I am having to really crank it up to nearly 100% in windows where previously it would be around 65/70 and seem loud. I have always had a sound card and feel like I want to put one in this system. I’m currently looking at the Creative SoundBlasterX AE-5 Plus, running primarily with headphones but will use it via speakers/soundbar from time to time.

The problem being the 1x PCIe slot is now covered by a brick that is my GPU. EVGA 3080 FTW Ultra.

I’m thinking the only other alternatives (other than mounting the GPU on it’s side) is to run it through one of the 16x slots near the bottom of the case. I have read that this is possible but my main concern is how this will affect the 16x PCIe slot my GPU is running and on how much it will hamper performance, if at all.

I’m not overly technical with these things and hope somebody could shine a little bit of knowledge
on this for me it would be appreciated.

System Spec:
  • Windows 10
  • Intel i9-10900k
  • ASUS ROG Maximus Hero XIII
  • 3080 FTW3 Ultra
  • Samsung 980 PRO 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 Gen4 NVMe SSD
  • Samsung 870 EVO 2TB 2.5” SATA SSD/Solid State Drive
  • Seagate BarraCuda 4TB 3.5" SATA HDD/Hard Disk Drive
  • Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32GB 3200 MHz DDR4
Thanks

B
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2008
Posts
12,096
The bottom slot (PCIEX16_3) doesn't share any bandwidth with the other two PCIe 16x slots. Using it will disable some of the SATA ports. It's all clearly outlined in the manual.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
30 Nov 2005
Posts
507
Location
London
The bottom slot (PCIEX16_3) doesn't share any bandwidth with the other two PCIe 16x slots. Using it will disable some of the SATA ports. It's all clearly outlined in the manual.
Thank you for your reply. I should take more time to actually read through this manual as it is pretty clear. I'm not particularly savvy with the finer aspects of PC's but I imagine I won't learn anything if I don't at least try first.

Thanks again

B
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Jun 2008
Posts
11,616
Location
Finland
If you have speakers with analog connection and don't need DD/DTS encoding, standard AE-5 is enough.

Again in case of just stereo speakers could look for Creative's B-stock Sound BlasterX G6.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
30 Nov 2005
Posts
507
Location
London
thanks for the info @EsaT and the link @Guest2 good to have another option to consider, £75 is a great price too.
Not sure I'm keen on the idea of an external device on my desk though. Defo something to mull over though as could
be used with my consoles too. :)
 
Soldato
Joined
6 May 2009
Posts
19,885
thanks for the info @EsaT and the link @Guest2 good to have another option to consider, £75 is a great price too.
Not sure I'm keen on the idea of an external device on my desk though. Defo something to mull over though as could
be used with my consoles too. :)
Doesnt have to be on your desk of course, can stick it in a draw on the floor or even inside your pc.
 
Back
Top Bottom