So can it fit?

Patrickman · 24 Sep 2012 at 04:15

I want a sound card since the mobo sound is awful. Silly me I sold my previous sound card think that the mobo would do the same job, man I was wrong

Now Im in market for a sound card but first thing first, can I fit a sound card in the PCIE or PCI slow?

Idk can I fit in the PCIE with the cooler there, not sure

The pci slot is easier to get to but id be worried about the gpu fans and over heating etc
my gpu is the Gigabyte GeForce GTX670 OC

here are some pics

Here's a video of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rhrDknkaVvQ

I think my best option is the pcie1 but im worried about the cpu cooler its the Thermalright HR-02 Macho

Uncle Petey · 24 Sep 2012 at 04:31

Morning!

Definitely wouldn't stick a card between those GPU's or directly below the bottom one unless I had fans blowing directly at the area. Even then...

Try using a straight edge to see if there's clearance for the PCIe x1 slot below the cooler. From the video, it looks like the cooler blocks it by a couple of mm.

Thought about using a DAC from your mobo optical out?

Patrickman · 24 Sep 2012 at 04:53

Uncle Petey said:
Morning!

Definitely wouldn't stick a card between those GPU's or directly below the bottom one unless I had fans blowing directly at the area. Even then...

Try using a straight edge to see if there's clearance for the PCIe x1 slot below the cooler. From the video, it looks like the cooler blocks it by a couple of mm.

Thought about using a DAC from your mobo optical out?

I think im on the road to getting a work around

PCIe x1 PCI-E Express extender flat ribbon cable which will go into PCI4 and then into a sound care and then the sound card into a spare slot in the back of my case

Patrickman · 24 Sep 2012 at 18:55

Could I fit a sound card in the bottom slot of this picture?

Im worried that the psu is stopping it

Uncle Petey · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:05

Probably, yeah. But it's still gonna cover a large part of the gpu intake.
That cable connected in the corner may be an issue.

stulid · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:06

What sound card are you looking at?

Patrickman · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:09

Uncle Petey said:
Probably, yeah. But it's still gonna cover a large part of the gpu intake.
That cable connected in the corner may be an issue.

Ill be using PCI-Express PCI-E 1X Riser Card Extender Ribbon Cable which will go into the the PCIE4 slot in the above pic and then the sound card goes into the bottom slot. It shouldnt cover a large area of the gpu

That cable is the front panel audio header (HD audio1, black). Im also think that cable could be an issue. Is that cable important?

Patrickman · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:10

stulid said:
What sound card are you looking at?

I dont know yet

any suggestions would be welcomed

Uncle Petey · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:13

It really depends on what you're using with it and how you need to connect to stuff.
Headphones, amp+speakers etc?

Patrickman · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:17

Uncle Petey said:
It really depends on what you're using with it and how you need to connect to stuff.
Headphones, amp+speakers etc?

Im not sure but I think its used for the front audio ports which arent used and never will be so taking the cable out would be great

Uncle Petey · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:29

Sorry, I was talking about sound card choices

Yeah, I don't use the HD audio thing either.

Patrickman · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:31

basically ill be using the sound card with my headphones for gaming. I got superb headphones Sennheiser HD 598. So I really want to get the best out of them

Uncle Petey · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:34

This'll do ya. Assuming you can mount it without compromising gpu airflow too much.
It is one of the slimmer sound cards too. Compared to my D2 anyway...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 PCI-Express Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp £22.99
Total : £26.90 (includes shipping : £3.26).

bemaniac · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:38

Uncle Petey said:
This'll do ya. Assuming you can mount it without compromising gpu airflow too much.
It is one of the slimmer sound cards too. Compared to my D2 anyway...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 PCI-Express Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp £22.99
Total : £26.90 (includes shipping : £3.26).

Good call - low profile sized soundcard with full profile sized bracket. I was going to suggest an external soundcard myself - easier for plugging headphones into on the desk. Based on the pictures this won't touch the psu.

Patrickman · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:54

Uncle Petey said:
This'll do ya. Assuming you can mount it without compromising gpu airflow too much.
It is one of the slimmer sound cards too. Compared to my D2 anyway...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 PCI-Express Sound Card with built in Headphone Amp £22.99
Total : £26.90 (includes shipping : £3.26).

Looks good. Id have a better chance of fitting into my pc with one of those compared to Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty ?

what ya think of the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Card? Would that be another good choice?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-065-CL ( a friend might be selling his one)

Uncle Petey · 24 Sep 2012 at 19:57

I may be biased, but I love my xonar. I also hear there can be a lot of issues with creative drivers.

Creative may have better gaming soundfield modes, but I find the game mode on my card sounds great. But then I haven't compared the two personally.

The X-Fi will also cover a fair bit more of your gpu.