x16 -> x8

Elf_Boy

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
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I've read a few times that PCI lanes dont seem to matter much for FPS.

See my sig for details.

I am out of pcie lanes. All 24 are in use.

x16 GOU
x4 On board m.2 NVME
x4 PCIE based 1x m.2 NVME 2xm.2 Sata

Looking for options. I know for some reviews it was mentioned that lanes were tapes off. The other though is my second PCIE slot is only x8 - I suppose I could move the GPU there.

Looking for a sound card with digital coax out or I could stick with the onboard optical.
 
I've read a few times that PCI lanes dont seem to matter much for FPS.

See my sig for details.

I am out of pcie lanes. All 24 are in use.

x16 GOU
x4 On board m.2 NVME
x4 PCIE based 1x m.2 NVME 2xm.2 Sata

Looking for options. I know for some reviews it was mentioned that lanes were tapes off. The other though is my second PCIE slot is only x8 - I suppose I could move the GPU there.

Looking for a sound card with digital coax out or I could stick with the onboard optical.

The best sound would be hdmi, then comes digital coax but you'd be limited to stereo for games.
 
I can certainly look at USB options.

My understanding is that digital coax supports full dolby/surround.
 
I am not familiar with these types of USB Sound cards.

Can someone make some recommendations? My new speakers/system supports 5.1 surround and Dolby THX.

Not maybe audiophile quality - good enough for me however. :)
 
Sound cards have been useless for years. You'll get better quality out of a USB DAC.

Damn, so my Xonar Essence would be useless now compared to modern onboard audio solutions? Just curious.

That’s not what I said.

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I’m not speaking a foreign language here.

An Essence will be better than any onboard audio I’m aware of, but an external USB dac is ultimately superior to both these days.

Soundcards aren’t worth the effort given that even the best ones on the market still are average at best in their amplifier/analog stages compared to a quality external dac/amp combo.

So if OP doesn’t have enough PCI-E available I think the choice is easy - Ditch the soundcard and get a decent USB dac/amp, and if he wants to buy a soundcard, he really shouldn’t these days. Not because onboard is better, but because you should be going with a USB setup.
 
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BTW what are you hooking it up to?

If its a reciever, you are better off with hdmi or optical.
 
The Asus Xonar U3 supports Dolby Digital Live encoding to get 5.1 output over TOSLINK Optical. The Xonar U7 does not.
 
have you tested this yourself?

Last soundcard I had was a STX. Nothing has been released since then that really is any better, and i've moved to external solutions years ago as the STX was PCI. I've got a quality USB DAC and AMP setup for my headphones, and a receiver setup taking the audio via HDMI for the home theater.
 
Nice.

This is the thing.

If you want to use the digital output on your mobo, you'll be limited to stereo in games. So you need a soundcard or usb sound device that supports eitther Dolby Digital Live or preferably DTS connect real time encoder.

BTW I recall there was a software AC3 real time encoder for games, can't remember the name though
 
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Nice.

This is the thing.

If you want to use the digital output on your mobo, you'll be limited to stereo in games. So you need a soundcard or usb sound device that supports eitther Dolby Digital Live or preferably DTS connect real time encoder.

BTW I recall there was a software AC3 real time encoder for games, can't remember the name though

I'm using the digital optical now however I'm thinking USB is best at this point, something with digital coax.

Does that use regular coax cable like, er, cable?
 

1) It does not do Dolby Digital Live, so no surround sound with that. Again, I recommend the Asus Xonar U3 for this. It has drivers that work in the current version of Windows 10 and has the optical digital out to maintain multi-channel compatibility with your Logitech speakers.

2) There is no practical difference between using Digital Coax and Digital Optical. They both carry the same signal, just one carries it electrically whilst the other is pulses of light. If you have digital optical there is no advantage to switching over to digital coax and vice versa.
 
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i onboard for new motherboard (x570 gaming edge Wifi)
Xonar DX for other system (phenom II one)

took me a while get sorted out for the new sound vs soundcard
I prefer dedicate sound, in my case, as I always pink noise to block background noise AND still want listen game etc... for me, USB was "ok" no enough $$$$$$$$ go all out (screw it, am simple person)
all being said, new onboard is VERY GOOD, but, takes some tinkering to "get it right" vs sound card is driver, few click, "right as rain"

the DX there was touch latency, virtual not exist, me the card vs onboard or USB, card all the way..even if take up room, get dusty etc.

microphone via USB...oh hell yes
sound...not for me, only had 1 so far USB driven sound that was "far superior" to anything heard prior to then (as well as since) however, this was many many years back...when BFG, Abit, that DFI could use Intel OR AMD etc...buddy used that board for years and years, all onboard

sound..amazing, had a lead like some "current" models do (pay through nose for) that give you that "puck" so can plug/unplug...that old board was Nvidia chipset, I believe was Via for sound (some odd combo, not talk that person many many years...

---------------------------

different uses for different needs I suppose....same HDMI sound wise, very hit and miss, but bluetooth overlay to do the sound transfer DP/HDMI etc for visual, best of worlds combined

for my $ .. that is only place I like BT actually, transfer sound from system to system (not get brain juiced with Wyrd radio waves if not need to do such)

^.^
 
I want to make sure to thank everyone for all the help!!!

This is an area I dont know as well as I do CPU/RAM and what have you. Not that I claim expertness there either.

The Asus Xonar U3 how does that compare to my onboard digital/optical? I had read coax has more bandwidth and can better handle surround/5.1?

Thanks!
 
I want to make sure to thank everyone for all the help!!!

This is an area I dont know as well as I do CPU/RAM and what have you. Not that I claim expertness there either.

The Asus Xonar U3 how does that compare to my onboard digital/optical? I had read coax has more bandwidth and can better handle surround/5.1?

Thanks!

It’s exactly the same. Just a different transmission medium.
 
I want to make sure to thank everyone for all the help!!!

This is an area I dont know as well as I do CPU/RAM and what have you. Not that I claim expertness there either.

The Asus Xonar U3 how does that compare to my onboard digital/optical? I had read coax has more bandwidth and can better handle surround/5.1?

Thanks!

Optical is Optical. Stereo output over optical should sound exactly the same if you are using the same amp and speakers. The difference using optical between your onboard sound and the Xonar U3 is that the Xonar U3 can output DDL, enabling surround sound on your speakers. It is a mode you have to explicitly turn on in the U3's audio panel after you install it's drivers and you have to set Windows to use 5.1 speakers afterwards, but these changes are persistent across reboots.
 
Did you do the Windows built-in 5.1 speaker test to make sure you are getting all 5.1 channels?
 
I used to try a THX sound demo to test my 5.1 setup.Sounded great.
 
Did you do the Windows built-in 5.1 speaker test to make sure you are getting all 5.1 channels?

Ya, it is a bit of a pain ti fish up in win 10. The weird thing is the Xonar App stays stuck on 2 channels the whole time and only has an option for 7.1 and I needed to click that before it gave me the digital option.

It all seems to be working now though.
 
Ya, it is a bit of a pain ti fish up in win 10. The weird thing is the Xonar App stays stuck on 2 channels the whole time and only has an option for 7.1 and I needed to click that before it gave me the digital option.

It all seems to be working now though.

Sweet! I'm glad you got it going. How do you like it now that it's up and running?
 
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