- Oct 31, 2012
- 466
- 5
- 18,815
Hey guys.
I am probably opening up a can of worms here, but I have seen the debates all over online about PCIe sound cards, so I figured I would come here with my current salutation and get some opinions, as some of my higher end production gear makes my situation a little different from others.
I just finished up my main system build for my project studio last month. I do a lot of video/audio work. Recording bands, editing video with Vegas pro, ect. I also just got into PC gaming and updated my graphics card to an MSI 1080x card. I'm NOT doing a SLI setup.
I suppose I have a couple questions I need answered along with the audio card debate, including one related to PCIe lanes.
First, the basics of my setup:
-GA-X99-Ultra Gaming motherboard (rev. 1.0)
-Intel Core i7 6800k CPU which has a max PCIe lanes of 28
-MSI GTX 1080 graphics card.
-32gb ram (XMP overclocked at 3000)
-I am using a M.2 ssd drive from Samsung for my boot drive (950 pro - 512gb)
My system on PC parts picker is here: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/liberty610/saved/#view=G48RsY
My motherboard has 2 16x PCIe slots, 2 8x PCIe slots, and one 1X PCIe slot. The 1x slot is really not accessible due to the size of the 1080 graphics card I have. I also have 2 video capture cards installed. In the second 16x slot I have a Hauppauge colossus card for both SD and HD video caps, and in the first 8x slot I have an Avermedia Live Gamer HD capture card. I use both cards because the Hauppauge is the only one out of both cards that does SD, but the Avermedia Card does better HD captures. Both cards are 1x cards. This leaves me with only one PCIe slot left on my board, and it is the second 8x slot.
I guess my first question is, do all boards automatically pull all 16x slots to 8x speeds if you are using multiple cards of any kind? Or does that depend on the make/model of the board. I was using an MSI Gaming Pro Carbon board for a brief time (before it crapped out on me twice with two required RMAs) and in the manual it stated that when using multiple cards in the different slots would automatically pull the speeds to the lowest slot being used. I wasn't sure if this was a general thing or just on certain boards, because I can't seem to find anything about it in my motherboard's manual. And if this happens, does it pull the sopeed of my graphics card to where I loose a lot of performance to it?
My second question would be, how do I know how many PCIe lanes are being used on my processor? Can I fill all my boards slots? Or does it depend on what kind of cards are being used to determine how many lanes are being use. This is where I am confused...
And finally, my third question; do I need a PCIe sound card? I have seen the debates online about using a dedicated card is better then on board audio, but I am not sure if I need one. I have a USB 2.0 audio interface I use for my production work, and it acts as a sound card when connected. It's the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 audio interface.
I was not sure if there are still advantages with an internal sound card for music, movies, and gaming over this Focusrite unit. I have 2 sets of speaker monitors. One set is larger and they sit on stands in my room, while the other set is smaller that sits on my desk. The smaller ones are used for gaming/movies/ music and some audio session playbacks because they face me while I sit at the desk. These are the ones I have plugged into the on board audio and was wondering if I should get a PCIe sound card for. The other two larger monitor speakers are along a different part of the room, and the Focusrite's main control room out put handles those.
So, should I just use the Focusrite unit for all my speakers? It's simple enough to use it and just change the settings to system sound when gaming and what not. Or should I look into a PCIe sound card, and if so, which ones are solid? I am seeing the Creative Sound Blaster series a lot in my searches.
I hope I have explained myself well enough here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I am probably opening up a can of worms here, but I have seen the debates all over online about PCIe sound cards, so I figured I would come here with my current salutation and get some opinions, as some of my higher end production gear makes my situation a little different from others.
I just finished up my main system build for my project studio last month. I do a lot of video/audio work. Recording bands, editing video with Vegas pro, ect. I also just got into PC gaming and updated my graphics card to an MSI 1080x card. I'm NOT doing a SLI setup.
I suppose I have a couple questions I need answered along with the audio card debate, including one related to PCIe lanes.
First, the basics of my setup:
-GA-X99-Ultra Gaming motherboard (rev. 1.0)
-Intel Core i7 6800k CPU which has a max PCIe lanes of 28
-MSI GTX 1080 graphics card.
-32gb ram (XMP overclocked at 3000)
-I am using a M.2 ssd drive from Samsung for my boot drive (950 pro - 512gb)
My system on PC parts picker is here: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/liberty610/saved/#view=G48RsY
My motherboard has 2 16x PCIe slots, 2 8x PCIe slots, and one 1X PCIe slot. The 1x slot is really not accessible due to the size of the 1080 graphics card I have. I also have 2 video capture cards installed. In the second 16x slot I have a Hauppauge colossus card for both SD and HD video caps, and in the first 8x slot I have an Avermedia Live Gamer HD capture card. I use both cards because the Hauppauge is the only one out of both cards that does SD, but the Avermedia Card does better HD captures. Both cards are 1x cards. This leaves me with only one PCIe slot left on my board, and it is the second 8x slot.
I guess my first question is, do all boards automatically pull all 16x slots to 8x speeds if you are using multiple cards of any kind? Or does that depend on the make/model of the board. I was using an MSI Gaming Pro Carbon board for a brief time (before it crapped out on me twice with two required RMAs) and in the manual it stated that when using multiple cards in the different slots would automatically pull the speeds to the lowest slot being used. I wasn't sure if this was a general thing or just on certain boards, because I can't seem to find anything about it in my motherboard's manual. And if this happens, does it pull the sopeed of my graphics card to where I loose a lot of performance to it?
My second question would be, how do I know how many PCIe lanes are being used on my processor? Can I fill all my boards slots? Or does it depend on what kind of cards are being used to determine how many lanes are being use. This is where I am confused...
And finally, my third question; do I need a PCIe sound card? I have seen the debates online about using a dedicated card is better then on board audio, but I am not sure if I need one. I have a USB 2.0 audio interface I use for my production work, and it acts as a sound card when connected. It's the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 audio interface.
I was not sure if there are still advantages with an internal sound card for music, movies, and gaming over this Focusrite unit. I have 2 sets of speaker monitors. One set is larger and they sit on stands in my room, while the other set is smaller that sits on my desk. The smaller ones are used for gaming/movies/ music and some audio session playbacks because they face me while I sit at the desk. These are the ones I have plugged into the on board audio and was wondering if I should get a PCIe sound card for. The other two larger monitor speakers are along a different part of the room, and the Focusrite's main control room out put handles those.
So, should I just use the Focusrite unit for all my speakers? It's simple enough to use it and just change the settings to system sound when gaming and what not. Or should I look into a PCIe sound card, and if so, which ones are solid? I am seeing the Creative Sound Blaster series a lot in my searches.
I hope I have explained myself well enough here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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