Is it just hype or is there a difference

[mikeny]

I was curious if there is a difference between a Sound Card that uses PCI or PCI-E. I heard that the PCI cards were getting fazed out and on the other side, I heard that there is a noticable difference between PCI and PCIE cards. With my new build I was going to go to a XFI Fatality card (Titanium). I'm also checking out the Sonar and Azertech cards but I am not going to ask about those because of another post that hits that subject. ( I'm keeping an eye on it though).

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

The difference between PCI and PCIe with sound cards is nonexistent. The only advantage to a PCIe card is that it should work on all future motherboards. That said I'm a huge fan of the Xonar cards and highly recommend them, though the PCIe thing means nothing.

 

[topman]

Hi if you want the best sound out of your PC then this is what you want to get
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=CAMB-DACMAGIC-08-SIL you dont even need a sound card to use it and the sound is fantastic it as good as a £500 CD player. but the doun side is that you need a amp to plug it in to.

 

[jerreece]

Hi if you want the best sound out of your PC then this is what you want to get
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=CAMB-DACMAGIC-08-SIL you dont even need a sound card to use it and the sound is fantastic it as good as a £500 CD player. but the doun side is that you need a amp to plug it in to.

Keep in mind that has nothing to do with the OP's question. Plus, whether that product gives you the best sound or not, entirely depends on the speaker system the OP is going to be attaching to his system.

Frankly I use the onboard sound on my 680i chipset. With my old Creative Labs speakers I simply cannot hear the difference between that and the old PCI Audigy 2 sound card I used to use.

Not to mention my hearing isn't perfect anymore anyhow.

mikeny: I'd say go for the PCI-e sound card, simply because you'll have a better likelihood of being able to re-use that sound card in the future as you upgrade CPU/Mobo's. That would be my inclination anyhow.

 

[leo2kp]

I noticed a difference between my EX58 onboard and my X-Fi gamer card, and I have probably the cheapest 5.1 speakers you can buy lol.

 

[mikeny]

Keep in mind that has nothing to do with the OP's question. Plus, whether that product gives you the best sound or not, entirely depends on the speaker system the OP is going to be attaching to his system.

Frankly I use the onboard sound on my 680i chipset. With my old Creative Labs speakers I simply cannot hear the difference between that and the old PCI Audigy 2 sound card I used to use.

Not to mention my hearing isn't perfect anymore anyhow.

mikeny: I'd say go for the PCI-e sound card, simply because you'll have a better likelihood of being able to re-use that sound card in the future as you upgrade CPU/Mobo's. That would be my inclination anyhow.

Ok thnx. Im looking at Xonar and SB XFI Fatality. I am going to see what I can get for digital speakers (and not bust the bank). I was looking at non-digital speakers---- Logitech x540 5.1 speakers. I like the Z5500's but for $300?? Id rather use that money for my CPU-Mobo-RAM-Video Card (Either Nvidia 295 or 4870 or 4850x2)