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Thread: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

  1. #21
    The User DemonDragonJ's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Quote Originally Posted by AmEv View Post
    If A: I had a free PCI slot, B: I remember where I set my SBLive5.1's backplate, I'd be using it.
    When you mention PCI slots, are you referring to conventional PCI or PCI express? Conventional PCI is being displaced by PCI express, so I would not recommend using a conventional PCI sound card; a PCI express sound card is likely to perform better, and purchasing such a device shall help to support that interface standard (my current sound card uses PCIe, and most manufacturers have now switched to using that interfaces exclusively).

    Quote Originally Posted by mDust View Post
    And what is this? A free country? I called the police. They seemed pretty upset the 6th time I called. You're in for it now.
    Are you joking, I hope? Because this hardly seems to be the type of issue for which a person would contact the police.
    "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -Thomas Jefferson.

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  2. #22
    The floppy drive is no longer obsolete. AmEv's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Quote Originally Posted by DemonDragonJ View Post
    When you mention PCI slots, are you referring to conventional PCI or PCI express? Conventional PCI is being displaced by PCI express, so I would not recommend using a conventional PCI sound card; a PCI express sound card is likely to perform better, and purchasing such a device shall help to support that interface standard (my current sound card uses PCIe, and most manufacturers have now switched to using that interfaces exclusively).



    Are you joking, I hope? Because this hardly seems to be the type of issue for which a person would contact the police.
    Yes, I mean old-school PCI slot, and his post is laced with sarcasm.
    Two years. They were great. Let's make the next ones even better!

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  3. #23
    The User DemonDragonJ's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Quote Originally Posted by AmEv View Post
    Yes, I mean old-school PCI slot, and his post is laced with sarcasm.
    I was uncertain if MDust was being sarcastic or not because a post on an online forum cannot convey tone of voice; if I have been communicating verbally with MDust, I likely could have inferred his sarcasm from the tone of his voice.

    And why would you use conventional PCI, when it is inferior to PCI express? It is an outdated interface, as are IDE, parallel, serial (DB-9), PS/2, and VGA interfaces. It is being gradually phased out by manufacturers, so there is no need to continue to support it, in my mind.
    "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -Thomas Jefferson.

    "Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither." -Benjamin Franklin

  4. #24
    The floppy drive is no longer obsolete. AmEv's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Yeah, that's why I said "if". For what I've got, onboard is enough. Maybe later....
    Two years. They were great. Let's make the next ones even better!

    Tri.fecta

  5. #25
    Resident 100HP water-cannon operator SXRguyinMA's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Actually a lot of new motherboards are coming with DB9 (serial) headers on them along next to the USB 2.0 ones. My new Biostar TZ77XE4 has one on it. And PS/2 has tons of reasons why EVERY motherboard still has at least one port - Google it.

    And the reason for plain PCI for a sound card is that it will never use the number of lanes or even come close to the bandwidth for standard PCI let alone PCI-E. A PCI-E sound card is quit pointless, as is PCI-E Gen 3 right now too. Is it faster than Gen 2? Yes. Are there any graphics cards on the market that can even saturate a PCI-E 2 slot? No.

  6. #26
    Mentally Underclocked mDust's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Quote Originally Posted by DemonDragonJ View Post
    I was uncertain if MDust was being sarcastic or not because a post on an online forum cannot convey tone of voice; if I have been communicating verbally with MDust, I likely could have inferred his sarcasm from the tone of his voice.
    Nope, I'm an expert in the sarcasm department. In person nobody is sure when I'm being sarcastic or not. Usually, the things that fall out of my mouth aren't as outlandish...but since we're on the net, and there are crazy people out here, outlandish scenarios alone usually aren't enough to conclude one way or the other. Don't worry though; my sarcasm is non-hostile and isn't directed 'at' you. It's purely for my own, innocent amusement.

    Quote Originally Posted by SXRguyinMA
    And the reason for plain PCI for a sound card is that it will never use the number of lanes or even come close to the bandwidth for standard PCI let alone PCI-E. A PCI-E sound card is quit pointless, as is PCI-E Gen 3 right now too. Is it faster than Gen 2? Yes. Are there any graphics cards on the market that can even saturate a PCI-E 2 slot? No.
    Data throughput technologies are always going to be 'overkill.' If new devices need more bandwidth than the current tech allows, then someone wasn't doing their job. We couldn't play our shiny, modern games with DDR, IDE and PCI.
    It just doesn't make sense to provide backward compatibility for obsolete tech forever. I haven't installed a floppy drive in close to a decade and I haven't had a PCI slot on my mobo in probably 5 years. Is PCIE x1 overkill for sound? Yes, but it's that or on-board.
    I'll procrastinate tomorrow.

  7. #27
    The User DemonDragonJ's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Quote Originally Posted by SXRguyinMA View Post
    And the reason for plain PCI for a sound card is that it will never use the number of lanes or even come close to the bandwidth for standard PCI let alone PCI-E. A PCI-E sound card is quit pointless, as is PCI-E Gen 3 right now too. Is it faster than Gen 2? Yes. Are there any graphics cards on the market that can even saturate a PCI-E 2 slot? No.
    This shall be changing the subject, slightly, but, while no video card can use the full bandwidth of PCI-express 3.0, or even 2.0, are there other devices that can do so, such as a PCI-express-based solid-state drive?
    "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -Thomas Jefferson.

    "Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither." -Benjamin Franklin

  8. #28
    One Eye, Sixteen Cores. Kayin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Yes. I've got a raid card that can max out a PCI-E x4 slot, and they make them that can do the same with an x16.
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  9. #29
    Yuk it up Monkey Boy! Airbozo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Quote Originally Posted by DemonDragonJ View Post
    This shall be changing the subject, slightly, but, while no video card can use the full bandwidth of PCI-express 3.0, or even 2.0, are there other devices that can do so, such as a PCI-express-based solid-state drive?
    Yes. The Texas Memory systems units can saturate a 2.0 slot for sure. At over $60k I would hope they could saturate a 3.0 as well.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kayin View Post
    Yes. I've got a raid card that can max out a PCI-E x4 slot, and they make them that can do the same with an x16.
    We use several flavors of raid cards and the adaptec high end cards are _supposed_ to work in an x4 slot, but in reality, they will fail in an x4 slot under sustained transfers. We now only put them in an x8 slot minimum.
    "...Dumb all over, A little ugly on the side... "...Frank Zappa...

  10. #30
    Mentally Underclocked mDust's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why are Sound Cards not as Competitive as are Video Cards?

    Other than enterprise gear, there isn't much that a home user is going to do under normal circumstances to saturate those technologies. ...RAIDing 16+ 500MB/s SSDs on an x4 slot is not normal let alone achieving peak transfer rates on said array.

    Also, you are allowed to derail your own thread at any point. If you don't do it, someone else will. I do it all the time and regret nothing.
    I'll procrastinate tomorrow.

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