PCI or PCI-E x4 Sound Cards?

[Red Hawk]

Apparently BioShock is not compatible with my motherboard's sound controller, so I am considering getting a sound card. The problem is, my motherboard's (stupid) arrangment means that the PCI-E x1 slot cannot be used when a graphics card (even single-slot) is plugged into the x16 slot. So, that limits me to PCI, or possibly PCI-E x4, if such cards are made.

My question is: Is there any disadvantage to using PCI instead of PCI-E x1? What brand and pricing should I look for?

 

[tynopik]

a PCIe x1 card will go into an x4 slot

 

[fffblackmage]

You know, you could install a PCIe x1 card into a PCIe x4 slot.

And are you sure the onboard sound controller isn't compatible? That just seems extraordinarily unusual.

 

[Absolution75]

I'm kinda surprised bioshock doesn't support your motherboards sound codec.

What motherboard do you have? Seems like 95% of them are realtek. Have you tried updating your drivers?

 

[Red Hawk]

You can install a PCI-E x1 device into a x4 slot? Great, I wasn't sure about that. As for BioShock not supporting the motherboard's sound codec: I know it's a sound issue because BioShock works with sound disabled, but crashes on startup with sound enabled. DXDiag only names the audio device as High definition audio device, but PC Wizard reveals it as Device Audio : Dell Computer 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller" The General Information for the device is as follows in PC Wizard:

General Information :
Manufacturer : Intel
Version : 1.0
Output Stream : 4
Input Stream : 4
Bidirectionnal Stream : No
64-bit support : Yes
Mode : High Definition Audio (HDA)
Manufacturer Codec : SigmaTel
Model : STAC9227.

The Windows 7 automatic driver updater says that it's up to date, and I can't find any drivers online.

 

[s44]

You could also do USB... or use HDMI from your vidcard.

 

[Red Hawk]

My Geforce 9800 GT doesn't have an HDMI output, just DVI. Both PCI and PCI-E x1 are faster than USB, so I would prefer those.

 

[dac7nco]

Wow, that turns out to be made by IDT (you may not remember Centaur/NexGen x86 CPUs), and it's being discontinued. It looks like an audio chip made for Dell. NewEgg has a ton of PCI sound cards for cheap (<$20). Look under Computer Hardware>Input Devices>Sound Cards.

Daimon

 

[WildW]

There's no real issue on what kind of connection a sound card uses - PCI or PCI Express both have plenty of bandwidth, it's just down to the convenience of what slots you have available.

As for PCI-Express and the different slots, it's a nice design in that if it fits, it will work. I currently have a 1x hard disk controller sitting in a x16 slot.

oh. . .and I remember IDT/Centaur x86 CPUs. . . my first PC had the IDT Winchip 240MHz. . .which in reality wasn't as good as a real Pentium 133 if I remember right. Hunk of junk =)

 

[Rifter]

My Geforce 9800 GT doesn't have an HDMI output, just DVI. Both PCI and PCI-E x1 are faster than USB, so I would prefer those.

Why exactly do you think speed matters to a sound card? a ISA SB AWE64 was one of the better sound card ever made and a ISA slot has 1-2MB/sec speeds. USB is actually better most of the time because then the DAC is removed from alot of electrical interfearence that is found inside the case.

 

[Slugbait]

My question is: Is there any disadvantage to using PCI instead of PCI-E x1?

Yup. If you go with PCI, you'll have to throw the card away when you upgrade your mobo a couple of years from now...cuz your new mobo won't have PCI slots.

 

[yottabit]

Are you sure it's your sound card that's the issue? There is a common sound problem with Bioshock under Vista and Win7. You need to be running it in Windows XP compatibility mode in order to get sound. If that doesn't work, I believe there is some config or ini file you can edit.

 

[CurseTheSky]

USB is plenty fast for sound capabilities. For example, I have a Sennheiser PC-161 headset with a USB dongle. It shows up as a separate audio device in Windows 7's playback device listing, and it works without a hitch. I can even set some programs to output audio on one device (sound card), and others to the Sennheiser USB DAC. Sound quality is good enough for what I use them for (games), and to really hear any difference between the USB DAC and my sound card's output, I'd need to buy better headphones anyway.

With that said, there's no harm in getting a PCI-E sound card. The only downside is that they tend to be fairly pricey - $60+ for something decent. I personally prefer ASUS for my PCI-E sound card needs, as the other good, cheap sound cards all seem to be Creative (driver headaches) or PCI. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829132006.

If you're willing to give USB a shot, something like this is cheap enough to be worth a gamble: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118007.

 

[mfenn]

Why exactly do you think speed matters to a sound card? a ISA SB AWE64 was one of the better sound card ever made and a ISA slot has 1-2MB/sec speeds. USB is actually better most of the time because then the DAC is removed from alot of electrical interfearence that is found inside the case.

:thumbsup:

 

[Red Hawk]

I don't know, I just think an internal sound card would be better. Also I don't want to unneccesarily take up USB ports.

I went to Dell's website and downloaded the proper audio driver, so it shows up as a SigmaTel device in DXDiag. Bioshock still doesn't work though. I have been having some audio glitches in other games and in Flash video playback, so hopefully the proper driver will fix that.

 

[yottabit]

Did you read my post?

 

[Red Hawk]

I tried that, but it gives me endless "Do You want BioShock.exe to make changes to your computer?" messages and doesn't run at all. (I'm playing the Steam version, btw, and trying to run Steam in compatability mode as well gives me a message that it is not recommended to run Steam as such)

 

[yottabit]

I tried that, but it gives me endless "Do You want BioShock.exe to make changes to your computer?" messages and doesn't run at all. (I'm playing the Steam version, btw, and trying to run Steam in compatability mode as well gives me a message that it is not recommended to run Steam as such)

Ah, ok. For me I ran Steam in compatibility mode in it worked. I also found this for people with Realtek audio:

"- Enable Stereo mixing, to do this browse to Start > Control Panel > Sound (in classic view). Once done switch to the Recording tab which will show the currently active inputs on your system (e.g. Line in, Microphone). Right click in the clear space below these devices and select the option for Show disabled devices. This should show an additional device called Stereo mixing, right click on this device and select Enable.

This was all I had to do and it worked perfectly,"

That note was for Vista, but maybe there's a similar trick for 7.

Just saw your edit, I dunno what to say. I'd try running steam in XP SP3 compatibility mode when you want to play Bioshock, and see if it works. Just remember to change it back after