best PCI slot for new sound card?

[GameRat]

Hi all,
I have an Asus P4C800 E DX motherboard and am wondering what is the best slot to put in a new X-Fi EtremeMusic sound card into.
For the sake of confussion, we'll call the PCI slot under the AGP slot ... slot number one.

Thanks for any help with this

David

[ROBSCIX]

OK, don't put it in slot #1, that is basically the only hard & fast rule about that. If you put it in the slot under the the AGP you will be sharing a interupt (IRQ) with the AGP -that's bad. Start out at the slot the farthest from the AGP, so the bottom..install it all etc. Test it and verify it works the way it's supposed to. if not check for a IRQ error and post back, but you should be alright.

[GameRat]

Thanks for your reply ROBSCIX,

I took your advice and poked it into slot five ... seems like its working fine.

David

[ROBSCIX]

Then it's probably alright, you could check and see if it's sharing a IRQ -this could cause a potential issue depending on wht it's sharing with, then again it might not cause any issue's at all. I would just consider it stable, play some games play some music ,movies..listen for crackling or skipping etc..if there is no problems then there is no problem. Good Luck.

[Luvabud]

I would put it into the farthest one away from the graphics but you may get interference from the case if too close, I do, so put it one up from that

[ROBSCIX]

OH BTW if you hear faint sounds when you move the mouse MUTE all your input's like the line_in mic..etc sometimes these connection pick up signals from the MOBO..actually it's a good rule to keep them muted if your not using them anyway...

[GameRat]

I know its not the manly thing to do (heh)... but I ended up looking at the motherboard manual and read that the 1st and 5th slot share. So since there is nothing in slot one ... I think I'll be alright with the IRQ's. I did check as you suggested, and its all good.
Thanks for the tip about muting the mic in too. I was reading the same on the Creative forums.

thanks again all

David

[Kon$olE]

Originally Posted by ROBSCIX

OH BTW if you hear faint sounds when you move the mouse MUTE all your input's like the line_in mic..etc sometimes these connection pick up signals from the MOBO..actually it's a good rule to keep them muted if your not using them anyway...

I knew i wasnt an idiot for doing that!
Yesterday i swapped modes a little to quickly... speakers started making this strange buzzing sound.

[ROBSCIX]

IT happens when the inputs are so sensitive that it picks up signals that radiate from the traces on the mobo, if you know anything about electronics the inside of a PC is very noisy -electronically speaking signal flying all over the place. So if your not using the Line_in mute it, the mic, the AUX, the CD..ALL inputs your not using...

[GameRat]

Here is an update on the X-Fi.

The only game I use is Nascar Racing 2003 ... but I was unable to get rid of some static noise in the background after trying many, many tweaks and bios changes and drivers stuff, etc.

So I thought I better try something else to see if the problem was related specifically to NR2003, or if indeed there is something wrong with the X-Fi.
So I installed the demo of RFactor and gave it a spin.

Everything sounds perfect in RFactor and the game is awesome. I have a black Momo and am really liking the Force Feedback effects and physics of the sim.
I think I will be purchasing this title very soon.

My review of the X-Fi is now "highly recommended"!
Works perfect in this system.

Thanks for all the comments and help

David

[ROBSCIX]

IF it's a certain game giving you trouble look on the website for the game and see if there is a patch..Or look in the game config at the Audio options sometimes the games default to the wrong setting..I have seen this alot..Hope this helps.

[EaglePC]

Asus P4C800 Deluxe Slot 2
P4P800 E Deluxe Slot 4
P4P800 SE Slot 5

Had all 3 of these boards in my experience those slot are free irq's