Motherboards In which slot should I tuck my Xonar into?

I am getting an Asus Xonar DX in the next few days, but I don't know in which PCI-E slot I'm going to put it into on my Asus P5Q Pro board.

The problem is that there are a few PCI-E x1 slots, but they're all around the upper x16 slot where my 4870 lies. I'm afraid that the Xonar will bring the temperature of the graphics card up even more.

This is the sound card I'm talking about:


And this is the motherboard:


And here's a little Paint illustration:


So, basically I can't put it in the uppest slot, because it might conflict with the NB heatsink, or even with my TRUE on the CPU. Also it might heat the GPU up.

The lowest PCI-E x1 slot would be a good choice, but it might get in the way of airflow to the GPU.

The lower PCI-E x16 slot would be the best choice, but it's an x16 and my mobo might force both x16 slots into x8 mode (as it's P45).

Also, in any of the lower slots it would totally cover the SB heatsink with the 4870.



So, do you have any advice? TIA

 

It depends where your fans are. Due to having fans on the base and lower front of my case I decided to put my above the graphics card, which seems to have had no effect whatsoever on component temperatures. In fact the temps may even be lower as I had a much bigger x-fi on the lowest PCI-slot.

 

looking at the pic, i think the "uppest" lol slot will conflict with the NB heatsink. I dont know about the TRUE though. Use that slot if you can.

 

I'd try putting it in the topmost PCIe x1 slot. I think it'll fit. If that fails put it in the lowest possible PCIe x1 slot. FWIW, I don't think your PCIe x16 slots will default to x8 if you put the sound card into the lower x16 slot. There could possibly be some other problems though, since x16 slots are slightly differently wired (for lack of a better word) than "normal" PCIe slots.

 

Thanks for your input.

I just realised how small the sound card is. I think it's going into the lowest x1 slot.

Also, I noticed a small thing on the Asus page:

Do they mean a Molex? Arrgh... that's sooo going to ruin my cable management!
edit: OMG! It's a fckin floppy connector! Where am I going to get one of them???

 

If you get the PCI version it has no additional power connector. And you can put it in your 1st PCI slot.

Also, don't forget you can put a PCI-Express X1 card into an X16 slot.

 

You can buy floppy-to-Molex adapters for like two or three dollars, if even that. And if it'll screw up your cable management that badly, you can order straight-up Molex splitters, if that helps.

But if you haven't ordered the card already, shoot for the D2 instead of the DX. No slot placement conflicts, no external power needed. PCI-Ex1 needs the extra power connector because the slot doesn't provide enough, but a legacy PCI slot does fine on that front. Besides, the D- and D2-series are actually designed around PCI slots anyway - the PCI-E versions have a PCI to PCI-E bridge chip on them. There's functionally no difference between the two slots on this one.

If you have... stick it in the x1 slot below the GPU. The upper x1 slot won't conflict with your TRUE, but it probably will with your RAM. The x16 will probably give you motherboard headaches - likely nothing that couldn't be worked around eventually, but nothing you really want to deal with if you don't have to, either. The lower x1 shouldn't actually give your GPU air intake issues - the Xonar is a low-profile card, one, and two, it's about 2.5 inches (~9cm) shorter than a 4870, so the fan (on the rear of the card) might not even conflict with it that much anyway, if at all.


- Diosjenin -

 

i would put it in the top pci'e, it wont touch your nb heatsink, and it shouldnt be long enough to touch your ram, its a sound card, not a gfx card.

i wouldnt put it directly below your gfx card either, the fan intake on the gfx card is on the underside where you 'might' put the sound card, as such it might inhibit the airflow in the gfx card cooling system.

peace

fatman

 

Thanks for your replies again!

I just installed the sound card now, working very good so far.

I first tried it in the lowest x1 slot but it covered the GFX fan half-way so I put it into the uppest slot then.

It's a real tight fit, only leaves about 3 millimeters from the NB heatsink and only 1 mm from the RAM.

It came with a molex-to-floppy adapter! Props to Asus for that. However, it currently shares a molex cable from the PSU with four fans... Does that matter much?