HELP! ANyone know of any soundcards for a low-profile deskto
Posted: 03/10/2007 - 10:34
Hi all,
Firstly, hello again to everyone - I've not posted on here for ages, but (like many others here) I like to read the forums regularly and keep abreast of all things C64
Anyway, here's my conundrum. I've got a low-profile desktop sitting in the lounge which is (mainly) used emulators (everything from C64 to MAME). It's a DELL optiplex GX270 and is pretty much up to the job (I've installed a GEForce 5200 to pump up the gfx a little). The issue now is the cr*ppy onboard sound. As you all know, I'll get a better quality of sound from a dedicated soundcard but more importantly (in this case) I'll be taking the load away from the CPU etc and therefore get better performance in the emulators (I'm thinking MAME specifically here).
Now, if I was using a shuttle or a normal desktop it'd be simplicity in itself to go out and buy a cheap PCI soundcard. However, with a low-profile system (with half-height slots) I seem to have hit a brick wall - I simply can't find a soundcard to fit! I realise that plenty of soundcards are small enough to fit, but the bracket at the end of the card is always full-size and I can't seem to find any conversion kits (unlike the afore-mentioned gfx card).
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Before anyone responds, I don't want to go down the route of an external card - it defeats the object of having a small pc in the first place!
Firstly, hello again to everyone - I've not posted on here for ages, but (like many others here) I like to read the forums regularly and keep abreast of all things C64
Anyway, here's my conundrum. I've got a low-profile desktop sitting in the lounge which is (mainly) used emulators (everything from C64 to MAME). It's a DELL optiplex GX270 and is pretty much up to the job (I've installed a GEForce 5200 to pump up the gfx a little). The issue now is the cr*ppy onboard sound. As you all know, I'll get a better quality of sound from a dedicated soundcard but more importantly (in this case) I'll be taking the load away from the CPU etc and therefore get better performance in the emulators (I'm thinking MAME specifically here).
Now, if I was using a shuttle or a normal desktop it'd be simplicity in itself to go out and buy a cheap PCI soundcard. However, with a low-profile system (with half-height slots) I seem to have hit a brick wall - I simply can't find a soundcard to fit! I realise that plenty of soundcards are small enough to fit, but the bracket at the end of the card is always full-size and I can't seem to find any conversion kits (unlike the afore-mentioned gfx card).
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Before anyone responds, I don't want to go down the route of an external card - it defeats the object of having a small pc in the first place!
