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Asus STX- Will these specs suffice?

post #1 of 16
7/3/09 at 6:36am
Thread Starter 
Looking for a little help from you STX owners. A friend is picking up a new pc locally tomorrow and wanted to go ahead and pickup an upgraded soundcard. He asked for a recommendation mostly for music and a little gaming. I'm an external dac guy myself, so not much help from me. I told him about the STX and everything I have read here, seems like a great card. These are some of the specs. I just want to make sure everything is compatible and will work with this card, before he buys it.
The only thing I see that might be a problem would be the power supply. I have read here that's a big part of the card working at it's full potential.

Thanks in advance....

Vista x64
6GB RAM
Power Supply 280W
PCI Slots (Total): 1
PCI Slots (Available): 1
PCI Express X1 Slots (Total): 2
PCI Express X1 Slots (Available): 2
PCI Express X16 Slots (Total): 1
PCI Express X16 Slots (Available): 1
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post #2 of 16
7/3/09 at 7:00am
what brand/model? ask him to run OCCT for a half hour, you want the 12V ripple to be as low as possible.
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post #3 of 16
7/3/09 at 4:00pm
Thread Starter 
Here is the link Lenovo K230-K3665 Desktop Computer - Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz, 6GB DDR2, 640GB SATA II, DVDRW, Vista Home Premium 57093706 at TigerDirect.com

I believe he has a Lenovo rebate he has to use. Wanted to keep the cost around $800.00 including a few upgrades. We have a TigerDirect locally and he's going after work.

Personally, when I saw the optical out, I had other ideas, but he's set on a sound card

Thanks
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post #4 of 16
7/3/09 at 6:16pm
it's prolly got a lousy PSU...ask him to run OCCT for 30 mins and show us the 12V graphs
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post #5 of 16
7/3/09 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Lee. I'm assuming that's the OverClock checking tool? The idea was to see if he could buy the PC and card tonight. If there were compatibility issues from the specs, I guess he would buy another card.
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post #6 of 16
7/3/09 at 6:58pm
well this card relies on the PSU, get something serious if any possible

"work" ? it will "work"(except if the mobo BIOS is poorly written, always possible on cheap OEM stuff), but buying a no-name PSU is a terrible mistake in the long run IMO.

yes OCCT will give you a graph with the 12V fluctuation under load, this usually tells a lot about the PSU quality...the less fluctuation, the more the STX will give
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post #7 of 16
7/3/09 at 7:17pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks again lee...Very good points in reference to retail PCs and power supplies. I just advised him to pickup the PC and hold off on the card. I'll have him run the OCCT and I'll post them here.
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post #8 of 16
7/3/09 at 7:21pm
advise him to build the PC w/ proper parts(Corsair PSU, Gigabyte mobo, etc etc)...getting OEM stuff like that will end up in lousy components
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post #9 of 16
7/3/09 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
lol...I know what you mean, however, he has to buy pre-built because he has some Lenovo rebate. He returned a laptop and they gave him a credit.
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post #10 of 16
7/3/09 at 8:58pm
A good PSU seems does make lots of improvements, but I don't thing you need to worry about it at this stage now.

I mean, your friend can always do a upgrade just like people doing the OPAMP upgrade, you don't have to everything in one shot.
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post #11 of 16
7/4/09 at 1:03am
Even the best switching PSU's are bad for sound so it shouldn't really matter.
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post #12 of 16
7/4/09 at 1:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeatFan12 View Post
Here is the link Lenovo K230-K3665 Desktop Computer - Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz, 6GB DDR2, 640GB SATA II, DVDRW, Vista Home Premium 57093706 at TigerDirect.com

I believe he has a Lenovo rebate he has to use. Wanted to keep the cost around $800.00 including a few upgrades. We have a TigerDirect locally and he's going after work.

Personally, when I saw the optical out, I had other ideas, but he's set on a sound card

Thanks
well if he wants to game, he will have to get a new psu + new video card
the onboard intel x3100 on that machine is really a huge POS for any gaming. depending on the video games and monitor he has, a good video card would cost from $80-200 USD.
a low watt (400-500w), high quality psu like antec earthwatts, corsair should be sufficient for that comp and a mid-high end video card
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post #13 of 16
7/4/09 at 2:06am
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys....He went ahead and picked it up. Did not buy the STX yet, though. In reference to gaming, he's not an avid gamer, just a few here and there but did get another video card for it anyway (GeForce 9600?) and a power supply (Corsair TX750W 750-Watt)...

I told him to hold off on the card, but I'm thinking that new PS should be better than the stock one for the STX. He has about $250 left over for any upgrades.
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post #14 of 16
7/4/09 at 2:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeatFan12 View Post
Thanks guys....He went ahead and picked it up. Did not buy the STX yet, though. In reference to gaming, he's not an avid gamer, just a few here and there but did get another video card for it anyway (GeForce 9600?) and a power supply (Corsair TX750W 750-Watt)...

I told him to hold off on the card, but I'm thinking that new PS should be better than the stock one for the STX. He has about $250 left over for any upgrades.
9600gt should be fine in most circumstances, and the psu is much more then he'll ever need. anything is better than a no brand oem supplied low watts/amp psu ^^
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post #15 of 16
7/4/09 at 3:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by e6600 View Post
9600gt should be fine in most circumstances, and the psu is much more then he'll ever need. anything is better than a no brand oem supplied low watts/amp psu ^^

So you're saying with the new psu, the STX would perform adequately? If that's the case, I'll advise him to pick it up tomorrow. When it's all said and done I might even convert to soundcards
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