One Interna PCI slot and need more

[BuddyB]

It seems I've seen a PCI internal connector that will allow two or three additional PCI cards. I'v got only one and the FireWire is hooked up to that. Display and audio are built into the Asus MB. I need a Display card and could probably use an audio card to replace the built in devices. Anyone know of anything? Thanks.

[Bob]

I wouldn't recommend the pci expansion card. Especially as you have other options available to you. While it true that your asus motherboard has only 1 pci slot, it also has three pci express slots -- two are x1 and 1 is x16. The PCIE X16 slot would be used by your external video card. That leaves two PCIE X1 slots. Depending on whether your video card is a double or single slot width, it may cover one of the PCIE x1 slots, but the other should be usable. You can get both firewire cards and audio cards that plug into a PCIE x1 slot. Since you already have the firewire card in the pci slot, it would be reasonable to get a PCIE x1 audio card. Just be sure to double check that you have room for the cards you choose.

[BuddyB]

Dynamite information Bob, thank you so much. I realized I need a Display card because my PNGs look like the devil (a bit blurry) after bringing them into Movie Studio 13, but I made a DVD of what I was doing and they look great on my tv. I also recorded a voice track with my present sound card and it was just barely audible until I jacked it up in Sony Audio Studio. Of course that brought up the noise level as well. That helped a bunch thanks again.

[Bob]

Before you buy an audio card, check your audio settings.

Go to the control panel and select hardware and sound, select Manage Audio Devices, Recording, levels to see the microphone volume and boost controls. If the volume is at the highest setting, try increasing the boost value to increase the volume. Boost will increase the noise, you can try turning on noise suppression in the enhancements tab to see if that helps. I believe your motherboard uses a via chipset which is different from mine. Your controls may vary.

sound parameters.JPG

I don't think you need a new video card. Even a low end video capability should display jpg and png well. If a standard definition sized png or jpg is viewed enlarged on the pc monitor it will look softened as you describe, but processed to standard definition dvd and viewed on your tv, it will look good.

[BuddyB]

What would we do without you. I've kicked up the audio and will play with it today to see what needs to be done. Will let you know. PNG thoughts never crossed my mind; haven't tried JPGs because of their sensitivity to enlargement. I've always been able to enlarge just a wee bit without losing discernible quality. I have noticed, since I spend so much time here, that sometimes type extensions and serifs fade in everything I see. Then when I refresh my screen everything shows sharp and the way it should. That's what started me thinking about a better display card.

[BuddyB]

Your info Bob cleared everything up. Yes, my setup is a bit different. I kicked up both the Mic and Mic Boost 100%. Basic voice recording quality was fine and no noise, just mine . I got to to check the 1/8" pin plug, it's only recording on one track, and I'm pretty sure it has 2 audio bands. Not caring whether it's mono or not I just copy the first track and load it on the second, and voila, and I have a decent track, not wonderful, but very useable and the quality is acceptable. Pulease don't put any meters on it huh.
PS: Just discovered the mic pin is mono, that's the reason it hits one track. Maybe Sony has a click that will do both tracks at the same time.