Legit Reviews

I've run into a problem in building my first PC.

I'm building a system with an Intel D975XBX motherboard and despite checking the specs for the motherboard, thoroughly I thought, I now find that it has no connector for connecting audio from an optical drive (Pioneer DVR-A11XL). This may sound a silly question but how do I get sound from my CDs/DVDs? javascript:emoticon(':?')
Confused

Do I need a sound card or is the audio transferred from the optical drive to the motherboard via the ATA-66/100 cable?

If a sound card is required will it interfere with the 8-channel subsystem on the motherboard?

its odd that no external CD connector is on the motherboard, but otherwise yes a new sound card will be needed.

I dont think itl interfere with the sound, you will just have to tell the PC which sound card is the default and which isnt i would think.

It has been a long time since a cable has been needed between the optical drive and sound card or sound chip. Most modern systems will use the motherboard itself to transfer the sound from the drive to sound chip. Might sound odd but then again you don't have a sound cable coming from the hard drives to the chip so why should there be one from the optical drive? I have heard that it's not recommended to use a cable because it can actually create problems with the sound quality as well. Maybe give it a try without the cable instead of getting another sound card since the Intel 975 board has a great sound chip.

I dont/havent used one of those cables for a long time and have not had any issues.

every moder operating system i know of now supports getting audio from the CDRom without the use of a cable. This should be no issue at all unless your runing windows 95

The only thing to add, is make sure you don't have digital audio selected in your volume properties as you may not get sound.......

but yeah you'll be fine using just the IDE cable.... ;)

Hi Aspro,

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboar ... 014753.htm

It supports what pointreyes said about using the board to transfer audio.

The board also has an ATAPI connector which I believe is an optional alternative.?

I'm in the exact same position as you (arched back in front of PC) and building my first PC using the same board.

Good luck!

I've just realised that my previous post was 3 months after the last!

You've probably built your baby by now, I'd be interested to know what components you used.