I'm seriously considering upgrading from my Xeon x3370/Gigabyte P45-UD3P system to something based around a SB 2600K CPU and 16GB ram.
However, one of the main considerations in board purchase is the continued use of my Asus Xonar Essence ST (which I love the analog output of to my amp). I know most boards have a single or pair of PCI slots, but I've noticed specifically on the Intel P67 board that it uses a bridge chip to interface with the PCI slots.
My original reason for purchasing the ST over the STX (PCIe variant) was that the ST is by design a PCI based card, not requiring a bridge chip and also has the better timing circuitry. So... my question is, do all of these new P67 boards use a bridge chip? Will it affect performance?
However, one of the main considerations in board purchase is the continued use of my Asus Xonar Essence ST (which I love the analog output of to my amp). I know most boards have a single or pair of PCI slots, but I've noticed specifically on the Intel P67 board that it uses a bridge chip to interface with the PCI slots.
My original reason for purchasing the ST over the STX (PCIe variant) was that the ST is by design a PCI based card, not requiring a bridge chip and also has the better timing circuitry. So... my question is, do all of these new P67 boards use a bridge chip? Will it affect performance?