How hot?
Those chips are probably rated for 80c or more so just not being able to touch it doesn't mean its too hot

They are getting pretty hot om my SB16VE card.
On both SB16pnp and Vibra16S they are not getting hot like this.

Most likely these aren't voltage regulators but the amplifier for the phones output. Would you please provide the model number of your SB16 card and which transistors get hot?

smeezekitty wrote:

How hot?
Those chips are probably rated for 80c or more so just not being able to touch it doesn't mean its too hot

+1. The "touch test" isn't terribly accurate for power components in many cases - some of that stuff can readily run hot enough to boil water without any problems. 😊

That said, I do remember my Audigy cards getting relatively warm while running games, which would lead to static/crackling in the audio. Putting some small heatsinks on (remember those little stick-on heatsinks you could get for motherboard parts?) eliminated the problem. If you've got some small heatsinks you can stick on there, why not just go for it? I doubt anything is wrong with the card as it is, but if it gives you some peace of mind, what's the harm? 😀

some parts of my SB16 also get hot but I doubt it's something to worry about...
my Auzentech X-Fi Forte card on the other hand gets REALLY hot at some mofsets IIRC , no problems but it worries me at the back of my head.... 🤣

Sorry for not having posted answers to questions from all.... I have not been at a computer for a while, only had my Android phone at me.
Well.... I have taken some pictures, and I have read up on the datasheet for the two voltage regulators. Anyway....

Is it correct, that they are rated at max 125 degree Celcius? Or is it me misreading data-sheet's?
First the pictures I have been taken of the regulators. Then some links for the data-sheets.

As far as I can see, they are called AN7805A and AN7809F.

AN7805A: http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/pdf … NIC/AN7805.html
AN7809F: http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/pdf … IC/AN7809F.html

So....
Is it just me, who worry too much about the heat? Or should I mount some heatsinks or possibly replace components?

They just run hot. Although, if that was my card, I would clean up the corrosion/oxidation that seems to have built up around your regulators. There's nothing wrong with adding heatsinks or replacing the regulators, but it shouldn't be necessary.

Logistics wrote:

They just run hot. Although, if that was my card, I would clean up the corrosion/oxidation that seems to have built up around your regulators. There's nothing wrong with adding heatsinks or replacing the regulators, but it shouldn't be necessary.

Thanks. Then I have read correct from the datasheet's. Just wierd to have components that I can cook on. 🤣
Actually, it comes back to me now. I remember having this doubt back when I had my first SB16-VE card.
Back then, it was not an issue because I bought my first SB16-VE new, from the store in 1995.
I remember that I thought it was just how the components should behave.
Wanted to make shure that this is normal, before I try to clean the soundcard up. (Removing corrotion etc.)
The worst thing would be a fire. Better a dead soundcard, than a burned home.