As of four days ago EVGA has released a new BIOS (1.19 for the FTW board I use) which allows the MB greater compatibility with PCIe audio cards. Until now the cards might or might not be recognized at boot, which could lead you to be well into Windows before you know that you have no audio. In my case using Sound Blaster in any slot other than PCIe_4 would cause a boot failure anyway, which is why I had gone to an external DAC. On the system that I refer to as my "YouTube" system (because it is linked to an A/V recording system) I was forced to use PCIe_4, which meant I was having to reboot often enough to get irritating. All fixed now, so no more irritations.
