Onboard audio vs Sound Blaster Audigy 1

[rsnellma]

Hi,
I am wondering if it would be better for me to install a Sound Blaster Audigy 1 card into my DFI LAN Party UT nF3 250Gb motherboard which has Realtek ALC850 8 channel onboard audio. I don't really care about 7.1 vs. 5.1 because I mainly use headphones but with gaming. So, what would give me better frames per second in gaming with good sound? Thanks in advance.

Bob2001

 

[purple_haze]

its its that i suggest you stick with the dfi lan party, anything below audigy 2zs is not worth using.

 

[MYSTic Jedi]

yeah, i concur, most of tadays onboard audio is fairly good campared to last generations of sound cards, the only reason to add a sound card would be to eleminate the stain of sound from the CPU and add EAX effects, most newer onoard sound suports up to EAX 3, whitch i believe is what the A.1 is , it may be 2 idk, so i just wouldnt, but it your choice, try it out, and if you dont like it, then switch back to onboard..........my 2 cents

 

[Stoly]

most newer onoard sound suports up to EAX 3,

Only creative labs soundcards support EAX3 and up, integrated audio only support EAX 1 and 2 at best.

 

[Stellar]

Personally I'd install it just for the benefit of off-loading sound from the CPU. The Audigy also gives you a bit more software control and features than the Realtek chip.

I'm not a big fan of the Realtek chip or its software.

 

[Quester]

rsnellma,
I have the exact setup as you and wondering the exact same question.. is there a performance BUMP installing a SB Live or Audigy1 over onboard audio...

sound quality aside... just, is performance better ?

 

[Darknyt]

What about if your onboard sound is Nforce 2? Aka soundstorm.

What would I need to move up to get a good upgrade?

 

[strid3r]

rsnellma,
I have the exact setup as you and wondering the exact same question.. is there a performance BUMP installing a SB Live or Audigy1 over onboard audio...

sound quality aside... just, is performance better ?

With an Audigy1 or old Live! card, you get EAX hardware support over onboard audio, which generally only supports up to EAX2 in software (offloads the work to your CPU). Whether you'll see a worthy performance bump depends on whether you're using EAX in the first place and how speedy your rig is.

What about if your onboard sound is Nforce 2? Aka soundstorm.

Soundstorm uses crappy codecs on the analog outputs, so assuming you're not using a digital connection, any kind of separate sound card (Audigy 2 and up, M-audio, E-mu, etc etc.) will probably sound better as far as analog goes.

 

[ERL857]

just throw in a few bucks and get an Audigy2 ZS, I had the same chipset as the OP, dude there was no comparision it was light night and day when I installed the card.

 

[Darknyt]

Soundstorm uses crappy codecs on the analog outputs, so assuming you're not using a digital connection, any kind of separate sound card (Audigy 2 and up, M-audio, E-mu, etc etc.) will probably sound better as far as analog goes.

Of course I'm not using analog - that's the whole point of soundstorm right? I'm connecting via digital coax to my Z-680's. Dolby Digital on the fly, baby.