Onboard Realtek ALC888 vs. X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI

mathesar

mathesar

[H]ard|Gawd
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Hi I recently put together an i7 920 setup and I'm currently using the onboard audio (Gigabyte EX58-UD3R motherboard,Realtek ALC888 audio) My previous PC has an older X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI soundcard and I'm curious if there would be any advantage using it in the i7 PC?

I ask because Ive been told the X-Fi has hardware acceleration which might take some load off the CPU? Thanks.
 
Vista and Win 7 both have done a pretty good job of making hardware acceleration obsolete. See creative "hacks" such as alchemy as the attempts to remain relevant that they are. That combined with the fact that Creative always has some of the worst drivers known to man and I'd run with the onboard and sell the xfi to some poor idiot on ebay while it's still worth something.
 
bigddybn said:
Vista and Win 7 both have done a pretty good job of making hardware acceleration obsolete
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Hmm didnt realise this but according to google you're right lol.. I guess if I really wanted to test I could run some benchmarks with and without the X-Fi ..but probably would be a waste of time.
 
Realtek ALC888 based audio is considered pretty good overall from what I've read. That's the audio hardware on the P6X58D and from what I've heard in my games, movies and music connected optically to my Z-5500s I agree.

I'm not anything near an audiophile but I just don't see the need for a dedicate sound card anymore. I've not bought on in many years now. Plus I really wouldn't worry about an i7 920 being taxed because of sound processing. Just ain't a problem.
 
Sell the X-fi to a noob. Spend money on gear that makes a difference.
 
lol @ soundcards making a difference in benchmarks...

That hasn't been relevant for 7ish years.
 
You won't see a performance difference, but if you've got decent audio hardware there will definitely be an improvement in sound quality with the X-Fi compared to onboard. Regardless of how much onboard audio has improved in recent times, it still can't compare to a good dedicated sound card.
 
OP, do you connect to your speakers over analogue? Is your speaker setup half decent? If you do connect via analogue, and have decent speakers, then the X-fi may sound better to you.
The DACs on Creative cards tend to be a lot better than most on board solutions. This normally leads to better sound over analogue if you have halfway decent speakers. Whether or not that and some of the other features of your X-fi make it worth it to you to put it in is up to you. Since hardware acceleration is pretty much dead since Vista, you will net get any fps boost out of using the X-fi.
 
Only really true if you have speakers capable of reproducing the differences that a good soundcard can produce. Unfortunately, the "hardcore gamer" industry has brainwashed people into thinking that good speakers are crap like the Logitech Z5500's.
 
heatlesssun said:
Realtek ALC888 based audio is considered pretty good overall from what I've read. That's the audio hardware on the P6X58D and from what I've heard in my games, movies and music connected optically to my Z-5500s I agree.

I'm not anything near an audiophile but I just don't see the need for a dedicate sound card anymore. I've not bought on in many years now. Plus I really wouldn't worry about an i7 920 being taxed because of sound processing. Just ain't a problem.
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I forgot to mention I have no problems with the Realtek's sound quality,my Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones still sound great and same with the Z5500's speakers/sub. I had been using the X-Fi for 4 years so I'm guessing I would've noticed a change there. (sound is wired via analog).
 
GORANKAR said:
OP, do you connect to your speakers over analogue? Is your speaker setup half decent? If you do connect via analogue, and have decent speakers, then the X-fi may sound better to you.
The DACs on Creative cards tend to be a lot better than most on board solutions. This normally leads to better sound over analogue if you have halfway decent speakers. Whether or not that and some of the other features of your X-fi make it worth it to you to put it in is up to you. Since hardware acceleration is pretty much dead since Vista, you will net get any fps boost out of using the X-fi.
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This. Though Creative's DACs being "a lot better" is subjective, of course. The average user would probably not be able to distinguish the difference using typical gaming or productivity-oriented hardware, like Z5500s, etc.

For the most part, you only need a sound card for the inputs/outputs, or if you record.
 
After using a ALC888 onboard for about a year then going recently to an X-Fi Plat, I can tell you it's worth going to the X-Fi IMHO. Stereo separation and positional sound is much better with the X-fi in games, even in today's world of no directsound3d. Don't upgrade just for FPS, but for positional surround sound.

Of course it's all subjective, but if you get goose bumps listening to a good movie with good surround mixing you've probably already moved off onboard sound.
 
I have ALC 889a and used it forever, picked up a X-FI Titanium cheap and went back and forth. Really heard the difference with the X-Fi and it won my choice for preferred sound solution in my box. Its alot louder with headphones for one, positional audio is better with it, also it has alot more in the control panel to tweak - love crystalizer, etc.

Also, I have Logitech Z5500s. Onboard is ok, decent even. But X-Fi is still better imo.
 
IMO they both sound the same, UNTIL you start to mess with some of the post processing capabilities of the XFi. Turn up the crystalizer, positional audio settings, bass crossover for your particular setup, and the EQ and someone who has never listened to music before can easily distinguish the difference. Its at least night and day difference to me.
 
Some thoughts in order of importance.

IF you decide to try the X-Fi (why not, you already have it) do a restore point/backup/whatever so you can recover cleanly.
Go S/PDIF to a "real" sound system (it will not matter then and you get the best sound without trying to make a pigs ear into a silk purse)
It depends on what you are listening to and the quality of your speakers/headset. (http://theclassicalstation.org/internet.shtml)
Talk to the guys in the "Comptuer Audio" forum on this board.
 
Thanks for the opinions Im going to give the X-Fi a try on my next day off.

I don't believe there's going to be a big difference, at least not like the last time I compared onboard audio, It was a "SoundMax" onboard vs. Audigy 2 ..the difference was HUGE especially when it came to overall volume output (I had to crank the volume knob a lot higher to get the same output vs. Audigy 2, and I did verify the windows volume adjustments were up on the soundmax).

But this Realtek seems to be putting out nice clean sound and the volume output is loud. I'll be sure to listen to some music etc. before I install the X-Fi.
 
I have the same circumstances as you do.

I have an evga Classified MB with the Realtek Azalia or whatever they call it and I also own an X-Fi ExtremeMusic soundcard (PCI) that I bought just after creative released them.

Honestly, I think the X-Fi IS superior.
I use a Yamaha receiver and 5.1 sound via Orb speakers......even though the older X-Fi only has analogue output, it still sounds better than the Coax digital from the Classified.
 
criccio said:
Only really true if you have speakers capable of reproducing the differences that a good soundcard can produce. Unfortunately, the "hardcore gamer" industry has brainwashed people into thinking that good speakers are crap like the Logitech Z5500's.
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What's your beef with the Z5500's? Sure it's not a 1000$ receiver and 2500$ worth of speakers good, but it's easy and totally decent.
 
Most motherboards digital HD audio is realtivly good nowadays, unless you have a heavy load from a workstation class program or do some heavy sound mixing, I'd stick with current motherboard audio, it has carried a bad name in the past, but on decent boards, is actually quite nice.
 
i think a lot of people with onboard audio dont know that they default to poor quality output, but if you change the sample rate to its highest setting you get fantastic quality on chips like the 888 (and the 885, which is actually the model that should be compared to xfi)
 
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mathesar said:
I ask because Ive been told the X-Fi has hardware acceleration which might take some load off the CPU? Thanks.
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i think the xfi that you have is the only one that doesnt have hardware acceleration.
 
X-Fi over onboard anyday, if you cant hear the difference you must be deaf or in denial.
 
From what I've experimented so far, I can hear more from my Realtek ALC883 with hardware acceleration enabled in XP which both Vista and Windows 7 lack making it obsolete. Unless your crazy about online gaming needing precise accuracy of footsteps as such, the Xi-Fi anyday, but if your just home crazy about some new theatre system you set up to your computer as a movie station, then stick to the onboard Realtek, they produce some nice onboard products these days.

But just a suggestion, you want even better then Xi-Fi series, go with Asus Sonar range, they way better then the Xi-Fi range and if your lucky enough a couple Auzentech's would probably be suffice enough for what your looking for too.
 
I liked my XtremeMusic while I had it. It certainly beats onboard.
 
Try out your X-Fi and see if it's better. If not then use the onboard. There's nothing wrong with onboard IMO.
 
Anybody have any idea how to enable audio hardware acceleration in Vista or Windows 7, since Microsoft made a shitty move by removing it in the last 2 OS's they released, theirs gotta be a way to enable it via a hack or so, anyone?
 
Matthew Kane said:
Anybody have any idea how to enable audio hardware acceleration in Vista or Windows 7, since Microsoft made a shitty move by removing it in the last 2 OS's they released, theirs gotta be a way to enable it via a hack or so, anyone?
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There is no hardware acceleration in Vista or Windows 7, period. DirectSound is completely gone.
 
I thought OpenAL was still accelerated in Vista/7, and that's what Alchemy does to get 3d sound back for older games, convert DS3D to OpenAL.
 
Although the quality of codecs have improved considerably in the last couple of years I still feel dedicated audio for good headphones and good speakers is a definite plus and something to be considered. The overall clarity improvement better microphone and headphone amplification is the way to go. And regardless of CPU off loading games can sound quite a bit better especially with the work they are doing in recording for games now. (Although I will say the new VIA codecs we are using are pretty sweet) the 2020 I think has overall quite impressive sound filed and clarity.

Of course I have a bias but most in the industry agree our Xonar solutions are awesome add in cards. A big advantage we have is the work on our driver end where we have full windows 7 support ( 64bit or 32bit ) for a much cleaner install and overall smoother experience. Currently creative still has beta windows 7 drivers for many of their xfi cards. Additionally we are currently refining them we are about to roll out another update for the Xonar line enabling bit perfect output as well as full sampling resolution support.

Consider a nice card like the Xonar D1 or DX you will not regret it. Please enjoy the rest of your day.
 
all i gotta say, juan, is asus products are always great! not to forget about asrock too... they have made incredible strides in the last couple years.

thanks for the input on sound solutions, its hard to argue with people that actually have their hands in selling these things. .
 
X'fi is without a doubt a better sounding card than onboard so the only question is, do you have the speakers to show that difference and second, are you able to notice it_
Since those can only be answered by you then its time to test.
Let us know.
 
honestly i dont think most people have the gear to tell the difference, also even if you could i dont think it matters that much. its nowhere near like it used to be, onboard sound does sound good nowadays. i just got a board with the via 1718s chipset and its excellent... at least plenty good enough for me to keep that extra pci slot open.
 
Juan_Jose said:
Consider a nice card like the Xonar D1 or DX you will not regret it. Please enjoy the rest of your day.
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I'm not one to agree with marketing people, but I have to agree with this. I'm very impressed with my Xonar DS. That card is perfect for me because I don't have any special needs like Dolby or surround, just basic 2.1 speakers and 2.0 headphones. And there is a difference. I can actually tell the difference between 320 and lossless and that's on my cheap shitty headphones.

I also swapped the opamp out with an LM4562 (easy with the opamp socket). For $50 you can't go wrong, and the LM4562 opamps can be obtained free from National (free samples!).
 
GORANKAR said:
Your thinking the Xtreme Audio. The Xtreme Music has hardware acceleration depending on your OS.
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It has hardware acceleration no matter the OS, maybe not in certain games, but you have a dedicated CPU to process audio instead of using your CPU.
 
gar818 said:
It has hardware acceleration no matter the OS, maybe not in certain games, but you have a dedicated CPU to process audio instead of using your CPU.
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So does your on board for certain things. It's really a moot point. Outside of Alchemy games, in Vista and Win7 you are NOT saving CPU cycles using an Xfie over onboard most of the time. Do the tests yourself if you don't believe me.
 
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