Sound Card question

[SiliconValley]

Okay I've recently gotten back into computer gaming after a somewhat long hiatus (my last machine had a geforce 256 and before that I had 2 Voodoo 2s in SLI ). My question is about sound cards and their benefits. I had a soundblaster Live! back in the day but I never really noticed a difference back then between it and onboard audio. Right now I'm using onboard audio but should I get a sound card instead? What are the performance benefits? Is the audio really that much clearer? Which mid-range cards should I look at? Thanks...

BTW, I have a 2.1 setup now (Altec Lansing).

 

[Elios]

well i have had a Live! an Audigy and now a X-Fi and each was a good step up
right now id go for the X-Fi Xtream Music it runs about ~$120USD great card for allaround use full EAX support and almost no CPU usage compared to onboard

 

[SiliconValley]

well i have had a Live! an Audigy and now a X-Fi and each was a good step up
right now id go for the X-Fi Xtream Music it runs about ~$120USD great card for allaround use full EAX support and almost no CPU usage compared to onboard

So is there really a noticeable difference compared with onboard? Is there any performance increase because of hte reduced load on the CPU?

 

[Elios]

So is there really a noticeable difference compared with onboard? Is there any performance increase because of hte reduced load on the CPU?

very much so there was going from an Audigy 1 to the X-fi part of this is better DACs and part is SB cards are real DSPs(digital signal processers) were onboard and most other cards are just a codec if you have the moeny to spend pick up a X-fi an nice set to 5.1 speakers

other nice thing about the X-fi if you watch DVDs it has hardware Dolby Digital ES and DTS-EX on the card very nice

and then crystalizer on the X-fi does what thay say it does i dont know how it does but music /games/DVDs just sound better with it on

 

[Standpoint]

I recently snuck in a cheap sound card w/ a router purchase(wifey didn't notice). I had onboard audio, now I have 5.1 card. Its a Cobra AW850. It sounds just a little nicer than the onboard, but has many issues w/ various games, and I often have to turn the audio to software rendering anyways.

So I guess my point is that if you are going to switch away from onboard, spend the money to get a nice one.

BTW: Anyone know of a good 3rd party audio driver website?

 

[Elios]

I recently snuck in a cheap sound card w/ a router purchase(wifey didn't notice). I had onboard audio, now I have 5.1 card. Its a Cobra AW850. It sounds just a little nicer than the onboard, but has many issues w/ various games, and I often have to turn the audio to software rendering anyways.

So I guess my point is that if you are going to switch away from onboard, spend the money to get a nice one.

BTW: Anyone know of a good 3rd party audio driver website?

yea other then creative most other cards are just the same as onboard a codec and have minamal hardware mixing if any were cards like the Audigy and X-Fi are full DSPs

 

[waddles]

I think it depends on what your onboard audio is. For example, on my Shuttle system the onboard audio is great and I don't think I'd add a sound card even if I could find one and fit it in. However, on my old socket A system with the NF7 motherboard, the onboard audio was crap and I used a separate sound card.

I don't spring for a sound card in my systems unless I notice something wrong with on board, otherwise I feel like I'm spending money just because.

 

[SiliconValley]

AC’97 codec based on Realtek is what I have on my MB. Would the Soundblaster Live! 24 bit be a worthwhile upgrade or should I wait until I'm ready to spend more for a better card?

 

[Elios]

AC’97 codec based on Realtek is what I have on my MB. Would the Soundblaster Live! 24 bit be a worthwhile upgrade or should I wait until I'm ready to spend more for a better card?

id realy go for atlest a Audigy2 ZS or the X-Fi at this point ether is going to last you much longer then a Live! and both sound much better

imo get the X-Fi