Sound cards

[AVGWarhawk]

Sound cards! Are all sound cards PCI slot? Do they free up your motherboard processing audio?

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Sound cards! Are all sound cards PCI slot? Do they free up your motherboard processing audio?

I thought I saw a PCI-Express 1x version a little while back, but not sure. ANyway, yeah. On board sound is just adequate at most times. Up until lately, the NForce 2 had a decent sound system, but NForce 3 and 4 both had a simple AC97 sound card that kind of was pathetic. ALmost every other board up until the last year or so had pathetic sound cards. Realtek is actually producing some decent on board audio lately though so all is not bad.

THe ALC 882 version from Realtek is not half bad for an onboard sound solution for example.

Anyway, I am thinking about buying a Creative Labs card that supports DVD-Audio one of these days. I'll get around to it when I find the time.

-S

PS. PCI is typically fine for sound by the way. It doesn't need screaming performance.

[fatty]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Are all sound cards PCI slot?

Yes, at least the vast majority.

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Do they free up your motherboard processing audio?

Something like that! Here's a quote from Wikipedia:

In the late 1990s, many computer manufacturers began to replace plug-in soundcards with a "codec" (actually a combined audio AD/DA-converter) integrated into the motherboard. Many of these used Intel's AC97 specification. Others used cheap ACR slots.

As of 2005, these "codecs" usually lack the hardware for direct music synthesis or even multi-channel sound, with special drivers and software making up for these lacks, at the expense of CPU speed (for example, MIDI reproduction takes away 10-15% CPU time on an Athlon XP 1600+ CPU).

[AVGWarhawk]

I have the NForce 2 onboard that is not bad but seems to be crackling lately. I installed new drivers and it has seemed to have gone away. I started looking into a card that is plug and play. I'm staying way from the soundblasters. The reviews on the cheap ones say gaming is bad with them and the others are too expensive. I have found one that is not bad and good reviews. My question is do all motherboards have a PCI slot? I hate to order the card and find it will only fit AGP slots. Currenlty I have a Nvidia AGP card. The MB is Nvidia.

[AVGWarhawk]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...C-PRICEGRABBER


I'm considering this card!

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...C-PRICEGRABBER


I'm considering this card!

Yeah - I'd stay away from Creative Labs too in that price range. However, the more expensive version (ABout $70+) completely free up all CPU resources. Your NForce 2 by the way also does nearly as good.

Careful with that Diamond though. To me, that looks like a step backwards from your NForce 2 onboard audio.

-S

[AVGWarhawk]

Yeah, looking at the reviews of the diamond, not so good. Maybe I will just continue on with my NForce 2. The crackling seems to have disappeared since I updated the driver.

[SUBMAN1]

Some thoughts from Anandtech on the X-Fi:

Final Words

The final verdict is that the SoundBlaster X-Fi Elite Pro is an excellent audio solution. With plenty of analog and digital I/O, the potential for improving game performance, lots of features, and better sound quality than any other consumer sound solution on the market, the SB X-Fi Elite Pro is simply impressive. Topping the performance of the Audigy 4 Pro and the Echo Gina 3G at every bit depth and sample rate, we can't help but acknowledge the superiority of the newest top-of-the-line card from Creative.