Sound card comparison!?!

[Brave_Hunt]

Okay I got a simple question 'cause simple people ask simple question. I have ASUS P5GC-MX Motherboard the integrated audio is

Realtek ALC883, 6-CH High-Definition Audio CODEC but I wanna install CREATIVE Sound Blaster AUDIGY Value Sound Card on it. Now I'm confused whether I already have better audio device? or the one I wanna install is better than the integrated one? Please suggest.

[shadow2get]

Some things you might want to know about onboard & dedicated soundcards

* Adding a card with its own sound processing takes off load off the
processor. It will allow your CPU to perform better.
It will be around 15% CPU utilization for onboard vs 5% for a dedicated
one. CPU Usage may vary across different processors/motherboards.

* Sound varies depending on what kind of hardware is used in onboard
& dedicated ones, which will affect the sound output.
Like some give HD sound output but others will give just High quality sound output.

* You might be getting the occasional hiss/disturbance from your speakers
when using your onboard. The dedicated ones will be free from this or
will be much better than onboard.

* Sound Output also depends on the Type of speakers (Stereo, 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1) you have & Quality of the speakers

* Depends on what it is being used for. Like music, games, movies, etc

Regarding your question, here is the thing.
You have Realtek ALC883 with 5.1 HD Audio.
You are planning to buy CREATIVE Sound Blaster AUDIGY Value Sound Card, which is 7.1 with High Quality Output.

So you are asking which is better, it depends on the type of speakers you are having & what you are using it for.

Since HD will sound better than High Quality, I would go for the onboard. But dedicated have their own advantages as said above.

I would recommend you to go for AUDIGY 2 Value instead of AUDIGY Value since Audigy 2 Value has HD output & would perform way better than Audigy Value.

So here is the final order of preference in terms of performance.

1. AUDIGY 2 Value with 7.1 HD Audio
2. Realtek ALC883 with 5.1 HD Audio
3. AUDIGY Value with 7.1 High Quality Audio

This is my view, Anyone lemme know if I am wrong.

[deathvirus_me]

Any sound card without a dedicated dsp is pretty useless , unless u really want the additional effects at the cost of quite a bit of performance ..

[janitha]

Originally Posted by deathvirus_me

Any sound card without a dedicated dsp is pretty useless , unless u really want the additional effects at the cost of quite a bit of performance ..

Which ones have DSP?

[Brave_Hunt]

Originally Posted by janitha

Which ones have DSP?

The heck is DSP?

[zyberboy]

^^digital signal processing

[deathvirus_me]

Originally Posted by janitha

Which ones have DSP?

Originally Posted by Brave_Hunt

The heck is DSP?

DSP : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signal_processor .... .. google yaar ..

Anyway .. just a little info , for Creative sound cards , most value cards don't have a DSP .. infact there is one particular XFi that doesn't have a dsp either ... the lowest card with a DSP that u can buy right now is an Audigy2 ZS ... avoid value cards , if u're looking for performance + features , rather than just features ...

[janitha]

Thanks. In fact I was under the impression that all dedicated sound cards from creative had its own audio processor chips.

[Brave_Hunt]

Yeah thanks for acknowledgement guys.

[moshel]

hey guys....i hope i can add in one question of my own rather than making a new thread..

well as u see in my siggie..im using the onboard sound of P5N32 E SLi. and the speakers are Altec Lansing 621. now...if i put in a dedicated sound card lets just take for eg. a real GOOD one....would it have a direct effect on the sound quality i hear....becos u see my 2.1 system has a built in amplifier...so its just a simple 3.5mm jack which goes in the Audio out of the computer.