KSI's LITE nforce2, use onboard sound?

[hineigger]

Nforce2 boards have great onboard sound as Ive heard. However I ordered the msi L series, which is a light version of the G series. It does not have integrated graphics which I wont need since IM on a ti4600, but it may not have as good of sound as Ive heard? The 2nd chip is mcp2. Does that help?

Im not sure to use onboard sound or the cheap $8 c-media pci soundcard. And will onboard sound slow me up?

Thanks.

 

[Crashman]

Other guys know about the chipset better than me, but I think the MCP2 southbridge has the nForce APU? Anyway, I'd try it. Even if you only have a cheap codec without sound processing, it probably won't slow you down very much.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

MCP2 doesn't have nForce APU, only MCP2-T has. MCP(1) had nForce APU like MCP-D.

<b> "You can put lipstick on a pig, but hey, it's still a pig!" - RobD </b>

 

[Crashman]

OK, forgot the -T, thanks. Recommend to him to try the onboard audio, if he doesn't like it he can use the card.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[umheint0]

Actually Spitfire, all the nForce2 chipsets have an audio codec. The difference is in which one. The MCP has simple 2.1 output, no HW Dolby, nothing really fancy. It's a good codec (AC97 2.1), but it doesn't have any bells or whistles. It's strictly an integrated audio solution, but it's still a decent one. The MCP-T has the nVIDIA codec, called "Soundstorm". It has 5.1 Dolby output, HW Dolby decoder, and all that fancy shiznat. For simple 2-channel sound it is effectively the same, but if you have more than two channels, then the MCP-T will take advantage of them.

Just for clarification, for everyone. However, I have not yet listened to my Soundstorm motherboard, so I don't know how good it really is (I haven't installed it yet, and I'll be using a high-end soundcard from RME or M-Audio, so I won't really need the MCP-T except for the occasional movie maybe). Let's hear some comments from people out there who have actually heard and compared the sound to other PCI cards.