What you've got w/ the on-board is typical soundcard outputs:
1: 2 channel, 1/8" analog front speaker output
1: 2 channel, 1/8" analog rear speaker output
There is an "optional" SPDIF function that is discussed in the manual, but is not on my board. (the silkscreening is there, but no header/connector is on the board :frown: ). If somehow, you could get a board with this option, you'd have a great way to connect to your 5.1 receiver. But I have no idea whether Iwill is actually implimenting this.
With just the analog connectors, you're going to have to get some patch cords to split the two channels from each onboard sound connector to a left and right input to the receiver (for each on-board connector, front and back). These are available at Radioschlock (maybe higher quality ones are available at a real stereo store
). You should also consider how far you're going to have to run the patch cables. I'd say 25 ft. would be pretty close to the max. without quite noticeable sound degradation. Since the bass isn't on a separate channel, you should be able to pull it out of the front channels and get it to your sub through the receiver. How your receiver handles getting 4 of the 5.1 (6) channels, I don't know. Some receivers can't do much with the 5.1 analog input, but you still might be able to get the bass out somehow. I'll leave that up to you to figure out!
Regarding CPU usage, it's pretty subjective and dependent on how much CPU horsepower you've got to spare. You probably loose a few FPS in intense video gaming with intense sounds, etc. Again, I think I'd try it and see how it works. Meanwhile, you can research the best soundcards. Check out the soundcard forum here. There's a post by "The Fuzz" discussing the pros and cons of the Turtle Beach vs the SB Live's, etc. I'd always heard that the SB Live had the lowest CPU usage, but maybe the TB has now bested it.
'bout all I can add,
BW
the more I learn, the less I'm sure I know...
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