Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Hello,

I just ordered my system based around the P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard. I
got:

P4C800-E Deluxe
3.4 GHz P4
2 GB Corsair XMS 3200LLPro RAM
Asus 9800 XT Video Card
2 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE ATA Drives
2 75GB Western Digital Raptor SATA Drives
TDK 880G DVD RAM Drive

But, I opted to go with the onboard sound. Now I'm second guessing that
decision. So, I'd like to get some opinions: should I get the Audigy
card? Or, is the onboard sound good enough?

I am not sure what the onboard sound chip is, but I read in another
thread that the one used on the P4P800 board is a C-Media chip. I work
with a C-Media chip at work, and I'm not impressed at all with the C-
Media product. If the P4C800 also uses the C-Media chip, then that
pretty much settles it right there for me - I'll get the Audigy.

Also, can the sound be disabled through the BIOS? I know some can, but
other can't. I'm hoping (and assuming) that it can on the P4C800.

Thanks,

Scott

P.S. I have some really nice Cambridge Soundworks surround sound
speakers, so I _may_ notice a difference.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Scott Gregg" <scott@scottgregg.n.ospa.m.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94D66CBCD5ACCscottscottgreggnospa@129.250.35.204...
> Hello,
>
> I just ordered my system based around the P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard. I
> got:
>
> P4C800-E Deluxe
> 3.4 GHz P4
> 2 GB Corsair XMS 3200LLPro RAM
> Asus 9800 XT Video Card
> 2 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE ATA Drives
> 2 75GB Western Digital Raptor SATA Drives
> TDK 880G DVD RAM Drive
>
> But, I opted to go with the onboard sound. Now I'm second guessing that
> decision. So, I'd like to get some opinions: should I get the Audigy
> card? Or, is the onboard sound good enough?
>
> I am not sure what the onboard sound chip is, but I read in another
> thread that the one used on the P4P800 board is a C-Media chip. I work
> with a C-Media chip at work, and I'm not impressed at all with the C-
> Media product. If the P4C800 also uses the C-Media chip, then that
> pretty much settles it right there for me - I'll get the Audigy.
>
> Also, can the sound be disabled through the BIOS? I know some can, but
> other can't. I'm hoping (and assuming) that it can on the P4C800.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Scott
>
> P.S. I have some really nice Cambridge Soundworks surround sound
> speakers, so I _may_ notice a difference.

I don't know what sound chip the P4C800 uses, but
I'm using an Audigy 2 sound card on mine and it sounds
better than the on board sound to me.
Yes, the sound can be disabled in the BIOS.

Jim M

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"JBM" <jmanning95@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:UtGdnTbRXZhRZhbd4p2dnA@comcast.com:

> I don't know what sound chip the P4C800 uses, but
> I'm using an Audigy 2 sound card on mine and it sounds
> better than the on board sound to me.
> Yes, the sound can be disabled in the BIOS.


Jim,

Thanks for the feedback. Really glad to know that the sound can be
disabled. Also thanks for the opinion on the sound quality. I'm leaning
towards the Audigy.

Scott

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 17:41:11 GMT, Scott Gregg
<scott@scottgregg.n.ospa.m.com> wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I just ordered my system based around the P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard. I
>got:
>
>P4C800-E Deluxe
>3.4 GHz P4
>2 GB Corsair XMS 3200LLPro RAM
>Asus 9800 XT Video Card
>2 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE ATA Drives
>2 75GB Western Digital Raptor SATA Drives
>TDK 880G DVD RAM Drive
>
>But, I opted to go with the onboard sound. Now I'm second guessing that
>decision. So, I'd like to get some opinions: should I get the Audigy
>card? Or, is the onboard sound good enough?
>
>I am not sure what the onboard sound chip is, but I read in another
>thread that the one used on the P4P800 board is a C-Media chip. I work
>with a C-Media chip at work, and I'm not impressed at all with the C-
>Media product. If the P4C800 also uses the C-Media chip, then that
>pretty much settles it right there for me - I'll get the Audigy.
>
>Also, can the sound be disabled through the BIOS? I know some can, but
>other can't. I'm hoping (and assuming) that it can on the P4C800.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Scott
>
>P.S. I have some really nice Cambridge Soundworks surround sound
>speakers, so I _may_ notice a difference.


I have the same MB and after listening to the onboard sound, I bought
the Audigy 2. I think I could hear quite a bit of difference ... not
so much in everyday computing, but the difference was remarkable in
games, music CDs, etc.

kda

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

kda <kda@iname.com> wrote in
newsv6o80pbkq7jq4i9p88mufn3ik80ijraip@4ax.com:
>
> I have the same MB and after listening to the onboard sound, I bought
> the Audigy 2. I think I could hear quite a bit of difference ... not
> so much in everyday computing, but the difference was remarkable in
> games, music CDs, etc.


Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like it probably is the C-Media chip,
then. I'm about 99% convinced. I'm going to go price shopping...

Thanks,

Scott

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

I have the PrC800-E Deluxe and I use the onboard sound. I use top end 2.1
speakers (LR&Subwoofer). The onbouard sound is excellent with this setup.

If I were using it with the $3000 speakers in the other room, I would
probably get a top end sound card.


"Scott Gregg" <scott@scottgregg.n.ospa.m.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94D66CBCD5ACCscottscottgreggnospa@129.250.35.204...
> Hello,
>
> I just ordered my system based around the P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard. I
> got:
>
> P4C800-E Deluxe
> 3.4 GHz P4
> 2 GB Corsair XMS 3200LLPro RAM
> Asus 9800 XT Video Card
> 2 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE ATA Drives
> 2 75GB Western Digital Raptor SATA Drives
> TDK 880G DVD RAM Drive
>
> But, I opted to go with the onboard sound. Now I'm second guessing that
> decision. So, I'd like to get some opinions: should I get the Audigy
> card? Or, is the onboard sound good enough?
>
> I am not sure what the onboard sound chip is, but I read in another
> thread that the one used on the P4P800 board is a C-Media chip. I work
> with a C-Media chip at work, and I'm not impressed at all with the C-
> Media product. If the P4C800 also uses the C-Media chip, then that
> pretty much settles it right there for me - I'll get the Audigy.
>
> Also, can the sound be disabled through the BIOS? I know some can, but
> other can't. I'm hoping (and assuming) that it can on the P4C800.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Scott
>
> P.S. I have some really nice Cambridge Soundworks surround sound
> speakers, so I _may_ notice a difference.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Anon" <anon@anon.com> wrote in newsSVic.32559$L75.24574@fed1read06:

> I have the PrC800-E Deluxe and I use the onboard sound. I use top end
> 2.1 speakers (LR&Subwoofer). The onbouard sound is excellent with this
> setup.

Thanks for the reply. At least it's not unanimous. So, this give me
reason to research further.


> If I were using it with the $3000 speakers in the other room, I would
> probably get a top end sound card.

Well, I don't know if that would be necessary to hear the difference. The
C-Media cards here at work make the sound skip like crazy, and that's
through a low-performance speaker. When you put a Sound Blaster card in
the same systems, they sound perfect.

Thanks,

Scott

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

"Scott Gregg" <scott@scottgregg.n.ospa.m.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94D784B26E100scottscottgreggnospa@129.250.35.204...
> "Anon" <anon@anon.com> wrote in newsSVic.32559$L75.24574@fed1read06:
>
>
> Well, I don't know if that would be necessary to hear the difference. The
> C-Media cards here at work make the sound skip like crazy, and that's
> through a low-performance speaker. When you put a Sound Blaster card in
> the same systems, they sound perfect.
>
My sound never skips, except when it is streaming net related. I listen to a
few mp3 and watch a lot of DVDs and have never experienced skipping with the
onboard sound.

Anon

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Get the Audigy. Your Cambridge speakers will really allow you to hear the
difference. And you'll be removing the audio load of the onboard sound chip
from the CPU.

--
DaveW



"Scott Gregg" <scott@scottgregg.n.ospa.m.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94D66CBCD5ACCscottscottgreggnospa@129.250.35.204...
> Hello,
>
> I just ordered my system based around the P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard. I
> got:
>
> P4C800-E Deluxe
> 3.4 GHz P4
> 2 GB Corsair XMS 3200LLPro RAM
> Asus 9800 XT Video Card
> 2 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE ATA Drives
> 2 75GB Western Digital Raptor SATA Drives
> TDK 880G DVD RAM Drive
>
> But, I opted to go with the onboard sound. Now I'm second guessing that
> decision. So, I'd like to get some opinions: should I get the Audigy
> card? Or, is the onboard sound good enough?
>
> I am not sure what the onboard sound chip is, but I read in another
> thread that the one used on the P4P800 board is a C-Media chip. I work
> with a C-Media chip at work, and I'm not impressed at all with the C-
> Media product. If the P4C800 also uses the C-Media chip, then that
> pretty much settles it right there for me - I'll get the Audigy.
>
> Also, can the sound be disabled through the BIOS? I know some can, but
> other can't. I'm hoping (and assuming) that it can on the P4C800.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Scott
>
> P.S. I have some really nice Cambridge Soundworks surround sound
> speakers, so I _may_ notice a difference.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Better sound might be a good reason to get the Audigy (or other plug in
sound card), but CPU load is not a reason. There is more CPU load from most
plug in sound cards than with the onboard sound of the P4E800-C. If you
don't believe me, run Windows Task Manager while listening, the CPU load is
very low, lower than most plug in sound cards.

"DaveW" <none@zero.org> wrote in message
news:hTgjc.43294$w96.3293685@attbi_s54...
> Get the Audigy. Your Cambridge speakers will really allow you to hear the
> difference. And you'll be removing the audio load of the onboard sound
chip
> from the CPU.
>
> --
> DaveW
>
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Scott,
I was always a Creative user. i had the same decision as you when i got my
p4c800-e
motherboard. after i set it all up and tried the onboard sound i sold all my
old creative
sound cards on ebay. i have no regrets. this is all dependant on what you do
with your
rig and your personal preference. The on board chip is the Adi soundmax
Ad1985 chip.
It is not bad but finding the right driver package with the latest drivers
was a chore.
I would suggest you get the rig set it up and give it a try. If it does not
suit you
you can disable it in the bios uninstall the drivers and pop in a high end
pci solution.

Joe

"Scott Gregg" <scott@scottgregg.n.ospa.m.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94D66CBCD5ACCscottscottgreggnospa@129.250.35.204...
> Hello,
>
> I just ordered my system based around the P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard. I
> got:
>
> P4C800-E Deluxe
> 3.4 GHz P4
> 2 GB Corsair XMS 3200LLPro RAM
> Asus 9800 XT Video Card
> 2 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE ATA Drives
> 2 75GB Western Digital Raptor SATA Drives
> TDK 880G DVD RAM Drive
>
> But, I opted to go with the onboard sound. Now I'm second guessing that
> decision. So, I'd like to get some opinions: should I get the Audigy
> card? Or, is the onboard sound good enough?
>
> I am not sure what the onboard sound chip is, but I read in another
> thread that the one used on the P4P800 board is a C-Media chip. I work
> with a C-Media chip at work, and I'm not impressed at all with the C-
> Media product. If the P4C800 also uses the C-Media chip, then that
> pretty much settles it right there for me - I'll get the Audigy.
>
> Also, can the sound be disabled through the BIOS? I know some can, but
> other can't. I'm hoping (and assuming) that it can on the P4C800.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Scott
>
> P.S. I have some really nice Cambridge Soundworks surround sound
> speakers, so I _may_ notice a difference.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Joe,

Thanks for the message. I'm glad to know it's not a C-Media chip.
However, your news has reached me too late. I just ordered my Audigy 2
Platinum card this morning after deciding that I didn't want to hassle
with the onboard sound. Oh well... At least I know I'll be happy with
what I have.

Scott


"Joseph Lee Jennings" <no_spam_4_Me_jjenni@ptd.net> wrote in
news:gB2dndKOLdItThDdUSdV9g@ptd.net:

> Scott,
> I was always a Creative user. i had the same decision as you when i
> got my p4c800-e
> motherboard. after i set it all up and tried the onboard sound i sold
> all my old creative
> sound cards on ebay. i have no regrets. this is all dependant on what
> you do with your
> rig and your personal preference. The on board chip is the Adi
> soundmax Ad1985 chip.
> It is not bad but finding the right driver package with the latest
> drivers was a chore.
> I would suggest you get the rig set it up and give it a try. If it
> does not suit you
> you can disable it in the bios uninstall the drivers and pop in a high
> end pci solution.
>
> Joe