MY old SB add on card or my On board sound?

audigy gamer, it will have better sound quality, and also supports EAX for your games, and will likely relieve your cpu of having to process onboard sound

what os u using?
if vista , Ive heard problems with sb

i heard they fixed the soundblaster/vista problems, but you may want to look into it

I have XP.

So my 3-4 year old card is still better then onboard?

Thanks

use the card, it will stop your sound stuttering/cutting out when your cpu is under heavy load.

I'm facing a similar dilema.

I have boutht a 965p-ds3 which has the Realtek ALC888 onboard.

From previous build i have an audigy 2 zs OEM.

Considering that times have changed anyone knows if an older pci audigy card will still outperform the onboard?

I do run xp and plan to stay on them for the next year or so

Is this a joke?    

Who would put onboard over discrete?! I'm running a SB Live! Value from like 6 years ago, it smashes anything realtek can throw at it. The sound quality is not that great (swords hittin metal in oblivion sound more like they are hitting wood), but like I said, it beats onboard (I had missing sounds and constant popping with onboard).

Oh and tomcat_, your ZS smashes my live!

Go ahead and do a test, try them both out. Use the onboard for a week, then use your soundblaster. If you can't tell a difference, then either you are using some extremely crappy speakers/headphones, or might want to consider going to an ear doctor   . Seriously though, Soundblaster Audigys still sound really good and can do pretty much everything the newer sound cards can. Plus like has been mentioned several times now, the onboard sound can drag on your cpu causing stuttering and popping in games.

On board sound is also much more susceptible to interference noise from other motherboard components or connections (such as getting a humming sound every time you move your mouse).

I have an X-Fi on my current computer, put my Audigy 2 ZS in a computer as a gift to my brother-in-law. Even though I didn't need it, that was a hard one to let go; it was such a great soundcard.

Sure, newer soundcards can do more and have better sound quality than older ones, but until something amazing happens in the world of onboard sound (not likely, for cost reasons), a PCI soundcard is going to win, hands down, every time.

There are only two times onboard should be considered over an expansion card.

1) When money is a serious issue for a gamer (and I say serious issue, because, come on...we're talking like 60 bucks here). In such a case as this, use onboard because you have to until you can afford the soundcard, and then feel good when you buy it.

2) For a non-gaming, non music lover situation (such as an office environment) when sound doesn't matter a lick.

I say keep the add-on card. I have onboard sound on my mobo and my original SB Audigy Platinum is better in sound quality. I really don't enjoy onboard sound if you are going to be doing more than listening to mp3's or movies.
Just my opinion.

Run with the SB card! Hands down... :wink:

Actually the new realtec ALC888 codec smashes your SB Live! Value in all ways.
ALC888 has a better Signal-To-Noise, higher max recording playback depth and rate, higher max playback depth and rate and a higher dynamic range.

http://www.mmgcomputers.com/sound/soundblaster_live.htm
http://www.re altek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Con n=4&ProdID=135

Onboard sound codecs improve, and the latest high quality realtek solutions as used on the latest MSI mainboards are much much better than any soundblaster live.
Not to mention that soundblaster live auto EQ's things for you when you don't ask for it, which really sucks.

Further more, the ALC888 chip supports EAX 1.0 and 2.0 and I did come across some CPU tests that showed the onboard ALC888 does not result in high cpu usage.

I will try to find it.

I couldn't stand the popping and electronic noises of the onboard Realtek and put in a soundblaster live.End of noises and much better sound quality.(Asus A8N32 SLI deluxe)

The Asus A8232 SLI deluxe has a shitty realtek chip on it indeed.
It's the previous generation, the ALC850, based on the AC'97 codec.
The difference between that chip and the generation that came after it, (ALC88X) is quite big.