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Sonicfury vs. Intergrated ALC888

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  • Sound Cards
  • Audio
  • Components
Last response: in Components
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October 14, 2008 5:23:42 PM

Hi,

Just a quick question, which is the better audio? Intergrated ALC888 or the sonicfury sound card (http://www.guru3d.com/review/sonicfury/)

Thanks
Phil

More about : sonicfury intergrated alc888

October 14, 2008 5:38:45 PM

it all depends on how discerning you are about your sound and what you are planning on doing with your system,,
generally speaking [a little salt,please]
a sound card is preferred by most gamers as it generally provides better separation and sound localization,but there are some high end onboard's that are not too bad,it all boils down to personal taste and cost,,
you could try to listen to both in the environment in which you plan to use it and go from there,best bet,,,,.:) 
October 14, 2008 5:46:58 PM

Does the integrated sound accelerate like a normal sound card, or is that just the CPU?

I play games quite a bit, and listen to music, and films. I tend to lean a bit more to games. I don't have any money whatsoever to spend on a sound card. Can a sound card be overclocked lol?
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October 14, 2008 6:37:15 PM

Most modern onboard sound chips can perform just as well as a budget sound card. Heck, in my case, my onboard is more consistent on some games then my X-Fi (especially Crysis/Warhead). It depends on the sound chip I guess.

If you don't have a surround sound setup, an onboard should be plenty if it supports at least 32 sound chanels (preferably 64 though) at once.
October 14, 2008 8:37:25 PM

Alright, thanks for the help/advice! :) 
October 14, 2008 8:51:36 PM

No problem. After the issues my Xfi gave me (PS, don't buy from Creative if you decide to get a sound card), i'm more than willing to help other out.

I should point out, in some games, you may have to edit the .cfg file in order to tell the game how many sound channels you have. For example, in Mass Effect, both my onboard and Xfi were given 32 sound channels by default, resulting in lots of dropped sounds (again, my onboard handled this situation a lot better). After bumpting that number up to 64 for my onboard and 128 for the Xfi, all the issues went away. (We can't we get better sound options menus???). Thats one reason to make sure the onboard is at least 32, if not 64 sound channel capable.
!