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How much better are sound cards compared to onboard audio?

Forum CPU & Components : Sound Cards - How much better are sound cards compared to onboard audio?

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eagles453809   04-21-2009 at 12:56:11 AM
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depends on how good your speakers are...crappy speakers with an x-fi is still crappy sound...

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Silverion77   04-21-2009 at 01:02:42 AM
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good answer^^

And it all depends...if ur an audiophile it might mean a lot
If u dont kno the difference between good headphones and Apple/Skullcandy earbuds then dont bother

Its also good if u need the CMSS-3D with a good headphone

------------------------------ Antec 1200|Antec Signature 850w|Asus Maximus II Formula|Q9650|4GB Dominator 1066|EVGA 9800GX2
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gryphyn   04-21-2009 at 02:01:09 AM
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Sometimes onboard sound can have more static in the background, and I've had experiences with mouse movement causing noise in the speakers. However, it really can depend on the quality of your motherboard.

My suggestion: go with onboard sound first and save some bucks. If you don't think it sounds great, then spend the dough. If you've got a high quality board, the onboard sound can be great.

Myself: I have very sensitive ears, and the last Mboard I had didn't satisfy me with the onboard sound, so I bought a soundcard. My new motherboard probably has good enough sound that I wouldn't need it.

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RazberyBandit   04-23-2009 at 09:51:08 AM
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One thing to consider is that switching to a dedicated sound card offloads audio processing from the CPU, which can make a small, albeit noticeable impact on game performance, especially if your system doesn't have a very powerful CPU to begin with.

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Duque   04-27-2009 at 04:02:02 PM
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RazberyBandit wrote :

One thing to consider is that switching to a dedicated sound card offloads audio processing from the CPU, which can make a small, albeit noticeable impact on game performance, especially if your system doesn't have a very powerful CPU to begin with.



This wouldn't really have any impact on an i7 system with 6 gb of ocz plats right?

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Silverion77   04-27-2009 at 09:04:48 PM
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With current hardware ur talking about almost 0 difference...

I notice 0 difference between the onboard and XFi card in the family computer (had problems and had to switch for a bit...decided to test a little)

------------------------------ Antec 1200|Antec Signature 850w|Asus Maximus II Formula|Q9650|4GB Dominator 1066|EVGA 9800GX2
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RazberyBandit   04-29-2009 at 06:50:44 AM
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Duque wrote :

This wouldn't really have any impact on an i7 system with 6 gb of ocz plats right?

 

Ummm. No... I did say, "especially if your system doesn't have a very powerful CPU." I think that easily disqualifies any i7 CPU. But, on-board audio processing will still use the CPU a little. It has a noticeable impact on mainstream systems when users game on them.

 

Find yourself an older or "weaker" system using on-board audio and run a game benchmark that has audio, like X3 Terran Conflict or Farcry 2's built-in Benchmark. Then disable the audio in Device Manager and run it again. You'll surely see a difference. I certainly see a difference on mine, especially in minimum fps rates.

 

Heck. You might even see a difference on an i7 in a single-threaded game.


Message edited by RazberyBandit on 04-29-2009 at 06:56:37 AM
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quantumsheep   05-01-2009 at 01:44:23 AM
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The quality a soundcard can put out is only relative to quality of one's speakers. If you're using cruddy PC speakers like z5500s/pretty much any computer speakers, there will be next to no difference. However, if i hooked up onboard sound to my stereo (Wilson Benesch ARCs, Audionet SAM and Audionet ART with Nordost cabling :) ) and then compared that to the same stereo but with the output being from a high quality soundcard such as the HT OMEGA Claro Halo XT the difference would be huge and instantly noticeable.

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