What sound Do I have?

[FromSweden]

I bought the Gigabyte 7NNXP listed in:

http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030721/nforce2_ultra_400-14.html

It seems to be a very good card, my question is, what sound do I have.
I read the test:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/game/20030405/index.html

But my 7NNXP motherboard have both the Realtek ALC650 Chip and the The nForce2 MCP-T listed in the soundtest.

check out the feature list:
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030721/nforce2_ultra_400-34.html

So, what sound chip do I really have?

What does all this mean?

I am confused. Anyone know?

I havent installed it yet, I am waiting for the processor and it seems like I wont get it until friday.

 

[Crashman]

In your case, the Realtec codec is used for final output, and the MCP-T is used for sound calculations.

The ALC650 can take a combined digital signal from the MCP-T and break it up into separate analog channels for your speakers.

Without the MCP-T, the CPU would have to make such calculations based on software, and usually does a fairly poor job with a significant performance loss.

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[FromSweden]

Thank you for your answer. How will I then know that I use the superior Nforce Audio and not the slower realtek chip?

By reading the manual I get the impression that I can choose which soundchip to use by either connecting the audiocable directly to the motherboard or use the spdif-thingie:
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030721/images/gigabyte-audio.jpg

Thanks for your time.

 

[neveroldmilk]

Truth is not this.U have already used the MCP-T,and the spdif-thingie is just for full extensions.

 

[Crashman]

If you use analog, you're using both. The MCP-T is a DIGITAL sound processor, it does things like 3D imaging and so forth. All the Realtec codec does is divide that combined digital signal into separate analog signals.

If you use S/PDIF output, you take the digital signal directly from the MCP-T. If you use the analog outputs, you take the digital signal from the MCP-T THROUGH the Realtech codec.

So you see that either way you're getting sound from the MCP-T. All digital soundcards, even the Audigy 2, use codecs for converting the combined digital signal into separate analog signals.

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[r2k]

Don't worry the Realtek acts as a Codec here i.e. a combination of a Digital-to-Analog Convertor and an Analog-to-Digital Convertor. When playing any sort of sound on your PC, it gets processed by the MCP-T and then the digital signal that's produced is sent to the ALC-650 for conversion to analog so you can actually hear it (your ears can't 'listen to' a digital signal, now can they). It's the same as any other sound card. They have a sound processor (a special digital signal processor) normally (some rely on the CPU like the Hercules Muse series) and all of them have DAC/ADC chips that do the conversion. The only difference is that the Realtek ALC650 is a shitty quality convertor.