sound card necessary?

mikey4865 · 08-02-2005, 10:27 PM

hey the first thing is that i am not going to be doin much song editing and shit like dat just listening to music and stuff like that but i would like to get something that is pretty good wat should i get along wit geforce 7800 amd athlon 64 4200+ ocz el gold dual channel 2x512mb silver zeus 650watt psu

o and how is this sound card for gaming
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102162

Dropkickmurphys · 08-02-2005, 11:01 PM

yes that is a good card, any soundblaster card is fairly good!

Professor · 08-02-2005, 11:21 PM

I have the same card, except I bought the OEM version because I didn't care about all the extra software that comes with it. It's $20 cheaper.

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16829102178

It's a great card, I play BF2 with it, with my surrond sound speakers, it sounds like I'm really there. I recommend it highly.

The only thing though is that if you are willing to spend more on a sound card then I'd go for the Audigy2 ZS Gamers Edition or Platinum Edition. They are better cards, but they cost more.

**apj101** · 08-02-2005, 11:41 PM

Quote:

hey the first thing is that i am not going to be doin much song editing and shit like dat just listening to music and stuff like that but i would like to get something that is pretty good wat should i get along wit geforce 7800 amd athlon 64 4200+ ocz el gold dual channel 2x512mb silver zeus 650watt psu

your onboard sound will be fine! no need for a seperate sound card

Professor · 08-02-2005, 11:54 PM

Quote:

o and how is this sound card for gaming

I'm assuming by this, that he will be playing games as well. So if you are going to play any newer games, which with a geforce 7800 I'm sure you will be, then you will want to get a sound card.

**apj101** · 08-02-2005, 11:56 PM

Quote:

I'm assuming by this, that he will be playing games as well. So if you are going to play any newer games, which with a geforce 7800 I'm sure you will be, then you will want to get a sound card.

hardly. Onboard sound is very good these day, and only the real hardcore sound enthusiast need bother picking up a dedicated card. With onboard 7.1 you'd be hard pushed to hear the difference

Professor · 08-03-2005, 12:15 AM

Hearing the difference is not the matter.

Integrated sound uses the CPU to process the sound. Most sound cards use their own DSP (digital signal processor) to do that.

Getting a sound card will free up the space in your CPU that you were going to use to process the sound. Now with a processor like he's getting, you probably won't notice a speed difference. But down the line as games get more demanding you might need that extra space in the CPU.

**apj101** · 08-03-2005, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Now with a processor like he's getting, you probably won't notice a speed difference.

you definitely will not

Quote:

But down the line as games get more demanding you might need that extra space in the CPU.

when it gets to a stage that you need the extra few cycles (and i wont even try a translate this is into fps) that a dedicated card is going to afford you then you are well well well past a cpu upgrade.

k083 · 08-04-2005, 07:25 AM

I would get a seperate sound card if gaming was a concern. As far as I am aware of, onboard chips don't offer the latest and greatest in EAX. Sound cards also help taking a load off the cpu and games will run a few fps higher. I did notice a slightly cleaner sound when switching between my onboard AC97 and an Audigy. Audigy's are basically built for gaming, music listeners often say that M-Audio cards are better for music and recording.

skidude · 08-04-2005, 09:54 PM

With my new machine, I'm getting an AMD Athlon 64 3000+, but just onboard sound. I will mainly use my PC for gaming, and also because I have a 64 bit processor I don't think it will lag my games. But, my motherboard comes with "6 channels" of onboard sound. My speaker system is 5.1 surround. Will onboard work with my speakers???

08-02-2005, 10:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
mikey4865 Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 235	sound card necessary? hey the first thing is that i am not going to be doin much song editing and shit like dat just listening to music and stuff like that but i would like to get something that is pretty good wat should i get along wit geforce 7800 amd athlon 64 4200+ ocz el gold dual channel 2x512mb silver zeus 650watt psu o and how is this sound card for gaming http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102162 Last edited by mikey4865; 08-02-2005 at 10:40 PM. Reason: forgot something

08-02-2005, 11:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
Dropkickmurphys Diamond Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Worthing, UK (Uni at Kent) Age: 18 Posts: 1,753	yes that is a good card, any soundblaster card is fairly good! __________________ Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz Gigabyte P35C-DS3R motherboard 2GB 6400 DDR2 800mhz RAM 512Mb Geforce 8600GT 500GB Seagate 7,500RPM HDD Lite-on 20x DVD+RW OCZ GameXStream 600W PSU CoolerMaster Black Centurian 534 Case Samsung 19" 1440x900 SyncMaster 940BW monitor / Samsung 19" 1440x900 TV Dual Booting: Windows XP Proffessional SP2 / Windows Vista Business SP1

08-02-2005, 11:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
Professor Silver Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Nevada Age: 21 Posts: 182	I have the same card, except I bought the OEM version because I didn't care about all the extra software that comes with it. It's $20 cheaper. http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16829102178 It's a great card, I play BF2 with it, with my surrond sound speakers, it sounds like I'm really there. I recommend it highly. The only thing though is that if you are willing to spend more on a sound card then I'd go for the Audigy2 ZS Gamers Edition or Platinum Edition. They are better cards, but they cost more. __________________ AMD Athlon 64 4000+ ClawHammer \| ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Motherboard BFG Geforce 8800GT 512MB PCI-E Video Card \| Thermaltake Xaser III V1000A Black Case CORSAIR XMS 3GB (2 x 512MB / 2 x 1GB) DDR SDRAM System Memory \| ENERMAX ATX 550W Power Supply Hyundai L90D+ 8ms 19" LCD Monitor \| Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000 RPM Hard Drive CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS 8 (7.1) Sound Card \| Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1 Speakers BenQ Black DVD-RW \| Windows XP Home SP2

08-03-2005, 12:15 AM	#7 (permalink)
Professor Silver Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Nevada Age: 21 Posts: 182	Hearing the difference is not the matter. Integrated sound uses the CPU to process the sound. Most sound cards use their own DSP (digital signal processor) to do that. Getting a sound card will free up the space in your CPU that you were going to use to process the sound. Now with a processor like he's getting, you probably won't notice a speed difference. But down the line as games get more demanding you might need that extra space in the CPU. __________________ AMD Athlon 64 4000+ ClawHammer \| ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Motherboard BFG Geforce 8800GT 512MB PCI-E Video Card \| Thermaltake Xaser III V1000A Black Case CORSAIR XMS 3GB (2 x 512MB / 2 x 1GB) DDR SDRAM System Memory \| ENERMAX ATX 550W Power Supply Hyundai L90D+ 8ms 19" LCD Monitor \| Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000 RPM Hard Drive CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS 8 (7.1) Sound Card \| Logitech THX Z-5300e 280 Watts RMS 5.1 Speakers BenQ Black DVD-RW \| Windows XP Home SP2

08-04-2005, 09:54 PM	#10 (permalink)
skidude Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Windham, NH Age: 18 Posts: 4,789	With my new machine, I'm getting an AMD Athlon 64 3000+, but just onboard sound. I will mainly use my PC for gaming, and also because I have a 64 bit processor I don't think it will lag my games. But, my motherboard comes with "6 channels" of onboard sound. My speaker system is 5.1 surround. Will onboard work with my speakers??? __________________ Desktop / Laptop CPU- AMD Athlon X2 6000+ 3.0 GHz / Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.8 GHz Video- ATI X1900XTX / 2x 8800M GTX SLI Memory- 2 GB A-Data DDR2800 / 4GB DDR2800 Hard Drives- 3x 160GB 7200RPM / 2x 320GB 5400RPM (RAID 0) Mobo- Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 Socket AM2 Motherboard / Sager NP9262 "In These Lowly Halls / No Moon Will Beam, No Sun Will Shine / In These Narrow Rooms / No Tears Are Seen, No Laughter Heard" --- Insomnium ---

08-04-2005, 07:25 AM	#9 (permalink)
k083 New Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 13	I would get a seperate sound card if gaming was a concern. As far as I am aware of, onboard chips don't offer the latest and greatest in EAX. Sound cards also help taking a load off the cpu and games will run a few fps higher. I did notice a slightly cleaner sound when switching between my onboard AC97 and an Audigy. Audigy's are basically built for gaming, music listeners often say that M-Audio cards are better for music and recording.

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