Gigabyte P35 Integrated sound card

wafflez · 07-07-2007, 11:08 PM

I'm building soon, and I'm getting Logitech 5.1 speakers and a Gigabyte P35 motherboard with an onboard "Realtek ALC889A Audio controller". I'm on a veeeery tight budget, (within $7 of $1500 max, the links are in my sig), and was wondering if it is really worth it to get an extra pci sound card. The motherboard has 7.1 sound support and I was just wondering if it'll have any disadvantages such as lag or bad sound output compared to a separate sound card. Is a sound card really worth it in my situation? And also, I'm pretty sure if the motherboard supports 7.1 sound, it has surround sound as well in games like cs source, hl2, crysis, etc.

Impulse666 · 07-16-2007, 10:26 PM

well even a cheap sound card wont improve upon the onboard sound on nice motherboards. however, a card with its own dedicated sound processor (such as the X-Fi series) will drastically improve quality AND performance in the same way that a video card does because it takes some of the burden off the CPU, and allows it to focus on other things during intensive sessions.

kof2000 · 07-16-2007, 10:33 PM

that is one of those things that you can upgrade later if you're on a budget.

wafflez · 07-17-2007, 01:51 AM

>_> creative is such a lazy driver making company...
i had to get hacked drivers to get all 5 of my 5.1 speakers playing on vista even with a 24 bit live creative sound card, and it's not even true surround sound still because of retarded vista drm (forgot specific explanation). I might upgrade to the x-fi later on if the integrated one doesn't have 5.1 for games, etc.

oh and @ impulse, i figured it was the 'realtek' soundcard on the motherboard that did the sound processing...either way, i'm getting a core 2 quad so i won't worry about it.

07-07-2007, 11:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
wafflez Gold Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: The Valley, CA Posts: 400	Gigabyte P35 Integrated sound card I'm building soon, and I'm getting Logitech 5.1 speakers and a Gigabyte P35 motherboard with an onboard "Realtek ALC889A Audio controller". I'm on a veeeery tight budget, (within $7 of $1500 max, the links are in my sig), and was wondering if it is really worth it to get an extra pci sound card. The motherboard has 7.1 sound support and I was just wondering if it'll have any disadvantages such as lag or bad sound output compared to a separate sound card. Is a sound card really worth it in my situation? And also, I'm pretty sure if the motherboard supports 7.1 sound, it has surround sound as well in games like cs source, hl2, crysis, etc. __________________ My Computer: CPU: Q6600 @ 3.1ghz (344x9)/CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 Mobo:Gigabyte P35-DS3R/Ram: 2gb 800mhz G.Skill Video Card: PNY 8800gts 640mb/PSU: Ultra X-Finity 500 Watt Case: Antec P180B/Speakers: Logitech X-530 5.1 Monitor: Viewsonic 20" Widescreen LCD 1000:1/Keyboard and Mouse: Microsoft USB Comfort Curve 2000 w/ Optical Mouse

07-16-2007, 10:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
Impulse666 Platinum Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 571	well even a cheap sound card wont improve upon the onboard sound on nice motherboards. however, a card with its own dedicated sound processor (such as the X-Fi series) will drastically improve quality AND performance in the same way that a video card does because it takes some of the burden off the CPU, and allows it to focus on other things during intensive sessions. __________________ Ubuntu 7.10 Pentium 4 631 3.0Ghz 160 + 320 + 320 GB 1024MB 7600GT OC Acer 22" LCD M-Audio Audiophile 2496 Sony STR-G1ES Scott SP1001 (x2) ::: FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND ::: F@H Team 44358 ::: Team Stats :::

07-16-2007, 10:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
kof2000 Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Oahu Age: 26 Posts: 6,273	that is one of those things that you can upgrade later if you're on a budget. __________________ QX9650@4.2 swiftech \|9600@3.0 9700 nt 780i \| 790fx 8gb ddr1200 \| 8gb ddr1200 2x150gb 3x1tb \|2x250gb 3x8800gtx \|3x2900xt 1gb 2x20xdvdrw \|2x20xdvdrw 15in1 card reader \|15in1 card reader ng15/g9 \|ng15/g9 1200w psu \|1200w psu 2x28" LCD \|2x28" LCD

07-17-2007, 01:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
wafflez Gold Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: The Valley, CA Posts: 400	>_> creative is such a lazy driver making company... i had to get hacked drivers to get all 5 of my 5.1 speakers playing on vista even with a 24 bit live creative sound card, and it's not even true surround sound still because of retarded vista drm (forgot specific explanation). I might upgrade to the x-fi later on if the integrated one doesn't have 5.1 for games, etc. oh and @ impulse, i figured it was the 'realtek' soundcard on the motherboard that did the sound processing...either way, i'm getting a core 2 quad so i won't worry about it. __________________ My Computer: CPU: Q6600 @ 3.1ghz (344x9)/CPU Cooler: Thermalright Ultra 120 Mobo:Gigabyte P35-DS3R/Ram: 2gb 800mhz G.Skill Video Card: PNY 8800gts 640mb/PSU: Ultra X-Finity 500 Watt Case: Antec P180B/Speakers: Logitech X-530 5.1 Monitor: Viewsonic 20" Widescreen LCD 1000:1/Keyboard and Mouse: Microsoft USB Comfort Curve 2000 w/ Optical Mouse Last edited by wafflez; 07-17-2007 at 02:05 AM.

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