highland man Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Hi people I was reading another topic on this board and i heard that onboard sound can really drain system resources whereas a sound card will use ALOT less resources. Can anyone recommend a good, inexpensive soundcard for my new pc. to give an idea of the spec i'm looking for i'll show the rest of my pc. Thanks in advance Intel Pentium 4 processor 650 (3.4GHz, 2MB cache, 800MHz) supporting Hyper-Threading Technology Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Intel 915P chipset motherboard with PCI Express, 1Gb LAN, dual channel DDR & Hyper-Threading support 1GB DDR2 533 250GB Serial ATA hard drive with 8MB buffer 256Mb ATI Radeon X800GT PCI Express graphics 19" Viewsonic VX912 pure digital DVI TFT monitor (12ms response) DVD-ROM (16x) drive Multi Format Dual Layer DVD Writer (16x) / CD Writer drive Sound Blaster compatible 6 channel audio Creative Inspire P5800 5.1 speakers Microsoft cordless keyboard and cordless optical tilt mouse v92 56k modem Xpider tool free case (453x222x495mm) £800 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CompSci Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 i wouldn't bother if i were u, since most mobos, have there own dedicated sound cards already built in, i,e nforce soundstorm (which has the quality that is comparable to a dedicated sound card), that take little or no strain on the cpu, furthermore judging from your system (mines still better lol) it looks like your a gamer, tell u the truth u will not see a vast improvement of FPS if u have a sound card, but u will see a major improvement in the sound quality in games, EAX 4.0 any one? (trust me u will never want to go back), if u do purchase a sound card, i suggest u get the best one which is the creative x-fi sound card, but if i were u just get a audigy 2 zs (like me) they are pretty cheap now and there great for games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Ironflame Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Get a Audigy 2 ZS if possible if you do alot of gaming, Xi-fi if you do alot of sound editing,recording and that lot. Or even a Audigy 4 if possible as they're should be alot cheaper than a Xi-fi right now and any soundcard apart from the budget range ones (unless you're on a tight budget) are better than the onboard ones. Nvidia don't do the onboard soundstorm anymore.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jordan Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Audigy 2 ZS is the max you're gunna need. Sure the X-Fi makes even standard MP3's sound astounding. But only if you've got a good set of speakers to go with them... oh and you don't mind paying £300-400 for one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CompSci Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Audigy 2 ZS is the max you're gunna need. Sure the X-Fi makes even standard MP3's sound astounding. But only if you've got a good set of speakers to go with them... oh and you don't mind paying £300-400 for one. i seen a x-fi go for £70 on ebay brand new sealed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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