Sound cards?

[baillie353]

Hey all :) There is something i'm not so sure of...

On motherboards we are given on-board audio cards, which is what i'm currently using for my 2.1 speaker system...

However, I have a question...
If these are supplied (on-board audio) - why are we offered seperate sound cards too? Especially some which I have seen of upto £200... I don't understand the need for these sound cards?
Thanks,


A. Baillie

[TheTranquilEye]

It's the same as onboard video, fine for basic stuff but a standalone card will have more features like THX and the ability to output to more devices. Also, the job of processing the audio data is taken off your CPU and done by the sound card thereby lessening the load on the processor.

[baillie353]

Is it worth buying a sound card at about £60 to take a load off the CPU? Or is the processing of it so little, there's no real change in doing so...
Thanks,


A. Baillie

[Jonny2Bad]

Its more the point the extra level of quality sound you get from a seperate sound card, for gaming, video playback and music the extra £60 is well worth it if you like high quality.

[TheTranquilEye]

I use the onboard sound in my rig and find it adequate for my needs. Back in the good old days, when CPUs where nowhere near as powerful as they are now, many games caused the sound to stutter if using onboard. Having a card stopped that.

Really, you need to ask yourself if onboard sound is lacking for your own needs. Upper range sound cards have many features that onboard does not, so it's individual choice.

TTE

[Jonny2Bad]

Yes indeed, but having gone from the onboard then to the asus sound card then the xfi gamer, personally its wel worth it, the sound is so much better, and its not realised till you make the change, its a very overlooked upgrade imo, which for gamers and video lovers should be given more time.

[FelipeFan]

Hey,

This is my first time on this forum!!

I bought a mtoherboard bundle from novatech and have had soo much trouble with it by having to upgrade the graphics card from an intergrated one to a proper one becuase my games were stuttering loads.

Basically the stutter is still there and I've got a feeling that the intergrated sound card is doing this. Would this solve my problem or would I have to buy one that costs more:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-SC71#

[TheTranquilEye]

Which bundle did you buy?

We'll need to know more about your system to answer your question accurately.

TTE

[FelipeFan]

Sorry for the very late response, I've been doing physics coursework for college for ages.

It is this one : http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MBB-A562A

However I have also upgraded the graphics card so it's no longer an onboard one. The one I upgraded to was a Nvidia GeForce 9500GT!!

I'm now looking at this sound card http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?CRE-30SB05 It' looks pretty good for the price and I could even go and pick it up from novatech today because they have it in stock near me!

[TheTranquilEye]

I think there's another reason that your games are stuttering TBH.

What games are you playing and on what size monitor?

TTE

[FelipeFan]

Orite. I'm playing GTR Evolution and rFactor. rFactor still stuttering abit but not as badly as GTR Evolution.

I'm also playing on a 20 inch...Why??

[FelipeFan]

I also noticed a Vtune symbol in the bottom of my control panel, What is it and when I go to the performance page if everything is near the bottom of the scale is this bad and should I change it up to higher?? It's saying "Core clock setting = 550MHz, Memory Clock Setting = 400MHz and Shader Clock Setting = 1350MHz" Is this bad??

[printinguru]

Hi
try taking out the plug of the power supply and then pushing the "on" button. This will take all the electricity out of the capacitors and sometimes reset the bios.

I know this sounds strange but have heard and read that this sometimes works also check reset button isn`t stuck in

:)

[printinguru]

oops wrong topic sorry :oops:

[Mouse]

I also noticed a Vtune symbol in the bottom of my control panel, What is it and when I go to the performance page if everything is near the bottom of the scale is this bad and should I change it up to higher?? It's saying "Core clock setting = 550MHz, Memory Clock Setting = 400MHz and Shader Clock Setting = 1350MHz" Is this bad??

You shouldn't need to up your graphics settings to avoid sound problems. What resolution are you playing at on the 20 inch screen?

[FelipeFan]

1440 by 900

[banger]

Just getting back to the sound quality issue of the OP, it also depends how old you are as your ears deteriate with age. When your young around 20 years old you can hear well into the 16000 Hz audio range, but this is considerably reduced the older you are, so what I'm saying is if you get a card with frequency response up to 16000 Hz (typical onboard soundcard response) or an add in card up to 20000 Hz depending on your age you may not hear the quality difference.

[baillie353]

Guys, just for a heads up, could you create your own threads to ask questions - Don't mean to be cheeky about it but the amount of e-mails i'm getting in regards to issues not relating to me, is kinda getting to me :)
Thanks!

A. Baillie

[Nox]

EAX...

Another reason for soundcards, well technically EAX 3 or later I guess.

Nox

[Greenlizard0]

In essence people use sound cards as a more pleasurable way of listening to e.g. music that comes out of their PC. Onboard sound is basic and often poor quality. Older, slower computers also benifeted by having some of the load shifted away from the CPU.

A good dedicated soundcard will have more features, better hardware and often free software. EAX is another feature for games. There will often be further connectivity (front bays/breakout boxes), an increased number and variation of sockets, meaning the potential range of external sound equipment that can be hooked up rises.

The cost is higher but it's well worth it. They'll improve the experience using e.g. poor headphones and speakers, but of course to fully appreciate the difference it's worth upgrading every link in the chain.