Sound Card or Built in via Mobo?

[Bill A 68]

Hi, Im upgrading my system and my buddy hooked me up with a MSI P55-GD65 motherboard that has a built in 8-channel 7.1 HD Audio subsystem with S/PDIF out. On my older system I had a Creative SB Audigy 2 Sound card. Should I use this card on my upgrade to free up the CPU from working the sounds, or is the built in sound system on the mobo just a better system and I should use that one with no sound card installed?

[St Mawgan 1,405]

Gone are the days when having on board sound meant compromising resources. The on board sound on my motherboard is indistinguishable from my previous Creative X-Fi Extreme and it uses Creative software anyway. I would never go back to having a separate sound card now.

[Bill A 68]

Thanks for the reply

[BartEnder 2]

I'd leave them both if You can - one for environment (the better-sound-output-card should be used for this) playback, one for ATC (the crappy one).

Nowadays sound cards have their own CPUs to decode the bits to membrane movement.

[TechguyMaxC 516]

I assume you propose running a separate program for ATC, otherwise how would you go about separating the audio being generated by a single application? Meaning, when you assign audio streams to different speaker outputs, you need separate applications that create the source audio streams.

 

Anyway, built-in audio is good enough for 99% of uses and 99% of people. It's really only audiophiles and professionals that can

1) tell the difference

2) might have a use for something better than onboard audio

[BartEnder 2]

I assume you propose running a separate program for ATC, otherwise how would you go about separating the audio being generated by a single application?

In application's GUI. Under settings/sounds You can pick which sound card You wish to playback the output (sounds and communications enables You to choose two cards)

[Glynn 405]

Should I use this card on my upgrade to free up the CPU from working the sounds

 

Hello

If you are sticking with XP then either option will be fine but the Creative card will use less resources on XP.

If you are moving to W7 then the Creative card will be no better than the onboard as W7 does not support hardware sound acceleration for Directsound, in that case use the onboard, your PC will thank you.

[Bill A 68]

Yes, Im going from XP to Win7 64bit

[Glynn 405]

Yes, Im going from XP to Win7 64bit

 

Hello

Then the onboard will be fine, and a lot more stable than Creatives drivers

[ZachLW 37]

I'd leave them both if You can - one for environment (the better-sound-output-card should be used for this) playback, one for ATC (the crappy one).

Nowadays sound cards have their own CPUs to decode the bits to membrane movement.

 

I suggest a cheap USB option. I recently picked up a Creative X-Fi dongle for $30 and it is wonderful. No more card, better airflow, and less surface area for dust accumulation in my rig. Plus I can use it on my laptop which has a sub par sound solution. Besides, many modern motherboards have a separate front panel header that can make your scenario possible without a discreet card.