Onboard Sound or Soundcard?

[Pete S 7]

I am curious:

 

I have an Asus P8 Z77-V Pro Motherboard with I7-3770K (not oc) running a Boxed FSX. I am presently using the Onboard sound which I find delivers a good sound through a digital connection to an external amplifier and surround speakers. Will I gain anything by installing a dedicated sound card? Are there any reasons to do it?

[Beardyman 604]

Recently I have same dilemma.

I am wondering to buy ASUS Xonar Essence.

 

I read that new sound cards decrease main processor load as they have own processor on-board, so system is less loaded.

I am wondering if that is noticeable even.

[Appliance 51]

If one is a musician, audio engineer, podcaster etc. one might well find some reward in purchasing a separate sound card.

 

Insofar as gaming and 'ordinary' computer use is concerned the on-board sound is more than sufficient.  Motherboard manufactures have upgraded their audio solutions over the last few years ... ensuring the sound chips are as isolated as possible to reduce noise and adding features such as Sound Blaster Cinema.

 

The performance differences wrought by a sound card these days can largely be described as placebo.  However it's your money ...

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Sound quality of my ASUS Maximus VII Formula boasts a quality experience it was crap compared to my creative titanium hd - which is dated now but what a difference volume - quality just way better also has onboard processor to help out - my vote is for a dedicated sound card

[Glynn 405]

 

 

I read that new sound cards decrease main processor load as they have own processor on-board, so system is less loaded.

 

Windows 7 onwards do not support hardware accelerated sound. everything is done on the CPU

Onboard is fine these days unless you have better hearing than a Bat.

[Luke 782]

Windows 7 onwards do not support hardware accelerated sound. everything is done on the CPU

Onboard is fine these days unless you have better hearing than a Bat.

 

This.

 

Cheers!

 

Luke

[Simmer2050 28]

The debate is not if Mobo has good quality sound.

 

But how much is to be gained by freeing the CPU sound processing by using dedicated card.

 

In my case, I took my creative sound card out the case when I felt  there was more to gain in cooling by making more room inside the case.

 

Might reconsider

[magnetite 38]

I'm currently using an Asus Xonar DX sound card (PCIe, with an external power connector).

[Pete S 7]

I think I will stick with the onboard sound, since it looks like a dedicated sound card is more of a vanity item, for an FSX System anyway.

 

Thanks everyone for your opinions.

 

Pete S.

[wizzards 99]

as fsx is cpu bound I purchased a asus Xonar card I disabled sound in the bios I want every bit of my cpu power for P3d,it only cost £20 and might have given me a few more fps who knows?,also some where on avsim a devoloper( i think the Realair guy who knows his stuff ,and I think some where in the new turbo duke thread )stated on board sound causes issues with the sim I cannot find the post, as the Avsim search function will  not work for me any more

peter

[Luke 782]

as fsx is cpu bound I purchased a asus Xonar card I disabled sound in the bios I want every bit of my cpu power for P3d,it only cost £20 and might have given me a few more fps who knows?

 

If the placebo effect works for you, why not? I have a $200 power cable I can sell you as well. It has been carefully engineered to make the positives a little more positive and the negatives a little more negative. It might give you a few more fps as well. Who knows?

 

Windows 7 does not hardware accelerate sound. End of story.

 

 

also some where on avsim a devoloper( i think the Realair guy who knows his stuff ,and I think some where in the new turbo duke thread )stated on board sound causes issues with the sim

 

It's a sound device. It's standard Windows API device. Now there's a good chance that the hardware may be faulty, or the drivers may be bad - but it's generally not a good idea to make sweeping conclusions on the basis of a vague forum post you can't even find.

 

Cheers!

 

Luke

[TurboKen 221]

First thing you have to ask is what kind of speakers are you using?

 

If you are not listening to good quality speakers through your computer then I would not spend $100. on a sound card as you will probably not notice a difference.

 

Most motherboards actually come with decent sound processors on them. By adding an aftermarket sound card you get some nice options for changing the sound but as for an increase in FPS I am sorry to say you will not gain 1 fps. I tested this with a core3d sound card and a saved flight in FSX.

 

Ken

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

Sound quality of my ASUS Maximus VII Formula boasts a quality experience it was crap compared to my creative titanium hd - which is dated now but what a difference volume - quality just way better also has onboard processor to help out - my vote is for a dedicated sound card

 

Volume level is an issue on the Maximus iiv boards, but its related to the on-board sound processor, I believe it's branded SupremeFX. As far as I know this on-board proc runs independent of cpu, so no sim performance to be gained. The add on card most definitely will give you a better sound experience, however. I find the sound acceptable, if not a little quiet.