$30 Audigy Value better than onboard Realtek?

[slowpogo]

I've been looking at 939 mobos lately, and the concensus for most popular boards seems to be that the on-board sound (usually Realtek ALC850) is only "OK" and that an external sound card would be yield lower CPU usage and better sound.

If that's the case, what level of sound card would you need to get to improve on typical on-board sound? Would a $30 Sound Blaster Value card actually be a substantial improvement in CPU usage, if not sound quality?

 

[Cobolman]

Substantial? Nope.

It will be an improvement, but it won't be much.

 

[Odeen]

http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-297-7.htm

I'd call that a pretty substantial improvement in all areas, and the Abit AN8 has the advantage of an outboard sound module. Expect the noise floor to be worse on every other S939 motherboard.

 

[shortylickens]

The CPU usage in audio is a hot debate and I wont get involved with that.
I would say that the audio quality is better but then you have to deal with Creative drivers. For a low-end card its just not worth the heartburn.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

if you have a nice set of speakers, any decent add-on card makes a big difference in the amount of noise (reduction of).

 

[deadseasquirrel]

What speakers do you have? A simple 2.1 setup with good 939 audio (like the DFI or Asus) will be very hassle-free, cost nothing extra, and be very comparable to a low-end sound card in both sound quality and cpu usage.