Audigy 2 ZS or Realtek ALC888

[j0j081]

I'm getting ready to upgrade to PCIe. I've already sold my 7800gs for quite a lot on ebay and I'm wondering if I should sell my sound card as well. Although I probably won't get much for it this is a tight budget upgrade so every 20 or so dollars is a big help. The motherboards I am looking at all have Realtek HD audio the ALC888 chip. Is this just as good if not better than my Audigy 2 ZS? The A2ZS isn't that great in Vista. I've read the lastest onboard solutions by Realtek are a lot better than onboard sound used to be so I'm wondering if I never need a dedicated sound card anymore. Thanks.

 

[Blain]

What types of tasks do you use your sound card for?
Gaming... Music playback... High quality recording... Etc?

 

[Hlafordlaes]

My board has the ALC888 and it is certainly good enough for gaming. My Creative X-Fi card sounds a whole lot better, but not good enough to put it on this board since it limits my OC. I'd say sell the Audigy.

 

[j0j081]

Originally posted by: Blain
What types of tasks do you use your sound card for?
Gaming... Music playback... High quality recording... Etc?

mainly gaming. I know in the olden days addon sound cards took the load of the cpu but I don't know if it matters now or if the new realtek chips even have a load.

 

[jonmcc33]

Originally posted by: Hlafordlaes
My board has the ALC888 and it is certainly good enough for gaming. My Creative X-Fi card sounds a whole lot better, but not good enough to put it on this board since it limits my OC. I'd say sell the Audigy.

How would a PCI card limit your overclocking? I have a Audigy2 ZS Platinum and Promise RAID controller and neither are limiting my Core 2 Duo 6400 overclock to 3.2GHz.

 

[j0j081]

bump still trying to decide what to do.

 

[secretanchitman]

honestly...the onboard sounds great. i use it for my families dedicated home theater. they sound wonderful when its playing HD movies. my htpc uses the asus p5wdh deluxe mobo, which has the even older AL882 chip.