Audio CPU Utilization

[carbon3c]

I'm about to build a new gaming PC and would like to know what the real performance difference is between the Audigy ZS and the leading onboard solutions from Realtek or Nvidia.

Although I found many reviews of the Audigy ZS card, nearly all of them only say "low CPU Utilization", but don't give specifics (lazy reviewers!). I did find one site with Audigy ZS Benchmarks that show CPU utilization to be 8% - 16% using the RightMark 3DSound benchmarking tool. (The reviewer said that 7% of that CPU utilization might have been due to things other than audio, so who knows....)

I also found a HardOCP review of an older ABIT motherboard that says "there is < 1% CPU utilization across the board while using the onboard Realtek based sound subsystem"

So does onboard sound perform just as well (or better?) then the Audigy ZS? I know Audigy ZS
sounds better but I only care about games (not music or movies) -- and I wear headphones 90% of the time, so I don't need 7.1 channels. I keep hearing (on all the hardware review sites) that Audigy ZS has "lower CPU utilization", and so I want to buy one because CPU utilization is important to me. But will I really get lower CPU utilization from the Audigy ZS, or is it all lies?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

The audigy is going to provide you with much more audio features such as surround, EAX etc. But as a result is going to use slightly more CPU power. I personally think unless you are an audiphile or want to be immersed in audio then onboard may be enough for you, but some people swear that onboard sounds like a tin can.

So it can pretty much depend on the person whether its worth it or not

 

[carbon3c]

I guess I'll have to build my system, test the sound, and if it's not satisfactory, install an Audigy ZS. It would be nice to have some better data showing performance differences.