DFI Lan Party UT NF3 250 onboard sound...

[whattaguy]

I've noticed that the output on the onboard sound isn't very good. I really have to crank up the volume on my amp. I figure if either one of those are better, it'll only cost me about $30.

Any other suggestions?

I also hear that the Philips Acoustic(?)...is pretty good.

 

[globalcitizen]

Onboard sound will usually be not as good as a dedicated sound card. But you will notice the difference in sound quality if you have a good ear for sound. I dont, so I am happy with onboard sound

 

[PingSpike]

Onboard sound often uses a codec, which uses CPU cycles to function. Some codec solutions use as much as 16% of the CPU.

However, I am not familiar with that particular onboard sound solution.

 

[batmanuel]

Tne NF3 onboard sound is using an AC97 codec, unlike the NF2 Soundstorm boards that had a pretty nice onboard sound solution built into their southbridges. The NF3/NF4 onboard sound is cheap and crappy.

I hear that the Chaintech AV-710 is quite nice, about the best you can get under $30 as it uses the Via ENVY 24HT audio chip and can do 24-bit quality sound output. It also doesn't suffer from the Creative Labs driver bloat you get with the Sound Blaster cards, as the Via driver supposed to a lean and mean little guy.

If you go the Creative Labs direction, I'd go for the new Live 7.1 card, which also supports 24-bit sound (as opposed to the 16-bit of the Live 5.1). For the same price, it seems like a better card. Does anyone know if it is a neutered Audigy chip on the card, or something different?

EDIT: I was just reading up in Hot Deals about a deal on a Mad Dog 7.1 using the same ENVY HT24-S chip that the Chaintech uses, and it seems like the output on the "S" version isn't acutally true 24-bit like you get on the higher end ENVY24HT cards, so as far as sound quality goes the Live 7.1 might be a bit better.

 

[whattaguy]

Originally posted by: batmanuel
Tne NF3 onboard sound is using an AC97 codec, unlike the NF2 Soundstorm boards that had a pretty nice onboard sound solution built into their southbridges. The NF3/NF4 onboard sound is cheap and crappy.

I hear that the Chaintech AV-710 is quite nice, about the best you can get under $30 as it uses the Via ENVY 24HT audio chip and can do 24-bit quality sound output. It also doesn't suffer from the Creative Labs driver bloat you get with the Sound Blaster cards, as the Via driver supposed to a lean and mean little guy.

If you go the Creative Labs direction, I'd go for the new Live 7.1 card, which also supports 24-bit sound (as opposed to the 16-bit of the Live 5.1). For the same price, it seems like a better card. Does anyone know if it is a neutered Audigy chip on the card, or something different?

EDIT: I was just reading up in Hot Deals about a deal on a Mad Dog 7.1 using the same ENVY HT24-S chip that the Chaintech uses, and it seems like the output on the "S" version isn't acutally true 24-bit like you get on the higher end ENVY24HT cards, so as far as sound quality goes the Live 7.1 might be a bit better.

Thanks.
I have an old SoundBlaster 5.1 pulled out of my old rig that I might just plug in.