Dose on-board sound use more CPU time than an add-on sound card dose when playing MP3s?

[BD231]

I've been trying to max out performance on an old Dell P133 system and it currently uses about 60 to 80% of the CPU when playing an MP3. If I bought a simple PCI sound card would that figure go down a bit?, if so, which card would be ideal?

 

[PCMarine]

no, MP3's really tax the CPU with slower models. My P166 could handle playing MP3s Okay, but as soon as u have an IE window open or even word it will sound choppy

 

[BD231]

Originally posted by: PCMarine
no, MP3's really tax the CPU with slower models. My P166 could handle playing MP3s Okay, but as soon as u have an IE window open or even word it will sound choppy

No choppieness when using the internet and WinMX here on this P133, file transfer on the home network slows down a bit. How much mem did you have? So your sure there are no sound cards that can handle playing MP3 or CD-Audio without the CPU?

 

[FearOrLove]

Sound cards don't do the decoding of mp3s, they just play the audio after it's been decoded. The only way to reduce the cpu usage is to use a more optimized player. I don't know if there are any faster than winamp... you'd have to look.

 

[CTho9305]

set all the priorities in winamp as high as they go.

 

[BD231]

I'll give WinAmp a try, all I've been using was the default media player minus the visualization junk. Would a P166 be of much help over a P133?, they are insanely cheap and easy enough to find so this is why I ask. Thanks for the input.

 

[BD231]

Shesh, winamp 2.81 alone got it down to 24 to 30% average cpu use, good enough for such an old system. P166 question still stands.

 

[thorin]

Originally posted by: PCMarine
no, MP3's really tax the CPU with slower models. My P166 could handle playing MP3s Okay, but as soon as u have an IE window open or even word it will sound choppy

That has nothing to do with MP3s, it has to do with the Player you're using. I can play mp3s fine on my P133 with WinAMP < 2.8 but Winamp > 2.8 suck too much in the way of resources, and any version of Sonique sucks on a P133. It's all about the player. (WinAMP 2.7 is perfectly stable and usable).

Originally posted by: FearOrLove
Sound cards don't do the decoding of mp3s, they just play the audio after it's been decoded. The only way to reduce the cpu usage is to use a more optimized player. I don't know if there are any faster than winamp... you'd have to look.

Actually I thought TurtleBeach implemented a hardware decoder on their sound card.

Thorin

 

[Kingofcomputer]

it's the CS4630 chip on TBSC or CS4624, so Hercules GXTP, Fortissimo also have mp3 decode helping.

 

[TheCorm]

Does the Hercules Muse XL have mp3 decode helping too?

On a side note, is there any performence difference between say an on board CMI8738 4-Channel Soundchip and a Inno3D CMI8738 PCI Sound Card? Is the CMI8738 Chip more powerful than the Avance AC97?

Corm

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Muse XL uses CMI8738.

Onboard CMI8738 or dedicated CMI 8738 PCI card have no difference, both are same chip, both are running on PCI bus.

Avance AC97 is a generic driver for Intel/VIA/SiS audio controller embedded in the motherboard chipset.

I can't tell which is more powerful - CMI8738 or Intel/VIA/SiS audio controller in the chipset.
All are doing basic sound.

 

[buleyb]

Watch out with hardware decoders...you have to make sure you are using mp3s with bitrates/frequencies within the specs of the decoder, otherwise, it won't work for you...I'm not sure what the specifics of these chips listed above are, but it would be wise to find out

 

[FearOrLove]

Upgrading the cpu will no doubt further reduce the cpu usage during mp3 playback. In the case that your willing to purchase a different cpu you may as well get the fastest unit your motherboard will support since there is probably very little difference in price between CPUs that old. If it's a socket 7 board you could put an AMD k6-2 500 in for about $30. I wouldn't really bother getting a 166 over a 133 though... if you want try overclocking the cpu. Just set the jumpers on the board to run the cpu at 166. If it runs great... if not just put the jumpers back where they were.

 

[OulOat]

Yeah, oc that baby, if it dies, then so what, you lost a 5 dollar system

 

[BD231]

Originally posted by: OulOat
Yeah, oc that baby, if it dies, then so what, you lost a 5 dollar system

Haha , well this 5 dollar system is worth more than that to me, but I'll give overclocking a try. I put a cheap heatsink unit on the P1 that was ment for an Athlon 1.33 and also slapped a VERY slow fan on it, at full load it's cool to the touch so heat shouldn't be an issue. How can I tell if it's a soket 7 board though? The computer was made by dell and has an add-on cache mem slot which I have never seen before so I'm thinking it's an Intel only board. The computer is a Dimension XPS 133s, anyone know what kind of board this thing uses?

 

[TheCorm]

A Pentium 133mhz will be Socket 7....I believe there were Socket 5 Pentium 60mhz and 75mhz but only Socket 7 for 133mhz. BUT....I doubt that your board will be able to hand anything other than Intel Processors and even if it can it probably won't go past something like 233mhz.....but if you have the manual then you can check it out. I have found that finding jumper settings and other information for old Intel boards a very difficult task online.

Corm

 

[BD231]

Originally posted by: TheCorm
A Pentium 133mhz will be Socket 7....I believe there were Socket 5 Pentium 60mhz and 75mhz but only Socket 7 for 133mhz. BUT....I doubt that your board will be able to hand anything other than Intel Processors and even if it can it probably won't go past something like 233mhz.....but if you have the manual then you can check it out. I have found that finding jumper settings and other information for old Intel boards a very difficult task online.

Corm

Unfortuneately I have nothing but the computer itself, a lady next door gave it to me with a mouse and keyboard and that was all she had with it. I noticed some jumper setting layouts on the motherboard itself, so far I've only seen one for the front side bus when I switched everything to a different case. Is this what I should use for overclocking?, or can the P1 be oc'ed by a multiplier settings?.

 

[FearOrLove]

It's not very likely that the system will be damaged by attempting to overclock it. Just follow the directions for replacing the cpu without actually replacing it. The system may not even startup after the change... or it may be unstable... but you will be able to just put it back the way it was if it doesn't run properly at the higher speed.

http://docs.us.dell.com/docs/dta/_trmntor/00000005.htm
If this is your system then unfortunatly it wont take mmx CPUs but will take up to a pentium 200 non mmx. If you can find a non mxx p200 for next to nothing then you may as well put it to use.

 

[FearOrLove]

Dell has the jumper settings online. If the system you have is the one described in the url in my last post then click the documentation link for the jumper settings. If not then select a different system to find the correct documentation.