(Also posted this in General Hardware, but may get a better answer here...?)
Okay, I need an expert, or someone close to it... Maybe you all know about the Asus A7N8X Deluxe board, which is simply the best, fastest, most stable board I have ever seen, and am proud to own. One of it's best features is the NVidia nForce2 chipset, which provides incredible sound quality and features for an onboard sound system.
If you don't know the specs or the system, check it out here (links from the Asus site):
http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=feature_soundstorm
http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=apu
This is my dilemma. I also own a SoundBlaster Live 5.1! Platinum PCI sound card, which is a pretty awesome piece of work in its own right.
In past years, we have all been told to disable onboard sound systems and buy a good sound card, as onboard sound will slow the system down by adding additional demands on it. But this nForce2 is a sound system integrated into a wider bandwidth, with it's own hot little processor, and nVidia and Asus claim it is the best sound solution available because, among other things, it can fully deal with the sound aspects of DirectX 8.1.
What is the truth here??? I have been searching all the magazines and sites for comparisons and benchmarks for this new onboard sound vs. quality sound cards, and of course, I can't find any. These reviewers are all so concerned with the hot-button issues that they miss some of the most crucial aspects that many of us need to know.
If anyone has a qualified answer to this, I need to hear it. Or if you've seen anyone write on this subject anywhere, please tell me where!
My system:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon XP 2400+
Twin bank XMS Corsair 3200 256mb CL2 sticks
PNY Geforce 4200 64 mb DDR video
nVidia nForce2 chipset
WD ATA 133 40 GB HD
Thanks,
Dan (aka Teal)
Okay, I need an expert, or someone close to it... Maybe you all know about the Asus A7N8X Deluxe board, which is simply the best, fastest, most stable board I have ever seen, and am proud to own. One of it's best features is the NVidia nForce2 chipset, which provides incredible sound quality and features for an onboard sound system.
If you don't know the specs or the system, check it out here (links from the Asus site):
http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=feature_soundstorm
http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=apu
This is my dilemma. I also own a SoundBlaster Live 5.1! Platinum PCI sound card, which is a pretty awesome piece of work in its own right.
In past years, we have all been told to disable onboard sound systems and buy a good sound card, as onboard sound will slow the system down by adding additional demands on it. But this nForce2 is a sound system integrated into a wider bandwidth, with it's own hot little processor, and nVidia and Asus claim it is the best sound solution available because, among other things, it can fully deal with the sound aspects of DirectX 8.1.
What is the truth here??? I have been searching all the magazines and sites for comparisons and benchmarks for this new onboard sound vs. quality sound cards, and of course, I can't find any. These reviewers are all so concerned with the hot-button issues that they miss some of the most crucial aspects that many of us need to know.
If anyone has a qualified answer to this, I need to hear it. Or if you've seen anyone write on this subject anywhere, please tell me where!
My system:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon XP 2400+
Twin bank XMS Corsair 3200 256mb CL2 sticks
PNY Geforce 4200 64 mb DDR video
nVidia nForce2 chipset
WD ATA 133 40 GB HD
Thanks,
Dan (aka Teal)
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