nforce2 onboard sound vs sound blaster live value

[Syndicate]

In a general comparison here which is better, EPOX 8RDA+ Nforce2 on board sound, or Creative Sound Blaster LIVE! Value? This would include quality/clarity/compatibility/performance. I just upgraded my motherboard so now I have two sources of sound 😉 Not that its too important, but my speakers are not Dolby anything compatible.

 

[Vette73]

The Soundstorm sound has been compared to the Audigy, it blows away the SB Live.

That and no driver issues, unlike creative

 

[PCHPlayer]

As long as you do not experience the nForce 2 crackling stick with the on-board sound. Otherwise go with the SB Live! Fortunately my kids don't seem to be bothered when their game hit the nForce crackle.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: PCHPlayer
As long as you do not experience the nForce 2 crackling stick with the on-board sound. Otherwise go with the SB Live! Fortunately my kids don't seem to be bothered when their game hit the nForce crackle.

I have build 4 computers with nForce2 and the MCP-T southbridge and the sound has NO CRACKLE.

You need to go back and check something else out or get another board.

 

[mosco]

Marlin1975

go check the nforcershq forums. There are a bunch of threads about the sound issues. People get crackling after a little while of game play plus lots of reverb when using EAX. People have tried all sorts of things to fix it but AFAIK nothing has helped. The 2.41 drivings were supposed to fix it but they got pulled because of the SW IDE drivers. its a known issue. You it make it sound like this guy is an idiot.

 

[BD231]

There *IS* a crackle problem with the N-Force, I feel it's more of a problem with games than the actual on-board sound.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: BD231
There *IS* a crackle problem with the N-Force, I feel it's more of a problem with games than the actual on-board sound.

more than likely, I have a similar problem on Armada II with my c-media 6channel on-board my msi kt4vl, it's the only game that has any crackle, everything else runs great.

 

[Vette73]

No crackle in any of my games, and I play everything from FPS to Civ type games.
I have a Abit NF7-S. I have used 4 of these board and had no sound problems.

There was a sound card update at WindowsUpdate, have you tried that yet?????

Also write the place that made the game and tell them to patch it up if it is a game problem.

 

[mosco]

lol, i sounded rude, I don't actually own the board yet. It will be here soon though. But i have done a lot of research before my purchase and it seems all nforce 2 boards have this problem so i went ahead anyway. It seems to happen in a bunch of games and word is still coming in on these new drivers.

 

[Syndicate]

so go with the onboard if it works....k thanks for the flame wars =)

 

[Iron Woode]

The onboard sound on my 8RDA+ is perfect even when playing games. I am one of the few still running the 2.41 drivers. Actually I found the new SW IDE drivers to be faster than the 2.03 SW IDE drivers.

I play different games and never had any crackling. Just last night I played UT online for 4 hours nonstop without any crackling. Same with UT2003 and Unreal II. Quake 3 is fine too.

 

[TheCorm]

I have an SB Live 5.1 and will probably stick with that when I get an Nforce2 board....but if I had my old Live Value still then I might consider switching to the onboard...but would probably give it a go first, particularly under CPU intensive programs and also when there is a lot of HD activity to see if it copes okay.

Jamie

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: TheCorm
I have an SB Live 5.1 and will probably stick with that when I get an Nforce2 board....but if I had my old Live Value still then I might consider switching to the onboard...but would probably give it a go first, particularly under CPU intensive programs and also when there is a lot of HD activity to see if it copes okay.

Jamie

The nForce2 soundstorm sound uses less CPU cycles than a Audigy, and sounds better.

I don't know why people keep using creative, it seems like there is a post everyday about a problem that is either from or caused by a Creative soundcard.