On board Audio / Lan / Video ?? Why?

[Kinesis]

I am considering the Asus P4S533 Mother board, but it comes with C-Media 6 Channel sound system on-board. Ok, I hear the sound is good on it (no pun intended), but my question is why are MB manufactures making boards hybrids again? Cost? Market Share? It is starting to make me relive the days of NEC and their 486 DX100 systems which had hybride Modem/Video components. Is there not a problem with these new mother boards like the P4S533 and putting a SoundBlaste Audiology 2 card on it? Such as is the initiators of Hardware conflicts? At least in my past..... not that I am trying to date myself! Why would one want a built in Video or Lan component on a new system... I am finding it hard to find a motherboard with no built in components like this...

Just curious..

 

[mechBgon]

In many of the motherboards available today, the motherboard's own chipset has these features built in already. Connecting these built-in features to some jacks involves a 50-cent CODEC chip (ok, I'm guessing as to the actual price) and a jack or connector to plug into. The built-in sound or network device can almost always be switched off in the motherboard's BIOS menu so it's like it was never there.

In some cases, the onboard devices are actually very good. Take the nForce2 MCP-T chipset, which has the only Dolby-certified PC audio system in the world, with six-channel digital and analog outputs and performance that gives the Audigy2 a real run for its money (read a comparison here). The IGP variant of nForce2 comes with an onboard GeForce4MX420-class video adapter (dual-monitor support, even!) which disables immediately if you switch to a plug-in AGP video card. The MCP-T southbridge also incorporates both a 3Com and an nVidia network adapter, either of which can be disabled and both of which will work for most people's uses, and includes Firewire and USB 2.0 controllers too.

Look at it this way: when's the last time you complained because the motherboard's chipset incorporated built-in IDE controllers? I think the news is mostly good because you can turn off stuff you don't want, and it's not costing you much to be there in the first place.

 

[THUGSROOK]

yes yes yes, but the fact still remains ~ we cant get boards w/o all that extra stuff

seems as tho every possible need is met, except for the minimalist

 

[joe4324]

If the features are hard-built into the chipset is there ANY advantage by NOT having them there? If theres no difference then I say bring it on. I'll take free stuff (or nearly free)

Hell you can have a STATE OF THE ART computer now without a single PCI slot filled. thats awesome! I put fans there instead!

 

[SpideyCU]

I agree with joe. If it's that cheap, who cares? If you're worried about conflicts or whatever, disable the devices in BIOS. If the chipset is designed to support it, the cost to simply implement a connector on-board is nickel & dime stuff (nearly quite literally!). Since that eliminates the only concern I can think of - money - I'm not sure what there is to ponder. If you want an off-hand example, the 8RDA+, with all the features mechBgon listed (6.1 Dolby surround sound, Firewire, networking) is only $10 more than the non-plus version. You'd spend that much money on a NIC alone.

 

[Kinesis]

Thanks, I appreciate the replies. It makes sense what you are all stating. I just have poor experience, but hey technology has come a long way.