CaptThunderbolt
Junior Member
Motherboards these days come with onboard components such as sound, LAN, Firewire, etc. I would like to know the pros and cons of onboard sound/LAN on a motherboard versus sound and LAN on a PCI card.😕
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Onboard components on latest mobos.
- Thread starter CaptThunderbolt
- Start date
Kingofcomputer
Diamond Member
Yes, there is no free lunch.
If it's really onboard standalone chip, for example, put the audigy2 chip and geforce4 ti4200 chip onboard, the price of such motherboard won't be much cheaper from buying separately.
Most of today's motherboards are using just chipset embedded sound and video engine. They just need to add a low cost audio codec chip and some jacks for the sound, vga and video jacks for the video. So the price of such onboard sound and video motherboard is similar to the one without.
Some motherboards don't use the chipset embedded sound engine with codec chip, they put a standalone complete sound processor chip like Cmedia CMI8738 or Soundmax Cadenza (standalone complete sound processor chip has built-in codec). Such motherboard costs more than the one using chipset embedded sound. Most ASUS and Soyo motherboards have CMI8738, oem motherboards in IBM and Compaq PC have Soundmax Cadenza.
Some SIS chipsets even have nic embedded, they just need to add the MAC layer and connector. So SIS chipset based motherboard with built-in sound, video, nic is still quite cheap.
Some Intel chipset based motherboards have Intel Pro100VE (value edition of Pro100) standalone chip. You can find that Intel chipset based motherboard with Pro100VE chip is more expensive than VIA or SIS based motherboard.
Nvidia all-in-one chipset has more more powerful embedded sound, video, nic engine. So you can find that Nvidia chipset based motherboard costs more.
Read the motherboard spec. carefully and buy the one suits your need.
If it's really onboard standalone chip, for example, put the audigy2 chip and geforce4 ti4200 chip onboard, the price of such motherboard won't be much cheaper from buying separately.
Most of today's motherboards are using just chipset embedded sound and video engine. They just need to add a low cost audio codec chip and some jacks for the sound, vga and video jacks for the video. So the price of such onboard sound and video motherboard is similar to the one without.
Some motherboards don't use the chipset embedded sound engine with codec chip, they put a standalone complete sound processor chip like Cmedia CMI8738 or Soundmax Cadenza (standalone complete sound processor chip has built-in codec). Such motherboard costs more than the one using chipset embedded sound. Most ASUS and Soyo motherboards have CMI8738, oem motherboards in IBM and Compaq PC have Soundmax Cadenza.
Some SIS chipsets even have nic embedded, they just need to add the MAC layer and connector. So SIS chipset based motherboard with built-in sound, video, nic is still quite cheap.
Some Intel chipset based motherboards have Intel Pro100VE (value edition of Pro100) standalone chip. You can find that Intel chipset based motherboard with Pro100VE chip is more expensive than VIA or SIS based motherboard.
Nvidia all-in-one chipset has more more powerful embedded sound, video, nic engine. So you can find that Nvidia chipset based motherboard costs more.
Read the motherboard spec. carefully and buy the one suits your need.
Another difference is using the onboard junk, your system will run cooler because there will be less add-in cards to block airflow - this is something you should keep in mind if you want to overclock or mess around with your vid card. Onboard solutions are not really meant to replace high-end parts, they are meant to keep people who don't want to spend as much money - happy.
Kingofcomputer
Diamond Member
yours is C-media CMI8738, it's a half hardware half software audio controller.
most motherboards don't use it, just use the chipset's built-in sound engine with a codec chip (this is sort of pure software way), of course worse than CMI8738.
How good is the onboard components depends on how are they be built and what extra hardware are put on the mobo.
most motherboards don't use it, just use the chipset's built-in sound engine with a codec chip (this is sort of pure software way), of course worse than CMI8738.
How good is the onboard components depends on how are they be built and what extra hardware are put on the mobo.
As long as u get a decent mobo (nForce 2) then the native LAN wont eat up too much CPU cycles, but the 3Com onboard, for example (which is the second onboard on an nForce 2 mobo) is very high utilisation, compared to the others. The advantage of having the stuff onboard, is not so much price (a WOL card is bout a £10 now) but more the advantage of not having to mess about with any expantion cards (leaving 5 or 6 PCI free) but still being able to run e.g a cable modem through the one onboard LAN and your home network through the other onBoard LAN.
As for graphics onboard, these are only really if you are not someone who doesnt use graphics intensively, and are usualy the equivalent of the "MX" versions (talking about the nForce (GF2 MX onboard) and the nForce2 chi8pset (GF4 MX onboard)), and do not have DSVI, TVOut etc but still perform reasonably well. The Xabre onboard previewed at Comdex should hbe interesting also, it actually has the graphics memory **OnBoard**. The onboard graphics are of course cheaper
As for sound onboard, unless you are wanting to buy the AMR/CNR riser with the extra channels, then this is really only for an OEM type user base as well, and even if you do have the riser, it still does not have all the features of, say, the SB Audigy line of cards.
Firewire onboard might be quite useful, but is no subsitute for a DV card if you are video editing on it.
I reccommend some of the new nForce 2 boards, a good comprimise between price, features, stability + performance (the board must have for Athlon XP!!) You can buy ver. -graphics if you want to buy a better AGP card as well
Enjoy!
As for graphics onboard, these are only really if you are not someone who doesnt use graphics intensively, and are usualy the equivalent of the "MX" versions (talking about the nForce (GF2 MX onboard) and the nForce2 chi8pset (GF4 MX onboard)), and do not have DSVI, TVOut etc but still perform reasonably well. The Xabre onboard previewed at Comdex should hbe interesting also, it actually has the graphics memory **OnBoard**. The onboard graphics are of course cheaper
As for sound onboard, unless you are wanting to buy the AMR/CNR riser with the extra channels, then this is really only for an OEM type user base as well, and even if you do have the riser, it still does not have all the features of, say, the SB Audigy line of cards.
Firewire onboard might be quite useful, but is no subsitute for a DV card if you are video editing on it.
I reccommend some of the new nForce 2 boards, a good comprimise between price, features, stability + performance (the board must have for Athlon XP!!) You can buy ver. -graphics if you want to buy a better AGP card as well
Enjoy!
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