PCI sound card VS Onboard Sound

[ConwayJim]

I just recently aquired a free PCI sound card, and was wondering if my system is using less resources since i'm no longer using my onboard soundcard?

 

[stevty2889]

More than likely it is using less CPU resources, but in reality it won't make a huge differance anyway.

 

[BigLan]

It depends on what kind of onboard sound you have, and what kind of sound card you've installed. Some of the high end intel azalia codecs do a pretty good job at not using the cpu, and so does the karajan module on the DFI boards.

Some sound cards are software only (via envy for example) so may have higher utilisation if doing 3d stuff, while the newer audigy cards offload most of the tasks from the cpu.

 

[ConwayJim]

i just have a cheap creative 128 pro, i think it retails for $15, but my onboard sound was sooo bad ( i could hear noises when i moved my mouse)