Picking a soundcard for gaming...

[imported_Nemo]

Well building a new computer and not sure what sound card to get. Read that i should get one and not sure the onboard one to safe cpu power (getting the MSI K8N Neo2 NF3 250ultra socket 939 or something board).

As my computer is mainly used for gaming i am thinking of either one of the following 2:

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=29-102-175&depa=0

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=29-102-158&depa=0

Price is about the same, first one is alittle cheaper though. Is there a reason to get the non value version when it just used for gaming, and some music? (value seems to be a newer version)..

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Trashman]

either would be fine.....if it were me i'd get the value.

 

[Rudee]

Why is there no gameport on that card for plugging in gamepad/joystick?

 

[nealh]

the audigy 2 has a gameport bracket that is connected to the sound card...like a daughter card so to speak

 

[globalcitizen]

Is the gameport really necessary as most gamepads/joysticks are USB which is faster

 

[cheesehead]

The onboard audio on most modern motherboards works just fine. If you really crave performance, spending the 70$ you would need for an Audigy Value on upgrading your heatsink to a watercooling setup or a bit of extra RAM would be a better way to spend your cash-most onboard audio processors only use a tiny fragment of CPU power anyway. If you're really desperate for that last extra bit of speed, I can sell you a SB Live! 5.1 card that is, although dated, just fine for whatever you would need, and has a seperate audio processor doohickey (I think, please correct me if necessary).
Oh, and gameport is almost entirely useless unless you like to pick up your joysticks and mice from Goodwill.
(A Cyborg 3d for 4$ is a good value, no?)
-Cheeshead.

EDIT:
You might just want to wait another few weeks (yes, weeks) until the NF4 ultra boards come out. They're probbably going to be around the same price, and you get PCI express. Considering the fact that the 199$ GEforceFX 6600GT beats the pants off of any AGP card below 250$, it's a better deal in the long run.

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Considering the fact that the 199$ GEforceFX 6600GT beats the pants off of any AGP card below 250$, it's a better deal in the long run.

Wrong!

 

[ZUnit]

I buy Audigy 2 ZS because here where i live its less than 20 bucks higher than Audigy 2.
If u buy it only for preformance in games then read this http://www.tomshardware.com/game/20030405/index.html they clain nforce 2 APU load cpu lower than audigy 2 but test it in some outdated crappy games. I would like to see test in FarCry, Doom3, Half-Life 2. So maybe its wise to wait for nforce 4 for you.
I think Audigy 2 ZS is better choice than any onboard sound anyway.

 

[Algere]

So maybe its wise to wait for nforce 4 for you.

No Soundstorm for nForce 4 :frown:

 

[Navid]

I have an ASUS P4P800 deluxe motherboard. I used its on-board audio with my 5.1 speaker system. Recently, I got an Audigy 2 ZS and games are much better now. They sound more realistic.
It is easier to tell which direction each sound is coming from.

 

[cheesehead]

Out of curiousity, what's the big benifit of the Audigy 2 ZS over a SB Live! 5.1 card? Both have hardware accelleration, and six channels is all you're going to need, anyway.

 

[us3rnotfound]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Out of curiousity, what's the big benifit of the Audigy 2 ZS over a SB Live! 5.1 card? Both have hardware accelleration, and six channels is all you're going to need, anyway.

idk, to make money i'll assume

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: Algere

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Considering the fact that the 199$ GEforceFX 6600GT beats the pants off of any AGP card below 250$, it's a better deal in the long run.

Wrong!

He said AGP card below $250 you wanker.

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: Insomniak

Originally posted by: Algere

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Considering the fact that the 199$ GEforceFX 6600GT beats the pants off of any AGP card below 250$, it's a better deal in the long run.

Wrong!

He said AGP card below $250 you wanker.

It was $249.99 @ the time of posting

 

[techwanabe]

I tend to agree if you have decent on-board sound, it really isn't worth it to toss in a sound card these days. I have Soundstorm on my Nforce 2 motherboard and it is great. My new PC coming has 5.1 so I'm guessing it will be fine too. With better sound coming on-board these days, there is a less compelling reason to install a seperate card, unless there is some special need.

Personally I'd use the cash to jump up the memory (like from 512 to 1 gb) or some other upgrade.