What do you think of this boards sound

[macssuck]

I'm looking at this board since I cannot get bx boards from them anymore we usually buy a SB128 for sound but I was thinking of just using the sound on the board what do you guys think?

edit: I work at my local high school and these systems are going in the student body office they don?t use much sound except for an occasional music cd or something off of the net but our attendance program is VERY CPU intensive. Also if you wonder why im purchasing premio products it because of the excellent service that the company has with us.


Sorry veeeeeeeery tired but want to order this tomorrow maybe ill fix my sentences in the morning

 

[mastertech01]

Ive used several boards with the AC97 sound chip and they are pretty good if you dont need surround sound. With a decent subwoofer you would get very decent sound. Im using onboard sound right now and if you arent too picky it will suffice well.

 

[Rand]

It looks the the regular cheap AC97 softweare based audio codec.
It basically relies upon the processor to do all of the audio calculation, so it will take up some processor time.
It sounds "okay" but it's really nothing special.
If all your using it for it to listen to regular Windows sounds and maybe a music CD or two then it's fine.

Anything more and I'd probably prefer spending a tiny bit extra and getting a dedicated hardware PCI sound card.

 

[macssuck]

sorry for not saying what the systems would be used for also what do you guys have any experiance with this socket A mobo

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[Rand]

Well the second motherboard you mentioned provides the same AC97 audi codec as the first board so audio quality would be similar, and would also use a slight bit of processor time.
It seems like an adequate board overall for a basic use system.

I've never had any experience with that particular motherboard so I cannot comment upon stability/performance etc. with it.
One thing I would recommend if you intend to go with an Athlon based system is to look into a motherboard based upon the KT133A chipset instead of the KT133. The KT133A chipset would provide you with compatibility with processors based upon the 266MHz FSB.
The 266MHz FSB processors provide a significant performance boost over the 200MHz FSB processors, and being able to utilize the 266MHz FSB will help to ensure that the motherboard will have more future room for upgradeability.