What is the best onboard audio?

[MacDude]

What is the best on board audio chipset? Is it the Creative CT5880, Realtek ALC650 PCI, or AC'97? I just want something decent to listen too for DivX, Mp3 and games. I would also be interested in buying some Logitec Z560 and I would want to have surround sound supported for DVD's.

Thanks.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Realtek ALC650 is just a Codec.
AC97 is a standard for Codec.

How good is the onboard audio is depended on how powerful is the chipset embedded sound engine (for example: Intel ICH, VIA southbridge) + how good the codec (for example: ALC650, cmedia CMI9739) the motherboard uses, or what kind of complete audio processor chip (with codec built-in) (for example: cmedia CMI8738) the motherboard uses.

 

[MacDude]

Ok, but I though that Creative CT5880, Realtek ALC650 PCI, Realtek AC'97 where all chipsets? They show the chips in mobo reviews and on the specs list of the manifacturers. Which types of codec and chip would you suggest for decent onboard audio without having to buy a sound card?

 

[Kingofcomputer]

mainly 3 different types of audio:
1. a real sound card - one single chip has the processor and codec or one chip for processor plus one chip for codec.
2. motherboard with onboard sound - same as real sound card, just the chip is soldered onto the motherboard.
3. motherboard chipset embedded sound - sound processor embedded in the motherboard chipset plus codec chip.

All current sound card and codec are said to be AC97 compliant.

If you look carefully on the motherboard spec, you can see the difference.
For example,
Asus A7V8X:
Audio (optional)
Realtek 6-channel CODEC <---------------------------------------------- emphasizes CODEC - this is chipset embedded audio
S/PDIF in/out interface

Asus P4B533:
Audio (optional)
C-Media 8738-MX 6-channel PCI Audio controller <-------------------------------emphasizes Audio Controller - this is onboard audio chip

 

[GoSharks]

get an nvidia nforce board

 

[BD2003]

No competition, if you want good onboard sound, nforce is the way to go. Every bit as good, and in some ways better than most sound cards.

 

[KF]

Not that I'm an authority, but the mobos with a Creative chip were not considered to be anything great in the reviews I have seen. (If they put an Audigy chip onboard, I'm sure that would be great.) Different mobos with the same or similar sound chips are judged to sound different in reviews that use experienced high fidelity enthusiasts. Exactly how the implementation is different I don't know. ASUS often uses a CMedia chip in place of the sound built into the chipset, presumably because it is somehow better. They did this with some of their premium-priced nForce boards. I built a system with an nForce chipset mobo (the low-end ASUS A7N266-VM. It can do 6 channels). The sound section is identical in all nForce chips and is the same in the new nForce2. I think the sound is very nice using Logitech Z560s. It isn't great hi-fi, but is very nice. It sounds excellent with decent headphones. Z560s don't have terribly accurate sound, but they have impressive impact, which probably is what most people like and want. I know I enjoy it.

I think for most people who are not afficianados of high priced equipment, the sound difficiencies they hear have more to do with stuttering and "static" caused by some incompatibility or the way a particular game handles sound. I have heard people say the sound on the ECS K7S5A is terrible. It sounded good to me. (but there apparently are several variants of this mobo. Mine uses the SIS sound driver.)

Anand himself did some tests and conclusively proved that on-board sound for many mobos does not load the CPU in a way to adversely affect frame rates of games any more than a separate sound card does.