Will getting a sound card increase CPU performance?

[DyslexicHobo]

Because using on-board sound uses the CPU, will I see any improvement with my CPU if I get a sound card?

I've been thinking about getting a sound card for a while, but not sure if it's worth it just for casually listening to music.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Does your cpu already have horsepower to spare? What else are you doing while listening to sounds, music?

 

[Ika]

Depends on your system and setup. Do you have good speakers/headphones to take advantage of quality increases? What kind of integrated sound do you have? What kind of processor do you have? Do you do anything else like game?

 

[counterstrikeman]

Hi dyslexichobo, i dont know your computer specs but i can tell you from personal experience that a souncard will take absolutely no load off of your cpu when listening to music. Depending on the card, it very well also might INCREASE the load, by making multiple programs run in the background, i always hated that.

 

[corkyg]

Not so's you'd notice.

 

[ltfc1988]

Personally yea get a sound card when i got one i could tell the difference when listen to music only in the quality of the sound not sure about the cpu been faster just depends on what you do but if u play games u see a big difference.

so i would get one u can get cheap ones for £7

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I have: Asus A8V-Deluxe, AMD Athlon 3500+ 64, X800 Pro, 1GB DDR400.

I have Realtek AC97 on-board audio (I think... I can't remember exactly). How does this match up to the quality of a cheap sound-card?

And yes, I'm a big gamer. I play a lot of FPS and World of Warcraft.

 

[PurdueRy]

What speakers do you own

 

[beemercer]

Like everyone else has said, a soundcard won't give you a noticable increase in framerate, but everything will sound better including sound effects in games.

 

[corkyg]

You folks are drifting away from the question - you are addressing sound performance - the question was about CPU performance.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: corkyg
You folks are drifting away from the question - you are addressing sound performance - the question was about CPU performance.

That's the point. We already told him that CPU performance will not increase much if at all. So now we are seeing the other aspect of a sound card...sound quality.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I have a set of Logitech Z-5300 5.1 speakers. And thank you all for the input.

How much money would I have to invest into a sound card before I noticed a decent improvement in music/sound effects?

Edit: Oh, and by the way, the reason I was asking is because my CPU is constantly at 100% usage while I'm playing World of Warcraft.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DyslexicHobo
I have a set of Logitech Z-5300 5.1 speakers. And thank you all for the input.

How much money would I have to invest into a sound card before I noticed a decent improvement in music/sound effects?

Edit: Oh, and by the way, the reason I was asking is because my CPU is constantly at 100% usage while I'm playing World of Warcraft.

quite a few games peg the cpu when gaming. every cpu i have used the past couple of years hit 100% no matter what speed the cpu is. like now - bf2@1.8GHz = 100% cpu, bf2@2.6GHz = 100% cpu with the same graphical specs.

 

[SonicIce]

If you're already using EAX in games, then a creative card will help lower CPU usage. Using EAX with a creative card will still be slower than no EAX on a non-Creative card. At least thats how I understand it.

With those speakers, though, I would invest in a nice soundcard anyway if it was me.

 

[ltfc1988]

Originally posted by: DyslexicHobo
I have: Asus A8V-Deluxe, AMD Athlon 3500+ 64, X800 Pro, 1GB DDR400.

I have Realtek AC97 on-board audio (I think... I can't remember exactly). How does this match up to the quality of a cheap sound-card?

And yes, I'm a big gamer. I play a lot of FPS and World of Warcraft.

the sound card i got was £7 and is was playing bf2 the quality of the sound really inproved and the game ran smother compard to on board sound.
but now i have a sound blaster CREATIVE SB LIVE 7.1 24-BIT and u notice the difference
with that to.

 

[beemercer]

My Creative Live! 24-Bit cost $17 when I bought it and I immediataly noticed much higher quality audio over onboard AC97; speakers are logitech Z-2300.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

I think I have an old Soundblaster Audigy 1 somewhere under my bed... Guess I'll look for it and try it out.

 

[Pariah]

Originally posted by: DyslexicHobo
I've been thinking about getting a sound card for a while, but not sure if it's worth it just for casually listening to music.

Absolutely no decrease in CPU usage at all. Listening to music on the system you have should be taking 0% CPU time, which is hard to improve on. Save the money.