Soundcard important for performance??

cloudrain1 · February 19th, 2002

All here we talk bout better Video Adapter is better performance...
But what bout sound adapter??
I used old OPTi 931 ISA soundcard..
Is will be better performance I get if I change my soundcard to the expensive one such as Soundblaster Platinum or etc.???
Thanks...

**cooliscool** · February 19th, 2002

i dont think u need a sb live platinum, just upgrade to any pci soundcard, (i recommend aureal's line of cards as they are inexppensive and work VERY well

) i dont think the sound card is that big of a performance issue, as long as you dont set high frequencies and mix rates, with my aureal vortex pci i use 48khz 16-bit stereo with no performance hit as opposed to 22khz 8-bit mono.. so there's your answer

ahpaul · February 19th, 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by cloudrain1
All here we talk bout better Video Adapter is better performance...
But what bout sound adapter??
I used old OPTi 931 ISA soundcard..
Is will be better performance I get if I change my soundcard to the expensive one such as Soundblaster Platinum or etc.???
Thanks...

I heard that when your system using ISA interface, your CPU usage will be higher

Zell · February 19th, 2002

A good sound card help's but ain't that important . The CPU , RAM , and Video Card do the diffrence !

**Ryos** · February 19th, 2002

If you're going to get a new card (as pointed out, they don't make that much of a difference for performance), just select pretty much any PCI card. Do NOT get an expensive card if all you really want it for is better sound in ePSXe. Something like an SB Live Value would be more than sufficient.

February 20th, 2002

well, i think that sound card speed isn't such important as gfx card one. CPU speed may be affected with a slow soundcard at high sample rates (e.g. ISA cards playing at more than 22Khz, you may get slowdowns or choppy sound).

Amberion · February 20th, 2002

The SB Live! line of cards have all the same hardware. The only difference is the software bundle, and in the case of platinum, a front-loading drive bay with a bunch of knobs and switches. Cool, but not worth an extra 200 bucks or so.

Amberion

Fou-lu · February 20th, 2002

Unless you want to get the Audigy line of cards or the newly released external USB sound system Exdigy, I'd stick to SBLive! Value, as you won't get any improvement by buying the platinum version as they use the same hardware, as Amberion pointed out, the EMU10K (not emulation related, mind you).

gerbilcannon · February 20th, 2002

As a cheap and good alternative to the sb live! line I'd recommend the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. I wouldn't really recommend any of the aureal cards unfortunately since the company is dead. Santa Cruz supports both A3D and EAX.

SadAngel · February 20th, 2002

I don´t think you have to worry about the sound card affecting your PC´s performance, unless you have a very crappy sound card, I.E. Cmedia or Avance Logic chpsets (stay away from these), coz I have experimented with these and the sound quality is bad, and they use too much CPU Time

saulin · February 21st, 2002

If you want good sound and cheap get a SBLive Value! OEM

If you want kick ass sound get an Audigy card but they are ****ing expensive... I would only get one if I had some really kick ass speakers like the Klipsch Promedia 5.1

And no, a soundcard doesn't improve your performance in games, it just sounds better with a good soundcard. Also 3D sound kicks ass in games so I would recommend a PCI card that support 3D sound like a SBLive Value! or better...

February 21st, 2002

Just get the Sound Blaster Live 5.1 They run for about 65.00 Dollars. And you will not regret paying the extra 25 dollars for the sound verses a regular PCI card, The sound blaster live cards are something else.

a PCI card is going to always give you dramatic speed improvements over any ISA card. I highly reccomend upgrading.

The only thing I think that should be in an ISA card (if your motherboard even supports it) is a Modem

**Kane** · February 21st, 2002

Live/audigy are the only real way to go (unless the onboard sound on the nForce really does support EAX 2)

February 19th, 2002	#1 (permalink)
cloudrain1 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 53	Soundcard important for performance?? All here we talk bout better Video Adapter is better performance... But what bout sound adapter?? I used old OPTi 931 ISA soundcard.. Is will be better performance I get if I change my soundcard to the expensive one such as Soundblaster Platinum or etc.??? Thanks... __________________ ------------------------------------------ Celeron 433, Via 933, memory 192Mb, VGA : Powercolor Geforce2 MX200 64MB, Win98SE -------------------------------------------

February 19th, 2002	#2 (permalink)
cooliscool Moderator Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Hyda IV Posts: 6,057	i dont think u need a sb live platinum, just upgrade to any pci soundcard, (i recommend aureal's line of cards as they are inexppensive and work VERY well) i dont think the sound card is that big of a performance issue, as long as you dont set high frequencies and mix rates, with my aureal vortex pci i use 48khz 16-bit stereo with no performance hit as opposed to 22khz 8-bit mono.. so there's your answer __________________ Fayt: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHz @ 3.0GHz [Allendale] (1333MHz FSB), 2GB Crucial DDR2-800 Dual Channel kit @ 800MHz 4-3-3-10, 512MB BFG nVidia GeForce 7950GT OC (650/1600), Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS, MSI P6N-SLi nVidia 650i mobo, 200GB Seagate Barracuda 8MB Cache 7200RPM SATA2 (NCQ), 80GB Seagate Barracuda 8MB Cache 7200RPM SATA2 (NCQ), Lite-On DVD+-RW 16x w/ Lightscribe, Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM, Aspire X-Dreamer II case, Logitech MX518 GG Optical Mouse, Asetek Waterchill kit (distilled water + Red Line Watter Wetter), T.I.M - Arctic Silver Ceramique

February 19th, 2002	#4 (permalink)
Zell The Sword Saint Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Death Zone Posts: 1,750	A good sound card help's but ain't that important . The CPU , RAM , and Video Card do the diffrence ! __________________ Kuzuryusen ! God-like speed to attack all nine vital points in one stroke. Impossible to dodge and defend ! How want's to stop me E-Mail

February 19th, 2002	#5 (permalink)
Ryos Revenger of Vengeance Join Date: May 2001 Location: Nowhere Posts: 11,250	If you're going to get a new card (as pointed out, they don't make that much of a difference for performance), just select pretty much any PCI card. Do NOT get an expensive card if all you really want it for is better sound in ePSXe. Something like an SB Live Value would be more than sufficient. __________________ Sanity is overrated. Last edited by Ryos; February 19th, 2002 at 14:11.

February 20th, 2002	#7 (permalink)
Amberion +5 Holy Avenger P90 Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: St. John's, NFLD, Canada Posts: 128	The SB Live! line of cards have all the same hardware. The only difference is the software bundle, and in the case of platinum, a front-loading drive bay with a bunch of knobs and switches. Cool, but not worth an extra 200 bucks or so. Amberion __________________ AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Asus M2N-MX SE rev. 2.01G 2GB PC6400 DDR2 SDRAM Geforce 8600GT 256MB 19" Widescreen LCD@1440x900 Sound Blaster Audigy LS LG DVDRAM DVD writer. Logitech Wingman Rumble Pad Running Windows XP Home

February 20th, 2002	#6 (permalink)
PabloJM Guest Posts: n/a	well, i think that sound card speed isn't such important as gfx card one. CPU speed may be affected with a slow soundcard at high sample rates (e.g. ISA cards playing at more than 22Khz, you may get slowdowns or choppy sound).

February 20th, 2002	#8 (permalink)
Fou-lu Junker daughter Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 2,289	Unless you want to get the Audigy line of cards or the newly released external USB sound system Exdigy, I'd stick to SBLive! Value, as you won't get any improvement by buying the platinum version as they use the same hardware, as Amberion pointed out, the EMU10K (not emulation related, mind you).

February 20th, 2002	#9 (permalink)
gerbilcannon The Pretty One Join Date: May 2001 Location: Collegedale, TN Posts: 1,247	As a cheap and good alternative to the sb live! line I'd recommend the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. I wouldn't really recommend any of the aureal cards unfortunately since the company is dead. Santa Cruz supports both A3D and EAX. __________________ "Me? I'm a pop idol." "And you will shed tears of scarlet!"

February 20th, 2002	#10 (permalink)
SadAngel Registered User Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Dominican Republic Posts: 624	I don´t think you have to worry about the sound card affecting your PC´s performance, unless you have a very crappy sound card, I.E. Cmedia or Avance Logic chpsets (stay away from these), coz I have experimented with these and the sound quality is bad, and they use too much CPU Time

February 21st, 2002	#11 (permalink)
saulin Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 629	If you want good sound and cheap get a SBLive Value! OEM If you want kick ass sound get an Audigy card but they are ***ing expensive... I would only get one if I had some really kick ass speakers like the Klipsch Promedia 5.1 And no, a soundcard doesn't improve your performance in games, it just sounds better with a good soundcard. Also 3D sound kicks ass in games so I would recommend a PCI card that support 3D sound like a SBLive Value! or better... Last edited by saulin; February 21st, 2002 at 20:30.*

February 21st, 2002	#12 (permalink)
ChrisRay Guest Posts: n/a	Just get the Sound Blaster Live 5.1 They run for about 65.00 Dollars. And you will not regret paying the extra 25 dollars for the sound verses a regular PCI card, The sound blaster live cards are something else. a PCI card is going to always give you dramatic speed improvements over any ISA card. I highly reccomend upgrading. The only thing I think that should be in an ISA card (if your motherboard even supports it) is a Modem

February 21st, 2002	#13 (permalink)
Kane 邪魔ゎ指せない Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Gosport, England Posts: 26,255	Live/audigy are the only real way to go (unless the onboard sound on the nForce really does support EAX 2) __________________ >Site Live< Pop over to my site for help with setting up PSX emulators. Help for the Final Fantasies and other RPGs avalaible Celes: (Desktop) Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 2Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, MSI K8N Platinum, GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb, 500Gb RAID HDD, Vista Business Erika: (MCPC) Athlon XP 2400+, 1Gb 400MHz DDR Ram, geForce 6800 256Mb, 80Gb Hdd, XP 2005 MCE Kimiko: (Desktop 2) Athlon 64 3000+, 512Mb 400MHz DDR Ram, Asus K8V, geForce 6800 128Mb Last edited by Lord Kane; February 21st, 2002 at 16:15.

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