Hercules or AC 97

Blue Spirit · December 26th, 2005

Hey i have a small queston
i got "Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1+Rack" few years ago ,
but there's no drivers updates since 2003 ,because "Cirrus Logic CS4630 Chip" was discontinued.

its still works good and all ,no problems with its drivers
but just a while ago i got myself new Mobo "MSI K8N Neo4-F"
There is "AC97 7.1" onboard,
now i dont know what SB should i use
leave GTXP or use the new AC97
i am using Creative T5900 speakers and coaxial output that all.
Thank You

**ChaosCode** · December 26th, 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Spirit

Hey i have a small queston
i got "Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1+Rack" few years ago ,
but there's no drivers updates since 2003 ,because "Cirrus Logic CS4630 Chip" was discontinued.

its still works good and all ,no problems with its drivers
but just a while ago i got myself new Mobo "MSI K8N Neo4-F"
There is "AC97 7.1" onboard,
now i dont know what SB should i use
leave GTXP or use the new AC97
i am using Creative T5900 speakers and coaxial output that all.
Thank You

If you use onboard it will take away from your hole system. Onboard is bad becuase it uses your main cpu to run it. Its always better to use a non onboard card then to use onboard!

**n_w95482** · December 26th, 2005

You barely lose any speed to onboard, at the most a couple of frames per second. What you mainly gain is sound quality, and with newer Creative cards, the latest EAX support. My Audigy 2 Value sounds a lot better than my Abit NF7-S's onboard analog audio (Realtek ALC-650) but I didn't notice a speed increase in my games with it.

**ChaosCode** · December 26th, 2005

2 fps is still alot exp when ur talking emulation.

**n_w95482** · December 26th, 2005

I mean 2 FPS when you're zooming along at like 100+. It's a very small percentage of speed. If you're talking about PCSX2, it would be the difference between 15 FPS and 14.7 or so. As I said, you mainly gain sound quality, not speed. I know this because I've been through it before with a CPU that was bottlenecking my video card half the time.

ChankastRules · December 26th, 2005

Hercules of course! AC 97 sucks!

Only use it if your games will complain about Hercules.

Or get a new soundcard fairly cheap.. it'll still be better than the AC97 one.

**n_w95482** · December 26th, 2005

What I would do is try using both of them and see which one has better compatibility or sound quality. AC97 is improving so it may be on par with the Hercules or just below it.

Blue Spirit · December 27th, 2005

Thanks i will run some tests

December 26th, 2005	#1 (permalink)
Blue Spirit Blood..! How revolting... Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Israel Posts: 420	Hercules or AC 97 Hey i have a small queston i got "Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1+Rack" few years ago , but there's no drivers updates since 2003 ,because "Cirrus Logic CS4630 Chip" was discontinued. its still works good and all ,no problems with its drivers but just a while ago i got myself new Mobo "MSI K8N Neo4-F" There is "AC97 7.1" onboard, now i dont know what SB should i use leave GTXP or use the new AC97 i am using Creative T5900 speakers and coaxial output that all. Thank You __________________ This life which just waits for death to come.....at the end ....I must....Be of service.....to someone... - Tachibana Ukyo

December 26th, 2005	#3 (permalink)
n_w95482 Administrator Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,684	You barely lose any speed to onboard, at the most a couple of frames per second. What you mainly gain is sound quality, and with newer Creative cards, the latest EAX support. My Audigy 2 Value sounds a lot better than my Abit NF7-S's onboard analog audio (Realtek ALC-650) but I didn't notice a speed increase in my games with it. __________________ Main PC: DFI LAN Party nF4 SLI-DR Expert w/406-bta BIOS, AMD Opteron 165 (CCBBE 0615 EPMW) @ 3 GHz (334x9), 1.55v w/D-Tek Fuzion WB; 2x1 GB OCZ PC4000 EB Plats @ 250 MHz, 3-3-2-8, 3:4, 2.7v; ATi Radeon X1900XT 512 MB @ 668/855 w/DD Tyee WB, 150 GB WD Raptor, 4x500 GB WD RE2 (RAID 10), SB Audigy 2 ZS, 700w OCZ GameXStream, CM Stacker 810, Windows XP Pro

December 26th, 2005	#4 (permalink)
ChaosCode disassembler Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Somewere Posts: 865	2 fps is still alot exp when ur talking emulation. __________________ CPU: AMD 3000+ 64 VIDEO: GeForce 6800XT RAM: 2 gigs ddr 400 SOUND: SB LIVE HHD: 240 Gigs http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/05/08/20...id=180&tid=172 save the kids from the RETARDS of the world!!!!

December 26th, 2005	#5 (permalink)
n_w95482 Administrator Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,684	I mean 2 FPS when you're zooming along at like 100+. It's a very small percentage of speed. If you're talking about PCSX2, it would be the difference between 15 FPS and 14.7 or so. As I said, you mainly gain sound quality, not speed. I know this because I've been through it before with a CPU that was bottlenecking my video card half the time. __________________ Main PC: DFI LAN Party nF4 SLI-DR Expert w/406-bta BIOS, AMD Opteron 165 (CCBBE 0615 EPMW) @ 3 GHz (334x9), 1.55v w/D-Tek Fuzion WB; 2x1 GB OCZ PC4000 EB Plats @ 250 MHz, 3-3-2-8, 3:4, 2.7v; ATi Radeon X1900XT 512 MB @ 668/855 w/DD Tyee WB, 150 GB WD Raptor, 4x500 GB WD RE2 (RAID 10), SB Audigy 2 ZS, 700w OCZ GameXStream, CM Stacker 810, Windows XP Pro

December 26th, 2005	#7 (permalink)
n_w95482 Administrator Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,684	What I would do is try using both of them and see which one has better compatibility or sound quality. AC97 is improving so it may be on par with the Hercules or just below it. __________________ Main PC: DFI LAN Party nF4 SLI-DR Expert w/406-bta BIOS, AMD Opteron 165 (CCBBE 0615 EPMW) @ 3 GHz (334x9), 1.55v w/D-Tek Fuzion WB; 2x1 GB OCZ PC4000 EB Plats @ 250 MHz, 3-3-2-8, 3:4, 2.7v; ATi Radeon X1900XT 512 MB @ 668/855 w/DD Tyee WB, 150 GB WD Raptor, 4x500 GB WD RE2 (RAID 10), SB Audigy 2 ZS, 700w OCZ GameXStream, CM Stacker 810, Windows XP Pro

December 26th, 2005	#6 (permalink)
ChankastRules NextGenerationGaymulation Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sweden ( Proud Game Developer ) Posts: 2,749	Hercules of course! AC 97 sucks! Only use it if your games will complain about Hercules. Or get a new soundcard fairly cheap.. it'll still be better than the AC97 one.

December 27th, 2005	#8 (permalink)
Blue Spirit Blood..! How revolting... Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Israel Posts: 420	Thanks i will run some tests __________________ This life which just waits for death to come.....at the end ....I must....Be of service.....to someone... - Tachibana Ukyo

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