help with sound card choice

[imported_pez]

hey all im looking for a sound card to relieve some stress from the CPU.

Does anyone know how much performance ill gain from switching from onboard?

My budget is around $75... really looking for something around $50 or less even.

I will use it mainly for DVD's, mp3s and some gaming too. I only have 2.1 speakers but maybe I will get more speakers.

What suggestions can you guys give me? Thanks for any help

 

[cmdrdredd]

TurtleBeach SantaCruz was pretty poular budget solution.

However you can get an Audigy 2 OEM for about that price range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102179

 

[imported_pez]

thanks for your reply

is there a significant difference in sound? how about cpu performance?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Well, Creative cards are known for gaming so when you play games you can enable the EAX-HD etc and the card handles all the processing for the surround sound and effects. The quality when listening to just music or gaming which is not in surrpond will be minimal.

 

[sniperruff]

if you want cheap, even a SB Live card will get the job done. you can find these under $15 now. excellent card for the money.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

For a fps difference in games, it might not be very significant especially if you just have the audio on stereo.

What speakers do you have now?

For stereo operation, the Chaintech AV-710 is a good card, but if you're moving to a surround sound get eventually, an Audigy2 would be a good bet to get better results in gaming.

How of a difference it's going to make for quality is dependent on the source material and the speakers/headphones you use.

A2zs card go for about $40 or $50 during rebate deals.

 

[imported_pez]

im using creative t3000 2.1 speakers, not too shabby good enough for me dont really NEED the extra speakers. main concern was to get stress off cpu, then secondly to get better sound quality

sometimes i can hear some noise n distortion when the hard drive is doing something, like when i load a program sometimes i hear a little bit of noise from the speakers.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: pez
im using creative t3000 2.1 speakers, not too shabby good enough for me dont really NEED the extra speakers. main concern was to get stress off cpu, then secondly to get better sound quality

sometimes i can hear some noise n distortion when the hard drive is doing something, like when i load a program sometimes i hear a little bit of noise from the speakers.

That harddrive issue should probably clear up if you get a dedicated soundcard.

 

[TriggerHappy101]

Originally posted by: pez
im using creative t3000 2.1 speakers, not too shabby good enough for me dont really NEED the extra speakers. main concern was to get stress off cpu, then secondly to get better sound quality

sometimes i can hear some noise n distortion when the hard drive is doing something, like when i load a program sometimes i hear a little bit of noise from the speakers.

You could use onboard sound on your mobo and not hear a difference compared to the highest end soundcard if your using thouse crappers. I suggest take your money and buy some real speakers, then think about a sound card.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

SoundBlasters are overrated and overpriced. I suggest an M-Audio card, whichever is in your price range.

 

[Azndude2190]

Originally posted by: pez
hey all im looking for a sound card to relieve some stress from the CPU.

Does anyone know how much performance ill gain from switching from onboard?

My budget is around $75... really looking for something around $50 or less even.

I will use it mainly for DVD's, mp3s and some gaming too. I only have 2.1 speakers but maybe I will get more speakers.

What suggestions can you guys give me? Thanks for any help

You should get the sound card in my sig at the time it was 29 dollars...supports surround sound and its 24bit and 96khz.The quality is great espicially in gaming(if you have creative speakers they'll boast the quality even more)...dont go with onboard it'll waste your cpu cycles

 

[fire400]

I've gone through dozens of cycles of soundcards.

Anyway, I met Creative's cards... they are the best, personally. As far as music, gaming and movies, the Audigy series has done a good job. It really depends on how sensitive your ears are at picking up the clearness of sound. But if that doesn't matter to you, I would say that an Audigy 2 ZS or an X-fi will do you good as far as taking away CPU load for sound processing.

 

[Reapsy01]

I just got an audigy 4 oem which was quite cheap. I had a turtle beach card before but had problems running some games (gta san andreas and a couple of others) due to lack of hardware acceleration.

Fire400 wow how many children did you sell for your rig?

 

[fire400]

Originally posted by: Reapsy01
I just got an audigy 4 oem which was quite cheap. I had a turtle beach card before but had problems running some games (gta san andreas and a couple of others) due to lack of hardware acceleration.

Fire400 wow how many children did you sell for your rig?

Don't take it personally, but you sound like you have problems beyond comparison.