How good is onboard audio?

[WarSong]

My motherboard (P4PE) has built in ADI AD1980 AC'97 5.1 (6 channel) audio. I also have a SB Live! Value card. Which is better? In terms of performance, since I only have a 2.1 speaker set up

 

[ShinSa]

If anything, your SB will eat up less CPU cycle. Other than that it'll be difficult to distingush the differnce with naked ear, no matter the difference in spec.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

the AD1980 is just the codec chip, the sound processing engine is in the intel ICH4.
how good is this onboard sound is mostly depended on how good is the sound processing engine in the ICH4.

the sb live has a single DSP chip (Emu2k) for the sound processing engine and the codec.

 

[WarSong]

Originally posted by: Kingofcomputer
the AD1980 is just the codec chip, the sound processing engine is in the intel ICH4.
how good is this onboard sound is mostly depended on how good is the sound processing engine in the ICH4.

the sb live has a single DSP chip (Emu2k) for the sound processing engine and the codec.

hehe umm, does that mean it's better or worse?

 

[Dewey]

I have the Asus A7V8X with on board audio. This was my first time using onboard audio. Works great and sounds great so far. I am happy I didn't blow $50 on a sound card.

 

[Viper96720]

Depends on the quality of the speakers used.

 

[rbbnet]

What about one on-baord chip vs another? Which is better, Realtek AC97 or CT5880 by Creative Labs?

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Asus put Cmedia 8738 chip on the motherboard, 8738 is a complete DSP like SB Live's emu2k but not as powerful as emu2k.

Again, Realtek AC97 is just a codec chip like ADI1980. The sound engine is in the VIA southbridge.

 

[PUNKtotalled]

Personally I dislike onboard sound, generally the sound quality is bad, and it uses the CPU to work...

If you wanna play, even a cheap soundcard is better than onboard sound.:disgust:

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Not really, some cheap sound cards such as using ESS Solo, Ensoniq AudioPCI chip are software/win sound card, use cpu power as motherboard chipset embedded sound solution.

Such sound card may not be better than some motherboard with onboard real sound card chip such as Asus' with Cmedia 8738, CreativePC's motherboard with SB Live Emu2k chip.

 

[PUNKtotalled]

Yes a soundcard THAT cheap is crap. BUT a cheap soundcard like the SBlive (which is still cheap, in my opinion!) is good enough to play.
Well cheap does not mean cheap!
Am I clear?

 

[Audiofight]

I will be honest here:

I have always been against on-board audio unless it is in the business realm. I have owned 3 different mobos in the last year w/ on-board audio and they have all been turned off in the bios or via jumper.

I decided to drop my cracklin' SBLive and use the on-board digital out equiped with my Asus P4B533 (CMedia 8738 chip) and it sounds great in games. I am honestly happier with the on-board than with the SBLive I had.

If you are debating on buying a new mobo w/ on-board audio and are also looking at laying out the cash to buy a new sound card, here's my suggestion for you.

1. Buy the mobo and give the audio a try
2. If you don't think it is up to snuff, order a new sound card.

Why waste the cash and time with a different sound card if the integrated audio solution is right for you? Most companies don't give combined shipping anyways, they just stack all of the shipping costs together. So, you aren't saving money ordering the sound card at the same time.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Now there is one thing to consider, do you want 7.1 sound?
There are cheap sound cards with 7.1 sound, these have real powerful processor chip, not the cheap win/soft sound card.
Motherboard onboard audio hasn't gone into this area yet.
Check them out:
Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1,
Hercules Digifire 7.1,
Hercules Gametheater XP 7.1,
they all use quite powerful cheap CS4624 chip.

 

[PUNKtotalled]

Do you mean cheap or cheap?

 

[oldfart]

There is a lot of misconception about "onboard" sound. Not all of them are AC97 based. You can have the same DSP on a PCI card, or soldered to the mobo. Both will use the same amount of CPU power. Same with PCI. You can have a PCI card that uses lots of CPU cycles. It doesn't matter if its onboard or not. It depends on the hardware used.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'd go with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card myself...$50 for one of the better DSPs out there with good quality and good driver support. I generally stay away from the Built in stuff unless you absolutely cannot afford $50.

For a bit more $$ you can go higher end to a Phillips card, or Hercules...I'd just stay away from Creative at all costs.

 

[WarSong]

I'm sorry, i'm confused. Kingofcomputer, whats the difference between a codec and a sound processing engine?

Maybe I should restate the question. Which would you use:

a.) onboard audio:
SoundMAX Digital Audio System
The SoundMAX Digital Audio System is the industry's highest performance and most reliable audio solution for business professionals, audiophiles, musicians, and gamers. SoundMAX Digital Audio System can output 5.1 channel surround sound and features state-of-the-art DLS2 MIDI synthesizer with Yamaha DLSbyXG sound set, 5.1 Virtual Theater? and supports all major game audio technologies including Microsoft DirectX? 8.0, Microsoft DirectSound 3D?, A3D, MacroFX, ZoomFX, MultiDrive 5.1, A3D and EAX.

b.) SB Live! Value

I already own both, so neither will cost me any additional money.

TIA

edit: From most of the posts, it looks like I'd be better off with the SB Live! Value. Is that accurate? The 5.1 channel isn't really an issue for me because I only have a 2.1 speaker set up.

 

[oldfart]

Since you have both, why not test it out and let us know?

Run some Q3, UT, etc benches with sound disabled, then with sound enabled using both sound options. That will tell you which has less CPU load. The AC97 generally will use more CPU cycles, but only testing will tell for certain.

 

[Peter]

No, no, and once again, no.

AC97 is just the standard for the interconnecting bus between sound engine and codec - just a digital audio path. The sound processing (which does or does not consume lots of CPU cycles) happens in the sound engine, the codec just does the digital/analog conversion. Even Audigy uses AC97 to connect the codecs to the engine.

PCI sound engines are attached to a rather slow bus, while chipset integrated sound engines link up to the much faster chipset bus directly. There are CPU driven sound engines (Intel, older VIA, most SiS), and quite intelligent ones (ALi, newer VIA, some SiS) that don't load the CPU as much. Same for PCI audio chips - there are extremely brainless ones like Creative 5880, midrange ones like C-Media 8738, and very powerful ones like VIA's brandnew Envy24. In general, on modern chipsets, integrated audio uses zero PCI bandwidth, which usually gives it the edge - who cares about sound CPU load anyway today ... in the 1.5 GHz range you won't notice those few percent.

The analog audio quality lies in the codec, and in the analog circuitry surrounding it. You can't separate this from chip to chip, it's entirely up to the mainboard designers to get that right.