Will a dedicated sound card increase performance?

serious1

hi i have the system on the left and i was wondering how much of a performance increase in games would i see versus intergrated audio. i was thinking about going for a soundblaster live! 24bit. as this is only to take the load off my cpu would a more expensive soundcard lead to better framerates.thanks for any input

markkleb · 02-11-2006, 01:49 | posts: 140 | Location: Reno Nevada

MUCH BETTER SOUND!

I have used the Audigy 2's and now I use Bluegears.

serious1 · 02-11-2006, 01:52 | posts: 2,374 | Location: Tennessee

not really concerned about sound quality.

Billabong · 02-11-2006, 01:53 | posts: 2,391 | Location: Ex NZ, now in Oz

I've seen it said that yes you will get a boost from a dedicated sound card v integrated for the simple reason it frees up cpu cycles, I have to get a sound card so my response is conjecture until I do. (the guys with sound cards will probably back me up on this ...... I hope, lol)

serious1 · 02-11-2006, 01:56 | posts: 2,374 | Location: Tennessee

ok one more would a x-fi and a blaster live free up the same amount of cycles,performance percentage increase?not audio quality wise.

Billabong · 02-11-2006, 01:59 | posts: 2,391 | Location: Ex NZ, now in Oz

got me there mate, I really don't know, maybe someone else who has looked into it will be able to answer that for you.

Pat the Cat · 02-11-2006, 02:04 | posts: 2,110 | Location: Vice City, UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by serious1

ok one more would a x-fi and a blaster live free up the same amount of cycles,performance percentage increase?not audio quality wise.

Not quite - a Xifi is extremely close to having a 1% or less CPU overhead. That compares to about 4% for Creative 2 ZS like mine and maybe 15% or more for limited onboard sound like Realtek 650l

My experience seems to match that - I noticed a 10% increase in frame rate or so.

Not earth shattering but it helps.

serious1 · 02-11-2006, 02:09 | posts: 2,374 | Location: Tennessee

10 percent increase on a soundblaster live??!!definately getting one.

markkleb · 02-11-2006, 02:10 | posts: 140 | Location: Reno Nevada

I guess if every ffs matters than the x-fi crazy card(most expensive) has 64 mb of its own memory.

Seems to me the more features the more of a draw on cpu.

i origionally bought my mobo( asus a8n-vn csm) cause it had ADI AD1986 a onboard sound that used a minimum of cpu.

When I switched to Bluegears my cpu was faster (2-6 fps) and WAY BETTER sound.

Pat the Cat · 02-11-2006, 02:14 | posts: 2,110 | Location: Vice City, UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by serious1

10 percent increase on a soundblaster live??!!definately getting one.

Soundblaster Live isn't what I have. Creative Audigy 2 ZS.

It could be better, it could be worse, but it wasn't what I was talking about.

But after being sceptical about 24 bit sound, I am a convert. Adds a huge depth and subtlety to game sounds - that's the real improvement.

You begin to think about things like "Am I making too much noise? Can I get closer?" and have better answers to those in-game questions.

ROBSCIX · 02-11-2006, 17:21 | posts: 16,073 | Location: Guru3D Audio Lab

you may only get about 10FPS increase switching from onboard to a dedicated card...thats a estimate really.. The performance increase is one thing but I would also be concern with the better sound quality..much better in games..Usually people with mid grade components cpu,ram woprry about such things...given you config you may not even get that much of increase..you may just be wasting time-money...your choice...hope that helps.

Wintermn · 02-13-2006, 15:52 | posts: 70

I got an X-fi Extreme Music the other day, and i must say i was very impressed in both the sound quality AND the fps increase in all games!
Ok it was a bit more expensive but I was thinking of getting another graphics card, now I can wait quite a bit longer and at 1/2 the prince of another gfx card. Everything is alot "smoother" and there are no sound glitches.
I play BF2, CS:S, Tigerwoods, FEAR, NFSMW, and all saw an increase, my favorite being BF2, used to play 1024x768 everything on Ultra high and this was my happy medium, I could play 1280x1024 but would be a little sluggish, especially when there were lots of explosions and sounds (of which there are quite alot in BF2)
I can now play 1600x1200 all maxed out!!
(Bear in mind though this is single player....NOT online.)

Bit annoyed at the lack of Digital out, but hey, I'll live.

Hope this helps.

stormy · 02-13-2006, 16:00 | posts: 2,520 | Location: Toronto, Ontario

One word of advice, DO NOT get the Live 24 bit. It will not give any performance increase at all. The card does not have the EMU10K1 chip on it, and as a result all audio processing (3d and EAX) is done in software, just like your current onboard.

Xaser04 · 02-13-2006, 16:15 | posts: 2,866 | Location: Southwest England

Hmmm I went from the Onboard Karajan Sound from my DFI to the Audigy 4 I now have and the difference is definately noticable. I can't comment on frame rates as I never run the games I play with this setup on onboard sound lol.

Sound quality is much improved however. Clarity seems better as well.

The X-fi will only be better than a Audigy2/4 if the game supports it.

k4t4n4 · 02-13-2006, 19:14 | posts: 2,170

So in terms of sound quality/fps audigy 2 zs > X-Fi ?

ROBSCIX · 02-13-2006, 19:48 | posts: 16,073 | Location: Guru3D Audio Lab

The sound quality would definatley be better but I don't think you would get a very big increase in FPS when comparing a Audigy2 to a X-fi....