ON board Sound card or PCI-E one

[sotosev]

A question because I' am considering getting a Sound Blaster as a Christmas present.

I need to say that I mostly use my PC for DCS A-10C.

Will I see any improvement in performance or even in sound quality over the onboard sound card or it's not worth it?

For now using my on board sound card, I have no issue at all!

[HiJack]

I have one Soundblaster Fatal1ty PCI card and it takes up space on the shelf in a storage room. The Creative drivers is a bitch and the card have all kinds of strange problems! Stay out of it is my recomendation. Buy some snacks in stead and watch a good movie :D

[SkateZilla]

Stick to the X-Fi Gamer PCI Cards, there's Hundreds of Dell OEM Versions on Ebay for $20 or so...

[cichlidfan]

I think I still have one in the closet myself. You can also find them on Amazon.

 

@Skates I believe it is a Dell X-fi Extreme Gamer. Would that be worth installing and are there any driver issues I should be aware of?

[HiJack]

There is an obvious reason why there are so many used creative soundcards on ebay.

[Mustang]

I've been using an X-Fi XtremeGamer card for ages without problems in any games in Win7 x64, use the SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0015.exe driver.

[HiJack]

I vote for popcorn and a pay per view movie night :yay:

[cichlidfan]

I've been using an X-Fi XtremeGamer card for ages without problems in any games in Win7 x64, use the SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0015.exe driver.

 

Thanks Mustang. I will have to dig it out and give it a shot. Luckily my flying rig has PCI slots. I think it is the only, currently in use machine, that does.

[pacotito]

Creative seems to be updating their drivers for windows 7 and 8. I have the x-fi titanium and the only issue I've had with the newest driver was that my settings would save. A quick sleep instead of a shutdown fixed the problem.

 

As for the op question if your not using quality speakers or a quality headset you won't notice a difference in sound quality.

Edited December 3, 2013 by pacotito

[SkateZilla]

I've been running an X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series with no problems since 2006.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102014

 

There's also 3rd Party Tweaked Drivers.

 

I use different EAX Profiles for Different Games.

 

I Also put the same card (Minus the Bay Drive) into my brother's new system with no problem.

 

it's significantly Better than On board in games and movies.

 

 

Use the latest drivers and Applications. I think the actual GUI for Tweaking Sound (Creative Console) was a beta, as MS Changed the Windows Audio Stack on Creative. So they Ditched X-Fi for Core3d.

 

Just look at the SnR, Sample Rates and Frequencies for the X-Fi ExtremeGamer/Music Cards and Look at the SnR, Sample Rates and Frequencies for the New Core3d/Recon3d/Z/x/r Series.

 

You'll know what I Mean.

X-Fi was the Last "Gaming" Sound Card Creative Put out, everything else after that is Software Driven, and it's Bloatware like a moohooo.

 

You can prolly get away with Letting Windows install the MS X-Fi Drivers, but you wont have access to all the EAX Tuning.

 

Games dont really need to have EAX Built In, You can Activate EAX at Anytime and Adjust Settings. (Works with Concert DVDs/BRs :p)

 

 

 

-The X-Fi Xtreme Music (SB0460) Dell OEM Cards

Are considered the Cheapest road, Only Going up to 96 KHz, and only having 8MB of XRam (I think).

They have most of the Features of the X-Fi Platinum.

They Run about $20-$35+

 

-The X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Cards

Come in different PCBs;

A Low Profile Version , A Revised AD_EXT Less Version (SB0770), a AD_EXT Capable Version (SB046A), and a AD_EXT-LESS (SB046A0)

(AD_EXT is the 80 Pin Link to the I/I Drive, SB046A0 has the Circuits but the PINS themselves are missing),

Cards with the AD_Link also have the Full 64 MB of XRam. and the X-Fi Light

 

The E.G. Cards Run $35-55,

They are the best possible option as it's a platinum card, minus the IO drive, remote and accessory adapters. (MIDI Cables etc)

 

X-Fi Extreme Gamer Card on EBay

 

 

-The X-Fi Platinum Cards

Theyhave 64MB of XRam, the fancy X-Fi Lights and stuff. as well as Going up to 192KHz

X-Fi Platinum Kits contain the Card, IO Drive, Remote, and MIDI Cable adapters.

 

Both Platinum and SB0460 can connect to the X-Fi IO Drive.

Certain Models of the Xtreme Gamer Can connect to the X-Fi IO Drive

 

Platinum X_Fi Kits run 80-100 on ebay:

X-Fi Platinum Kits on Ebay

 

The Extreme Gamer Kits are Better than the Xtreme Music Cards, and pretty much have everything the X-fi Platinum Cards have.

 

 

Then you have the $300 Fatal1ty kits w/ his F Logo all over the IO Drive and the XFi Light replaced with a "F" Light

Edited December 3, 2013 by SkateZilla

[agrasyuk]

I don't see how dedicated card is a nesesity , most of headsets these days are USB anyways.

[Abburo]

While X-Fi Gaming had initially some issues with the drivers on Win8/Win8.1, right now it became stable. Unfortunately is only PCI.

But my Creative SoundBlasterZ makes the sounds of UH1H imposiblle to be described.... simply you are there. Is stable on Win 8.1, and the software is easy enough to use. Some reviews does not recommend it for music, but it have maximum points in hardware accelerated gaming sounds

[blkspade]

Since the majority of games now use software based audio engines, the only advantage of an ADD-IN sound card is better quality over analog outputs. Now if you've got crappy analog speakers or headphones the point of diminishing returns might make the card even less worth it. If you wanted to go out over a digital interface like optical or coax, then audio quality benefit goes away. You do gain the option dolby digital or DTS live encoding for surround sound over one of those digital outputs, with certain Creative cards.

[agrasyuk]

...

 

Get a Sound Blaster, then go into BIOS and DISABLE the on-board chip.

If you're using USB headset, you're stuck, but still disable the chip in BIOS so that it's not using up a hardware resource.

 

How does having a soundcard benefit me in your scenario? Might as well run without altogether then. And I wouldn't call it stuck, g35 gives good enough sound, with quasy surround effect even.

[PoleCat]

PAX Drivers have put an end to problems with creative drivers and Windows 7 or Windows 8. I have been using these drivers with several models of PCI and PCI-E X-fi cards for a long time and have had no issues since switching to these instead of using the official driver packages. The PAX drivers are re bundled and tweaked official drivers that seem to install much more smoothly. Check them out here.

 

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/pax-drivers/

 

Out

[HiJack]

PAX Drivers have put an end to problems with creative drivers and Windows 7 or Windows 8. I have been using these drivers with several models of PCI and PCI-E X-fi cards for a long time and have had no issues since switching to these instead of using the official driver packages. The PAX drivers are re bundled and tweaked official drivers that seem to install much more smoothly. Check them out here.

 

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/pax-drivers/

 

Out

I must try this. I have not tried my soundcard on my new rig and my old CPU was AMD and that may very well be the source of all my troubles. I have also always used original drivers but they made me grow gray hair!

 

Must dig out the soundcard of the shelf and check the spec….

[SkateZilla]

Since the majority of games now use software based audio engines, the only advantage of an ADD-IN sound card is better quality over analog outputs. Now if you've got crappy analog speakers or headphones the point of diminishing returns might make the card even less worth it. If you wanted to go out over a digital interface like optical or coax, then audio quality benefit goes away. You do gain the option dolby digital or DTS live encoding for surround sound over one of those digital outputs, with certain Creative cards.

 

DCS uses XAudio2 which can be Hardware Accelerated through WASAPI on Vista/Win7/Win8/Win8.1 when Windows Routes the Workload to your SPU via the MMCSS, Instead of Sending it to the CPU.

 

I Think the XAudio2 Engine in DCS Runs on it's own CPU Thread regardless. So I’m not sure if the XAudio workload is offloaded to the SPU or if it All Remains on the CPU.

 

However, Most Onboard Sound Processors Use Parts of the CPU and Northbridge to do standard functions (ie Transcoding, upsampling, downmixing etc), that translate to higher CPU Overhead.

 

Most Addon Cards Breeze through those Functions.

 

TBH, the Realtek ALC892 Chip on my Mainboard has Comparable SnR Frequencies as my X-Fi, however it lacks in Tweaking Features for Effects.

 

Also, If I Disable my X-Fi and Use the Realtek ALC892 Onboard,Watching a DVD/Blu-Ray (With Video Hardware Acceleration ON).

I Get about 3% Usage across all 8 cores.

 

With On Board Disabled and X-Fi On, I Get 2% Usage on Core 0, other cores idle at zero.

Edited December 4, 2013 by SkateZilla

[SkateZilla]

PAX Drivers have put an end to problems with creative drivers and Windows 7 or Windows 8. I have been using these drivers with several models of PCI and PCI-E X-fi cards for a long time and have had no issues since switching to these instead of using the official driver packages. The PAX drivers are re bundled and tweaked official drivers that seem to install much more smoothly. Check them out here.

 

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/pax-drivers/

 

Out

 

I havent had any issues with the last set of Drivers and the Beta Console GUI Software from Creative.

 

I havent used the PAX Drivers in forever, but I remember they were pretty solid. (During the time that Creative's Drivers and Windows 2000/XP did nothing but cause blue screens.)

[SkateZilla]

How does having a soundcard benefit me in your scenario? Might as well run without altogether then. And I wouldn't call it stuck, g35 gives good enough sound, with quasy surround effect even.

 

It doesnt, The G35 should have it's own SRM Sound Processor.

 

Only thing you dont have with the G35 is EAX. SRM Supports OpenAL/DirectSound, etc.

 

Only difference is the .01-.001% or so CPU Overhead used by a USB Device

Edited December 4, 2013 by SkateZilla

[Bucic]

Forget the Creative shite and buy Asus Xonar.

http://www.asus.com/uk/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/

 

ANY Xonar. Of course you can use the compare feature to learn about the differences.

[PoleCat]

Since I have these X-fi cards and they work fine with the PAX drivers I see no reason to change to the onboard sound or purchase an alternate brand. These X-fi Cards were a good investment considering they were purchased back in the XP days and I am still using them years later under Windows 8.1.

 

Solid.

 

Out

[ENO]

Forget the Creative shite and buy Asus Xonar.

http://www.asus.com/uk/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/

 

ANY Xonar. Of course you can use the compare feature to learn about the differences.

 

This. Had mine for a few years now saddled to good / great quality speakers / headset and never had an issue.

 

The only thing is in most cases the average user would seldom know how to tweak the setup to get the most out of it.

[Bucic]

This. Had mine for a few years now saddled to good / great quality speakers / headset and never had an issue.

 

The only thing is in most cases the average user would seldom know how to tweak the setup to get the most out of it.

Hassle free (including Linux support) and better bang for the buck (superior performance in the given price range) is what Xonar series is.

[c0ff]

The sound chip loads the CPU.

A Sound Card offloads the CPU.

Creative drivers install OpenAL, and maybe end up processing the sound in the hardware anyway, even with DirectSound API.

 

...

 

DCS Black Shark 1 ran stuttery and really had issues when firing a cannon with the on-board sound. I had to switch off the Acceleration in Windows settings to get rid of some sound stutters and even then it was still unplayable fps-wise.

 

Black Shark 1 used a completely different sound engine (from LOMAC).

 

DCS sound is always rendered by the CPU no matter which sound card you have.

Moreover, XAudio2 is NEVER offloaded to the sound card by design.

 

All the fuss Creative makes about its hw-accelerated OpenAL, is simply because this is the only way they can sell their hw-acceleration which nobody else does. With the current CPU technology hw-acceleration for sound makes zero sense, and even is counter-productive, because supported audio APIs (OpenAL and DirectSound3D) are VERY limited and outdated.

 

 

All this does not negate the better drivers and audio quality of Creative cards versus most on-board ones. But there're plenty of quality external sound cards out there, better than Creative offerings.

Edited December 15, 2013 by c0ff

[javelina1]

never thought of disabling my onboard HDA. I'm going to do that just now, and give it a whirl. I currently use an ASUS Xonar SC, that pushes sound through a 5.1 A/V receiver.