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8RDA+ games better w/o Onboard Sound???

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Chixofnix

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Location
Kansas City, KS USA
If I were to go and shell out for a PCI soundcard (and ditch the onboard soundstorm), would my games see a noticeable performance increase??

I hear others claiming this with other boards, having used their onboard sound and then trying out a soundcard...

Problem is to get equal/better sound would seem to cost a lot :/

anyway, is there a performance (in FPS... overall sound quality) to be had by getting a PCI soundcard with similar abilities to the near-soundstorm already onboard?
 
I noticed a small increase in performance when I installed a creative sound blaster, but the main reason I put one in was that my onboard sound would crackle due to my OC. Some sound cards put more strain on your system than others, so I would research that before buying.
 
I believe most onboard sound chips draw about 5% of the CPU power to run. Even some PCI based sound cards still use the CPU so be careful what you buy. You really cant go wrong with an Audigy card and the sound is great....
 
mmm as suspected...

frankly since i moved the NB heatsink onto the southbridge (w/ arctic silver... I had extra :p), I haven't been able to get a single crackle out of the onboard sound... :D
 
Chixofnix said:
mmm as suspected...

frankly since i moved the NB heatsink onto the southbridge (w/ arctic silver... I had extra :p), I haven't been able to get a single crackle out of the onboard sound... :D


Same here.
 
Exact same thing I did. Best thing I ever done on my 8rda+ was throw that sink on my southbridge chip. I have had ZERO crackles after that mod.
 
Whoa, man am I glad I found this thread!

Occassionally, when playing DC I get crackling and static through my headphones. I never use my speakers, so I always thought it was the headset (Plantronics Audio 90's). I still have the stock cooler on the SB, so maybe I should buy a better cooler for it. The NB cooler is still on the NB, but has been modified, and also has a fan on it, which works great, so I'll leave it there.

Can anyone recommend a good SB cooler for the 8RDA+ Rev.2?
 
Cuda said:
Whoa, man am I glad I found this thread!

Occassionally, when playing DC I get crackling and static through my headphones. I never use my speakers, so I always thought it was the headset (Plantronics Audio 90's). I still have the stock cooler on the SB, so maybe I should buy a better cooler for it. The NB cooler is still on the NB, but has been modified, and also has a fan on it, which works great, so I'll leave it there.

Can anyone recommend a good SB cooler for the 8RDA+ Rev.2?

the stock cooler on the southbridge? mine didn't come with any cooler... I moved the stock heatsink on the northbridge to the southbridge... and used a better NB heatsink in replacement on the NB...

cooling the NB should be your highest priority, IMO... but yeah once you've taken care of the NB if you're still getting crackley sound then turn your attentions to the southbridge... ;)
 
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