Intergrated sound.....eewww?

[jeff_harrison_344]

Now I have been around these forums long enough and know about computers. And I know that intergrated sound, is...a no no. But I was wondering for like MP3s, and maybe some games (Q3, NHL 2001), would I notice a difference from lets say intergrated sound on my MSI K7T TURBO and a SB PCI-128?

[Jon]

Probably not depending on the speakers.

Integrated sound really has taken a step up over what it used to be and is more than serviceable depending on the chip used.

My Soyo 7VCA has integrated sound and even though I now have an X-Gamer running on it I was never truly dissatisfied with the sound...I just needed surround sound support.

[Fro]

exactly, most integrated sound these days isnt that bad for your basic audio. with average speakers it's gonna sound averag. most ppl dont use it because they want surround sound support etc etc. but for mp3's it'll be perfectly fien as long as you arent hooking it up to a home theater system. if you only play a vfew games here and there it probably isnt worth it and would be just fine for q3 and nhl and stuff

[ThePunkGeek]

intrergrated sound isn't really all the bad if you have a good set of speakers.
ifs when you have intergreated video and no AGP slots that i don tlike
(Ex. my old computer :( last time i buy an already built computer)

[earthdick]

I was leery of integrated sound until I couldn't put up with the SB Live! Value hell any longer. Now I just use the CMedia sound on my MB and it is satisfactory, not stellar, but at least my computer doesn't crash, squeal, and screech everyday either.

[jeff_harrison_344]

WEll my speakers are pretty good, not amazing, but pretty good, they are ALTEC LANSING 5 peice with subwoofer. All I really would do on this computer is play first person shooter games, NHL games, and play MP3s


But one thing I sometimes like to 'blast' the music with my speakers, would this be a problem with the intergrated sound?

[jeff_harrison_344]

*BUMP*

[SickBoy]

I've built several systems that use integrated sound and it really isnt all that bad for a casual MP3'er/gamer..... DVD through integrated sound kinda sucks though

SickBoy

[outhouse]

I use my I\S on a abit vh6-2 with the cheapest speakers i could find under 10 bucks because i use this PC mainly for gaming and i have no complaints at all and the music does not sound that bad at all. i cant see spending allot of money on a sound system for my PC when my home system is awsome

[Shadow ÒÓ]

Jon (Apr 28, 2001 10:28 p.m.):
Probably not depending on the speakers.

Integrated sound really has taken a step up over what it used to be and is more than serviceable depending on the chip used.

My Soyo 7VCA has integrated sound and even though I now have an X-Gamer running on it I was never truly dissatisfied with the sound...I just needed surround sound support.

It's always been my understanding that integrated periferals were a serious processor hawg. This is the first I've heard they are better. Not doubting you, but I'd love to know more.....maybe I won't be so quick to "not" recommend integrated boards.

[Jon]

Well, here is basically what I meant by they not being "as" bad as in the past...

Sound quality doesn't suck anymore. More and more boards are being equipped with onboard sound processors instead of software driven audio much like the ESS audio chips. EAX hardware support was never included on boards before (I'm living in the past here) and now some do...even with surround sound support and digital out (please don't make say which boards, I just know I've seen a few [emphasis on few]).

As far as resource hogging integrated peripherals, I usually only associate those with the ones that have both integrated audi AND video with the video taxing the system more than anything. Audio boards require some resources but nothing like the video which I know, you know.

In short, I wouldn't want integrated sound if I was into hardcore gaming or into multimedia work but some integrated sound isn't bad. My Soyo provides A3D support and sounded great when I used it, games and MP3s alike...never experienced any resource gain when I moved to my X-Gamer either but I know there had to be some.

All I was commenting on was the quality of sound and for average use, many integrated sound chips are fine...especially if a SoundBlaster 128 is the only other choice.

[Shadow ÒÓ]

Ahh gotcha. So the gamers should still use Non-integrated video but sound isn't such a bad thing.

Thanks for the response.