Via KT 133A and SB sound cards

[Starfire_MK2]

Hi there. I own a MSI K7T Turbo m/b, and am trying to find a decent sound card. Everyone in my area only carries the bloody SB series of sound cards. Via is claiming to have fixed the incompatibility problem with their 4.31 drivers. (I'm using the newer 4.32). Does anyone have this m/b-or any m/b with the KT 133A chipset and a SB card, and have a working system with the new drivers? Updating the bios is not an option, I'm using an overcloking bios with my system. Thanks!

 

[TranceBear]

Back when I had a soundcard in my system I had no problems with SB cards. I have the Turbo also. I am now using USB speakers and mic.

 

[Pinky]

If you insist on not going with the soundblaster, www.turtlebeach.com makes a Santa Cruz model card that rivals the features and quality of the SB. I currently use the VIA 4.32 drivers and have no sound problems (none driver related at least ).

The Santa Cruz is also a bit cheaper.

 

[Ferg]

Is this incompatibiltiy due to the north bridge or the south bridge? I care only because I am about to buy the components for a system based on the Epox EP-8K7A mobo which has an VIA southbridge and AMD northbridge. I was going to put a Sound Blaster Live in there, but now Im not so sure since i have heard of this incompatibility. Oh and one more thing, If I got the Sound Blaster Live 5.1 would it only use Dolby 5.1 speakers or can It use older 3 piece speakers systems as well. If it can then does it sound any better than the old sound blaster live value?

 

[Starfire_MK2]

It's caused by Via's southbridge, the 686b chip, I believe. I've never heard of a m/b with two completely different chipsets in it, it sounds interesting. As to your speaker question, I'm not sure. Does your current system have 1 input jack or 2? If only 1, then you only have left and right, which defeats having 5.1. Try a speaker system like Cambridge SoundWorks, which has both front and rear left and right sound. Go to www.creative.com, and follow the links if you're interspersed.

 

[Ferg]

Well in that case I think I might want to find another sound card, or use the onboard AC-97 audio. I dont want to spend an extra $100 for speakers so I think I will stay with the 3-piece yahamas then. So what do yall think is a good option other than SB Live for non-dolby sound?

 

[TranceBear]

Ferg (Jul 21, 2001 01:20 p.m.):
Well in that case I think I might want to find another sound card, or use the onboard AC-97 audio. I dont want to spend an extra $100 for speakers so I think I will stay with the 3-piece yahamas then. So what do yall think is a good option other than SB Live for non-dolby sound?

I just tossed the USB speakers and got a Hercules soundcard. It is mainly a Yamaha. It is a great card for simple gaming and MP-3's. Best of all, NO CONFLICTS!! $25usd at CompUSA

 

[quegyboe]

I have an Epox 8KTA2 mobo which uses the 686B south bridge and I also have a SoundBlaster PCI 512....and they both work well together. Never had any problems!

 

[Ferg]

well i just read a Abit KG7 reviews that also has the mixed AMD 760/ VIA 688B chipset and according to the reviewer no matter how hard he tried he could create the problem, so I think it will be fine to use a Sound Blaster Live card. They are cheap and sound excellent!!!

 

[TranceBear]

Are both of the above people using WPCREDIT to cool your CPU? If you are there is a conflict with this and Soundblaster. This is why I swapped to a different card. this is a popular hack of the registry to get 7-10c cooler.

 

[Tomas]

Starfire_MK2 (Jul 15, 2001 07:45 p.m.):
Hi there. I own a MSI K7T Turbo m/b, and am trying to find a decent sound card. Everyone in my area only carries the bloody SB series of sound cards. Via is claiming to have fixed the incompatibility problem with their 4.31 drivers. (I'm using the newer 4.32). Does anyone have this m/b-or any m/b with the KT 133A chipset and a SB card, and have a working system with the new drivers? Updating the bios is not an option, I'm using an overcloking bios with my system. Thanks!

I got the asus a7v133 with the kt133a chipset and i got lots of trouble on all win9x. The F***ing drivers got a huge memory leaks.......... I got 512mb ram and after about 2hours im empty of BOTH resources and ram. After 3hours i cant even open my start menu......... YEH i have used the minimal install, just installing drivers and nothing else still i got memory leaks on win98, win98se, winME but hovewer its ok on win2k