soundstorm or s/b 5.1

[bigjonnyauk]

hi all

just bought a asus deluxe mobo and am awaiting delivery now most of my old parts are going in my sisters machine

but do i give her my soundblaster 5.1 card and use the soundstorm that comes on the mobo (i only have a 4.1 creative speakers system)

my concerns are that

a. might not be as good (dont know much about the soundstorm)
b. are the drivers any good i heard they make sound dodgey
c. will i lose speed on my comp with it processing the sound aswell


also same with the ethernet port do i use the one that comes with it for my broadband or do i put my ethernet card in the pci slot


all your help will be greatly appriciated as usual

p.s are the new nvidea nf2 unifeid drivers ok now

[malfunction]

hi all

just bought a asus deluxe mobo and am awaiting delivery now most of my old parts are going in my sisters machine

but do i give her my soundblaster 5.1 card and use the soundstorm that comes on the mobo (i only have a 4.1 creative speakers system)

my concerns are that

a. might not be as good (dont know much about the soundstorm)
b. are the drivers any good i heard they make sound dodgey
c. will i lose speed on my comp with it processing the sound aswell


also same with the ethernet port do i use the one that comes with it for my broadband or do i put my ethernet card in the pci slot


all your help will be greatly appriciated as usual

p.s are the new nvidea nf2 unifeid drivers ok now

Right:

Soundstorm is actually more capable than your SB 5.1 (assuming it's a "Live!" card). By that I mean that it can do more things (dolby encoding for example). It's CPU usage is very low - it's lower than the SB Live IIRC. The actual quality of the sound output (i.e. range and clarity) might be slightly better on the SB Live but to be honest I'd be suprised if you noticed unless you've got your PC connected to a top notch amp and speakers. Also Creative's drivers have a reputation for being about as buggy as you can get so I wouldn't worry about the nVidia drivers.

The onboard LAN again is good - it doesn't have high CPU usage AFAIK.

Basically these days - apart from onboard GFX - and especially with nVidia and Intel chipsets - the onboard stuff no longer sucks and is nothing to worry about.

[malfunction]

Oh and the latest set of drivers is def. the best place to start.

[nichomach]

but do i give her my soundblaster 5.1 card...

You'd do that to your own SISTER??? What sort of man ARE you?

Seriously, though, I had a Live 5.1 and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when I moved to a board with SoundStorm. Quality's AT LEAST as good, and stability and performance are excellent (you wouldn't BELIEVE what the s/b used to do to my machine...).

[bigjonnyauk]

well when she currently has a pentium 3 533 with gigabyte mobo with onboard gfx(8meg) and sound and 10 gig hard drive

this is the kind of bro i am

she is getting

xp1700 processer
512 meg ddr ram
450 watt psu
msi kt3 ultra mobo
40 gi hard drive
soundblaster 5.1 soundcard

for 80 quid

[nichomach]

Doesn't the KT3 Ultra already have AL650-based 6-channel analogue sound anyway?

[Steve]

The AC97 6 channel on my mobo is only slightly buggier with my 4.1 setup than the Live! I have in the comp now.

Lesser of two evils.

I have heard (pun) good things about the soundstorm though.

[bigjonnyauk]

yeah my ultra has onboard sound but for some reason the output line has failed could be a dry joint or to much wiggling by me thats why i bought a card

[Stoo]

Yup, soundstorm rocks in a big way

Completely out-classed my old SBlive, and you don't have to bugger about with compatibility and massive driver sets..

[Tumble]

yeah my ultra has onboard sound but for some reason the output line has failed could be a dry joint or to much wiggling by me thats why i bought a card

S'what happened to me.... gotta work with a crappy card now rather than my nice clean on board sound.. I only use headphones anyway...

[doctor_prox]

I like my soundstorm, it just doesnt have a gameport and the line-in won't work

[yamangman]

I have both (Leadtek K7NCR18D PRO II nForce II Ultra MCP-T), and a sound blaster LIVE 5.1 Digital with a 5.1 setup. I have had no problems whatsoever with the Sound Blaster and I much prefer it over the onboard soundstorm (SB also has better legacy support and EAX extensions). But really, it's down to personal preference, why not wait until you get your board and the compare the two?