Audigy ZS over on board Realtek AC97

[noTHINGface]

Hi all

I have a question that I'm hoping you guys can help with. I have an Asus A8N SLI Delux mobo with an onboard AC97 chip twinned up with a set of Creative T7900's. Im pretty happy with the sound quality but have started to think that it may be worth while getting a dedicated HW sound card. I'm not intending to do anything too over the top, mainly play games and watch DVDs etc. The on board does the job but is only 6 channel 5.1. Is it worth grabbing a creative Audigy ZS or something similar? Thoughts and comments?

[scotty6435]

The sound quality will be better (my soundstorm got onwned by me audigy ZS) which will make a big difference with some meaty speakers. It's not essential but if you're an audiophile or just have too much cash kicking around then go for it

[noah]

i did this upgrade recently and was very pleased with the sound of the audigy 2 zs over AC97.

definately worth the upgrade if you value nice sound, especially if you can find one of the refurbished ones direct from creative online for £28! (posted in bargins a month ago or so)not sure if they're still doing them, but worth a look.

[noTHINGface]

I think that i'll give this a go then. Ill get my price scanning hat on see if I can find some deals. Thanks for the input guys.

[HKPolice]

I've used the DFI NF3's onboard audio for a while now and it's been superb. I had an Audigy2 ZS before but it died. I just purchased an audigy2 ZS again and the bass is noticeably richer. Treble and mid range seems the same.

I think it's worth it if you can find a good price on it.

[autopilot]

Yep, i did the same upgrade and i can say the Audigy 2 zs is a big improvement. Not so massive in all games, but ones that make proper use of EAX sound awsome. Need to pair it with some good speakers to get the best from it and I would recommend not bothering with 7.1's at this stage and getting better 5.1's from the money you may save. Although the card does upsample (is that the right word?) and 'fake' 7.1 using all the speakers, almost no games or DVD's support proper 7.1 yet.

You might also find you get a little bit of a performance boast and a few FPS's more in your games. AC97 chips use the CPU & memory more and a dedicated card will take a little of the pressure off. Don't expect a stupid perfomace leap, but it can help a lower end PC.

[directhex]

yes! oh god YES!

moving to an audigy 2 zs from onboard is the best move i made since becoming a linux gamer

[noTHINGface]

Good advice gents, thanks! Anyone seen any killer deals around? I've been looking but the best I found was £68 notes....

[nimbu]

I upgraded from my on board to an Audigy, picked it up from there site. The cards are all factory referbs, and carry a 6 month warranty. Whats nice is the card is actually not the oem version, but infact the card from the retail pack, thus it comes with gold plated connectors.

Sounds wise, there is a def improvement in the acutal sound quality.

Nim

[noah]

me thinks someone needs a new 'price sanning hat' as that one may be wearing out

kinda depends on if you want retail or oem i guess.

i got mine here and it was sent quickly and nicely packaged with pretty gold connectors but they are out of stock of the '2 zs' at the min. otherwise komplett have them for £41 which isnt so bad, i'm sure scan, overclockers(if you dare), aria, microdirect et al have the oem ones cheap too if you look.

hope that helps

[BenW]

I looked at getting one of these cards a few months back and the cheapest place was either pc world or ebuyer but seems like its changed since then

Ebuyer is also £41

[noTHINGface]

me thinks someone needs a new 'price sanning hat' as that one may be wearing out

Yeah - my hat is a little shoddy, some of the stitching is coming away, I think this may be why I missed 'em!

Cheers for that, order placed with Komplett.