[MikoLayer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver I was talking about older onboard solutions when I made that post. I have not had any experience with onboard audio at all whatsoever since the early Pentium III days - I have always used a separate PCI soundcard, and turned off all onboard audio. By the way, maybe performance has improved since the last time I tried onboard. But some onboard solutions still have problems with sound either cutting out or becoming stuttery or choppy in games. That is a driver issue - and even so, some companies refused to update their drivers. (But then again, the Sound Blaster series have had some audio issues with some of the newest games such as Doom 3.) And yes, I did exaggerate the performance loss with onboard sound (the currently in use ones such as the Analog Devices SoundMAX). Realistically, the performance hit would be the equivalent of bringing down a 3.4GHz P4/GF6800U combo to about the level of a 3.0 to 3.2 GHz P4 with a GF6800GT card. That's hardly worth complaining about, in this case.

well i realize you brought up that example just to give him an idea of what damage on board sound can do with their high cpu utilization. but it got me wondering - why would anyone buy intel cpus over a64 these days? the only thing intels were good for were mpeg4 enconding, and even that is no longer true with the newer 939 sockets.

here is a little doom3 comparison with a graphical chart
one would have to be either exremely stupid or fanboish to buy any intel product at the moment, with the lower end being dominated by mobile bartons as well. of course it doesnt pertain those who had no choice due to some explicable reasons

 

[NightWoundsTime]

Interesting to know that my Soundstorm is so good for gaming. Before some of the newer drivers I had a lot of problems with weird reverbs in EAX modes. Now though it runs pretty flawlessly. I'd really considered an Audigy for gaming but it's good to know it won't improve things.

On another note, the soundstorm isn't very well shielded to electrical noise. I know a couple others with the same card who complain of lots of interferance.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikoLayer one would have to be either exremely stupid or fanboish to buy any intel product at the moment, with the lower end being dominated by mobile bartons as well. of course it doesnt pertain those who had no choice due to some explicable reasons

Actually, I was trying to purchase for stability and compatibility first, performance second. But some systems are very fast but extremely unstable; they use really crappy parts around a super-fast CPU.

Oh, by the way, I'm not endorsing the Sound Blasters. The Audigy2 ZS series cards, in particular, are jacks of all trades - and masters of few (if anything). Most other soundcards beat the A2 ZS in one or more areas - but not all at the same time.

And I did have serious problems with compatibility/stability with all of the AMD systems which I had. Things that range from USB problems to certain mobos being incompatible (or not fully compatible) with some of the devices in my systems to abnormally high CPU utilization when running some of the programs that I use(d) most often.

 

[MikoLayer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver Actually, I was trying to purchase for stability and compatibility first, performance second. But some systems are very fast but extremely unstable; they use really crappy parts around a super-fast CPU. Oh, by the way, I'm not endorsing the Sound Blasters. The Audigy2 ZS series cards, in particular, are jacks of all trades - and masters of few (if anything). Most other soundcards beat the A2 ZS in one or more areas - but not all at the same time. And I did have serious problems with compatibility/stability with all of the AMD systems which I had. Things that range from USB problems to certain mobos being incompatible (or not fully compatible) with some of the devices in my systems to abnormally high CPU utilization when running some of the programs that I use(d) most often.

well thats very odd and extremely unusual, you have my pity

most people have no complaints whatsoever with their amd systems boasting bulletproof stability and performance untouchable by any intel yet at lower price. what chipset did your motherboard have? via has come a long way and via kt800 is acutally quite good, nforce3 is only better.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikoLayer well thats very odd and extremely unusual, you have my pity most people have no complaints whatsoever with their amd systems boasting bulletproof stability and performance untouchable by any intel yet at lower price. what chipset did your motherboard have? via has come a long way and via kt800 is acutally quite good, nforce3 is only better.

My last AMD-based motherboard had an nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset. It was a Socket A CPU which I used.

 

[aphex944]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Radar Another good brand of PSU is Fortron (and Sparkle which is just rebranded Fortron). They under-rate their PSUs. Tom's Hardware rated their 120mm fan 350 watt model at 411 watts and their 80mm fan 350 watt model at 454 watts.

Completely agree. I was a diehard Enermax fan until a few of mine developed the "whine" they are famous for. I work as a tech in a computer store and we carry the Fortron power supplies. I've NEVER seen one come back, and just recently I tried one myself, no complaints at all. It's ultra quiet and will probably last forever.

 

[bg4533]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver My last AMD-based motherboard had an nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset. It was a Socket A CPU which I used.

What motherboard specifically?

I have an Asus A7N8X Deluxe with the same chipset and it is the most solid system I have ever used. I have an XP1700 overclocked to 2GHZ, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9800 and a WD Raptor and I love it. I cannot recall a single crash or any quirks.

When it comes time to upgrade again (maybe 6 months or so), I will likely go with a Athlon64.