SB Audigy 4 Value vs onboard nForce 4 w Karajan

[Noozer]

I've read a few pages online but only found opinions and haven't found any
real comparisons.

My mainboard is a DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D, using the nVidia nForce 4
chipset. Opteron 165 CPU running at 2Ghz. 7600GT PCI video card. Analog
audio is pumped through Cambridge Soundworsk FPS 2000 4.1 speakers.

Right now I have a SoundBlaster Audigy 4 Value PCI card installed and
working in Windows. I'm having issues trying to get it working properly in
OpenSUSE 10.2 Linux.

The onboard sound is 8 channel, using the Realtek ALC850 codec. (Doesn't the
nForce4 provide the codec???)

I'm tired of the issues I have with this, and my previous Creative
soundcards. Especially now that I'm doing some work in Linux.

Am I losing much by switching to the onboard audio?

My occasional gaming consists of some Quake 3 and similar stuff.

 

[Sleepy]

I've read a few pages online but only found opinions and haven't found any
real comparisons.

My mainboard is a DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D, using the nVidia nForce 4
chipset. Opteron 165 CPU running at 2Ghz. 7600GT PCI video card. Analog
audio is pumped through Cambridge Soundworsk FPS 2000 4.1 speakers.

Right now I have a SoundBlaster Audigy 4 Value PCI card installed and
working in Windows. I'm having issues trying to get it working properly in
OpenSUSE 10.2 Linux.

The onboard sound is 8 channel, using the Realtek ALC850 codec. (Doesn't
the nForce4 provide the codec???)

I'm tired of the issues I have with this, and my previous Creative
soundcards. Especially now that I'm doing some work in Linux.

Am I losing much by switching to the onboard audio?

My occasional gaming consists of some Quake 3 and similar stuff.

I recently compared my Audigy 4 with the onboard sound chip which is the
Realtek 5:1 partly because my mobo only has 3 PCI slots and no matter which
slot I try I cant get the Audigy on its own IRQ. There is a free IRQ and
when I used the onboard sound chip it automatically used it. Performance was
fine; it used to be that onboard sound was noticeably slower but not now.
Sound quality of the onboard chip wasn't quite as good - the lack of
midrange and Bass made the sound weak - most noticeable with music and DVDs.
I wouldn't say it affected games much. It really depends how fussy you are
about the sound quality.

 

[kony]

I've read a few pages online but only found opinions and haven't found any
real comparisons.

My mainboard is a DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D, using the nVidia nForce 4
chipset. Opteron 165 CPU running at 2Ghz. 7600GT PCI video card. Analog
audio is pumped through Cambridge Soundworsk FPS 2000 4.1 speakers.

Right now I have a SoundBlaster Audigy 4 Value PCI card installed and
working in Windows. I'm having issues trying to get it working properly in
OpenSUSE 10.2 Linux.

The onboard sound is 8 channel, using the Realtek ALC850 codec. (Doesn't the
nForce4 provide the codec???)

The codec is paired with the chipset for the I/O, is a
separate chip, usually about 1cm sq., roughly along the left
edge of the board.

I'm tired of the issues I have with this, and my previous Creative
soundcards. Especially now that I'm doing some work in Linux.

Am I losing much by switching to the onboard audio?

Depends on what you're doing with audio.
In general onboard sound is noisier analog output. In
gaming the Creative card's hardware EAX can lessen the CPU
load if/when multichannel environmental effects are used in
the game (and game set to use them).

Try the onboard audio and see if you can hear a difference.
Marketing a paper specs aren't necessarily equal to a
realized, audible difference... or on the other hand, an
integrated audio solution that looks great on paper and in
marketing propaganda, could sound worse than a simple old
sound card.

My occasional gaming consists of some Quake 3 and similar stuff.

Is the CPU bottlenecking the video card, or are framerates
too low? You aren't necessarily forced to use onboard audio
for windows, you could have both enabled and just use the
onboard for Linux and the Creative for windows / gaming.