Sound Card - Do I need one?

[Moose Jr.]

I need some advice. As you can see from my specs, I am currently running the AC'97 sound that came with my P4SDX mobo. I'm no audiophile (had to use that word at least once); it gets the job done well enough for me to use Winamp.

The problem is that in most of the N64 games I play the sound is choppy and can't keep up with my R9700, causing the video to become somewhat choppy as well when "Sync game to audio" is selected (it's horrible without it selected). Also, there's noticeable lag--.5 to 1.5 seconds. I've pretty much figured out by now that perfectly emulated audio is a fantasy, but at the same time, I can't help wondering if I can do better. My idea of "better" is minimal lag, and no (or very few) video or sound slow-downs. I can also put up with the occasional pop or hiss or --insert invariable anomaly--.

So the question is, can I attain this "better" by buying a sound card? Or will that make a tiny difference? If yes, what sound cards are good for the 10-40 dollar price range?

Thanks in advance.

 

[2bzy4ne1]

Did you try using the other audio plugins?

If you did, then you could probably look for a good SB Live for around $30.

 

[Moose Jr.]

I've tried every plugin I could find. Azimer's, Jabo's...

 

[Hexidecimal]

you should be able to get a Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 for between 10 and 40 dollars, as you can see that's what I use and it works quite well

 

[Moose Jr.]

Hex - How well does it run? Like I described in my first post? I just don't want to rush out and buy it just yet.

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

[james.miller]

i have the occational problem with emulated n64 sound on my pc - everybody does to some degree. I'm 99% certain that a soundcard wont do anything for you.

 

[Stezo2k]

i have the occational problem with emulated n64 sound on my pc - everybody does to some degree. I'm 99% certain that a soundcard wont do anything for you.

yeah your right miller, the soundcard will improve performence though depending on which one you get, using onboard sound drains a tiny bit of your cpu power i heard, especially onboard video, that really slows down the CPU, my last pc had it, and my old Geforce 2 PCI beat it any day in performence

 

[Moose Jr.]

i have the occational problem with emulated n64 sound on my pc - everybody does to some degree. I'm 99% certain that a soundcard wont do anything for you.

Mine stutters frequently, no matter which plugin or emu. In 1964, the audio is showing peaks of 90%+ on Goldeneye while my video and CPU are both below 5%.

I've heard that the SoundStorm onboard systems are great performers; could that be why you don't have as many problems as I do?

 

[Moose Jr.]

Any other opinions?

 

[jollyrancher]

Nope. It's silly to buy a near top-of-the-line PC and not spend $30 to get a sound card that will give you much better sound. I've got an SB Live, which is a cheaper card, and get great sound in PJ64 with Jabo's 1.5 plugin. Also, in the future when the PC becomes challenged by some games, you'll get higher fps by moving some of the processing from the integrated sound to the sound card.

 

[james.miller]

yes, but it wont help emulation. like i said, ive got soundstorm on board, which actually uses less cpu cycles than an audigy2. Ad to that my 2.4ghz xp1700 (faster than a barton3200 by a long way) and i STILL have a few problems with sound.

wont help......

 

[Moose Jr.]

You have a good point, Jolly, it was silly of me, but at the time I didn't realize just how crappy the onboard is (it consumes over three-quarters of my CPU time in every N64 game I play). So now I'm in the market for a sound card... The SB Live 5.1 sounds right for the price... but has anyone tried out the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz? Newegg.com has one going for 40 bucks. Is it worth the 7 extra bucks over the live? (Yeah, I'm that cheap...I'm a gamer. )

 

[joel_029]

Never heard of it. But you might want to look at a review site like www.tomshardware.com and perhaps see if they've tested it. They're a really reliable source. You could also search www.pricewatch.com to find most things for cheaper than just searching the most popular hardware sites.