• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

sound card a waste with Vista?

Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
3,288 (0.51/day)
Location
Halifax, Canada
Processor Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard Asus p5k-Premium/Black Pearl
Cooling Luna Block, 240mm rad
Memory Patriot Extreme PC2-6400 2x2GB
Video Card(s) Saphire 5850 1GB
Storage 60GB SSD + 2x500GB/1TB/2TB
Display(s) Samsung 226BW and 50" Panasonic S2
Case Silverstone TJ-09
Audio Device(s) X-fi Prelude
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy Dxx 850watt
Software Windows7 32Bit
Benchmark Scores Super Pi 1M 14.333
I'm contemplating on spending my last bits of money.. and I believe I will buy 2 more 120mm fans and another hd or x-fi gamer..

but stumbling across the net I came across a review that was saying that "the final straw may be Microsoft's move away from hardware accelerated audio in their upcoming Windows Vista operating system."

This review is somewhat old, so did Vista move away from hardware audio?

Link http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1850389,00.asp
 

Zalmann

New Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
910 (0.15/day)
Location
Perth, Australia
System Name HP Pavilion dv6
Processor Intel Core i7-2630QM
Memory 8GB (2 x GEIL 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM C9 1333MHz)
Video Card(s) ATI Mobility Radeon HD6570
Storage 750Gb WD 2.5" WD Scorpio Black
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
I think it's a bad idea, putting more and more pressure on CPU resources. I guess it's good for compatibility, but bad as you need more and more powerful CPU's and also more RAM.
 
Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
3,288 (0.51/day)
Location
Halifax, Canada
Processor Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard Asus p5k-Premium/Black Pearl
Cooling Luna Block, 240mm rad
Memory Patriot Extreme PC2-6400 2x2GB
Video Card(s) Saphire 5850 1GB
Storage 60GB SSD + 2x500GB/1TB/2TB
Display(s) Samsung 226BW and 50" Panasonic S2
Case Silverstone TJ-09
Audio Device(s) X-fi Prelude
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy Dxx 850watt
Software Windows7 32Bit
Benchmark Scores Super Pi 1M 14.333
Im wondering more on sound quality. from what I get from that review, its saying that mobos are getting better (with integrated) and Vista might improve your sound quality aswell? why would they move away from hardware sound if its superior.
 

Zalmann

New Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
910 (0.15/day)
Location
Perth, Australia
System Name HP Pavilion dv6
Processor Intel Core i7-2630QM
Memory 8GB (2 x GEIL 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM C9 1333MHz)
Video Card(s) ATI Mobility Radeon HD6570
Storage 750Gb WD 2.5" WD Scorpio Black
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Maybe it's only to cater for the low end market (eg onboard sound). I suspect they would still have hardware acceleration, as it doesn't make sense not to. Maybe there will be a checkbox feature in the driver properties, to enable/disable hardware acceleration.
 
Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
3,288 (0.51/day)
Location
Halifax, Canada
Processor Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard Asus p5k-Premium/Black Pearl
Cooling Luna Block, 240mm rad
Memory Patriot Extreme PC2-6400 2x2GB
Video Card(s) Saphire 5850 1GB
Storage 60GB SSD + 2x500GB/1TB/2TB
Display(s) Samsung 226BW and 50" Panasonic S2
Case Silverstone TJ-09
Audio Device(s) X-fi Prelude
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy Dxx 850watt
Software Windows7 32Bit
Benchmark Scores Super Pi 1M 14.333
kk Im just curious because I wouldent want to buy a sound card.. than when I get Vista I find out that it has just as good sound capabilities as my card.

Maybe someone with Vista and a sound card can tell us if their card is working lol :p I double/triple check stuff before I buy. I gotta get the most out of my buck, Im a poor poor man lol
 

Zalmann

New Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
910 (0.15/day)
Location
Perth, Australia
System Name HP Pavilion dv6
Processor Intel Core i7-2630QM
Memory 8GB (2 x GEIL 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM C9 1333MHz)
Video Card(s) ATI Mobility Radeon HD6570
Storage 750Gb WD 2.5" WD Scorpio Black
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
kk Im just curious because I wouldent want to buy a sound card.. than when I get Vista I find out that it has just as good sound capabilities as my card.

Maybe someone with Vista and a sound card can tell us if their card is working lol :p I double/triple check stuff before I buy. I gotta get the most out of my buck, Im a poor poor man lol

Unfortunately I've taken the poor mans approach, as I am using the onboard realtek on my Vista 64 box on my ASROCK MB system.
 

Zalmann

New Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
910 (0.15/day)
Location
Perth, Australia
System Name HP Pavilion dv6
Processor Intel Core i7-2630QM
Memory 8GB (2 x GEIL 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM C9 1333MHz)
Video Card(s) ATI Mobility Radeon HD6570
Storage 750Gb WD 2.5" WD Scorpio Black
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
3,288 (0.51/day)
Location
Halifax, Canada
Processor Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard Asus p5k-Premium/Black Pearl
Cooling Luna Block, 240mm rad
Memory Patriot Extreme PC2-6400 2x2GB
Video Card(s) Saphire 5850 1GB
Storage 60GB SSD + 2x500GB/1TB/2TB
Display(s) Samsung 226BW and 50" Panasonic S2
Case Silverstone TJ-09
Audio Device(s) X-fi Prelude
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy Dxx 850watt
Software Windows7 32Bit
Benchmark Scores Super Pi 1M 14.333
I have "THX" certified speakers and I do watch movies/tv shows on my computer.. I find the speakers offer mainly bass atm and would like to improve the sound... also theses items are currently on sale where I buy my computer stuff.

well going to check out that link you gave me. ty.
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
I have an Audigy 2 ZS on Vista x64, and have no problems with it. The sound quality is just as good as XP as well. I don't have a surround setup tho, so I can't comment on that.
 
Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
3,288 (0.51/day)
Location
Halifax, Canada
Processor Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard Asus p5k-Premium/Black Pearl
Cooling Luna Block, 240mm rad
Memory Patriot Extreme PC2-6400 2x2GB
Video Card(s) Saphire 5850 1GB
Storage 60GB SSD + 2x500GB/1TB/2TB
Display(s) Samsung 226BW and 50" Panasonic S2
Case Silverstone TJ-09
Audio Device(s) X-fi Prelude
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy Dxx 850watt
Software Windows7 32Bit
Benchmark Scores Super Pi 1M 14.333
but EAX and thx work fine? take a peek at the last pages of the link Zalman gave me.

nice sound/video card btw I would like since I use mpeg on my ipod.
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
but EAX and thx work fine? take a peek at the last pages of the link Zalman gave me.

nice sound/video card btw I would like since I use mpeg on my ipod.
Take a look at the date of those posts. 2004. I can't comment on THX, as I don't have any THX hardware. As far as EAX, I'd have to install some games to test, but I don't know when I'll be able to do that. All I know is, my Audigy sounds ridiculously better than my onboard in Vista.
 
Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
3,288 (0.51/day)
Location
Halifax, Canada
Processor Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard Asus p5k-Premium/Black Pearl
Cooling Luna Block, 240mm rad
Memory Patriot Extreme PC2-6400 2x2GB
Video Card(s) Saphire 5850 1GB
Storage 60GB SSD + 2x500GB/1TB/2TB
Display(s) Samsung 226BW and 50" Panasonic S2
Case Silverstone TJ-09
Audio Device(s) X-fi Prelude
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy Dxx 850watt
Software Windows7 32Bit
Benchmark Scores Super Pi 1M 14.333
I got mixed up with the 2004 at first aswell but that topic was started 09/19/06, I just skipped to the last pages to get the latest news on the stuff.

ops and I went into the second part of the topic that creative guy made http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=Vista&message.id=2204

well when I get some rest i'll read through it again, atm my eyes are bugging me from staying up all night. I have a week b4 I lose any sale prices :) and than again they usually come back.. at least for the hds. The main reason I want to order more stuff is for the 120mm antec led fans... but I dont just want to order fans and pay shipping just for them... hard to find good fans locally. :( and the hardware is a bit cheaper than the local shops.

ohwell I'll decided soon enough.
 
Top