I found a sound card.

[RepliCarter]

While I was in the basement, I noticed my mom's old computer down there. I figured I'd pop it open and take a look inside(maybe scavenge the 250gb hard drive and see if it still worked). So I haul it up and to my room and open it. I can't get to the other side to get the hard drive out, so I said nuts to that I'll wait for my dad to come home to deal with it. Anyway.

I found a nice little sound card in it. Creative SB Live! CT4780. I cleaned it up real good and popped it into my computer. I can't tell much difference in quality, though Fear Factory sounds a bit more crisp than it did on the on board.

What are your thoughts on this card? Should I keep using it or go back to the AC'97 on board audio?

[screwballl]

I am of the experience that the cards are better then onboard anyday. Plus in many newer games you may experience a few more fps as the CPU doesn't need to handle the sound anymore as it is mostly handled by the card

[RepliCarter]

I see. :D Thanks!

[Yellowhello]

Yep, I say keep it. You got better sound quality, better frame rates in games, and it was pretty much all for free! Why wouldn't you keep it?

[Stormcrow]

If you're using an older or budget board it's usually better to have a sound card, AC'97 especially is the lower end of onboard sound. My old board had AC'97 and while ok...it produced a certain fuzziness and had the infamous click when no sound was playing so I had to pick up a budget Sound Blaster. This new board has Azalia sound that is on par with my current card, but I still put it to use anyway.

[Lead Head]

SB Live really won't do much these days. If you have a newer board with "HD Audio" or something, you will probably notice less interference, and the ability to power headphones better, but nothing much more then that. But hay, you can't beat free!

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Lead Head

SB Live really won't do much these days. If you have a newer board with "HD Audio" or something, you will probably notice less interference, and the ability to power headphones better, but nothing much more then that. But hay, you can't beat free!

You took the words out of my mouth Lead Head!
Depending on the exact sound blaster live! model you have you might not notice much of a different from onboard since onboard audio has really improved over the years and the SB Live! name has been going on for a while already. Also to note that certain SB Live! models do not have 5.1 capabilities, so if in the future you have a 5.1 speaker set you might not be able to use it and you'll have to default back to the onboard audio (if it's 5.1 compatible obviously).

[screwballl]

I have a SB4750 that is marketed as "4.1 Digital"... kinda neat... but very hard to find drivers for

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by screwballl

I have a SB4750 that is marketed as "4.1 Digital"... kinda neat... but very hard to find drivers for

Driverguide has/had it, and I have it backed up at work if someone needs it.
Sadly Creative stopped supporting it and cut the cord on the drivers at the same time. When they mean support over at Creative, they mean total support it seems. :P

[Quakindude]

The SB CT4780 uses the AC97 audio codec. So basically, since your mobo has AC97 and this sound card has AC97, you are better off with the card since it removes the inherit frequency interference found with all but the newest onboard solutions.