For me, onboard sound was muffled, muddy, and sounded like it was passing through a room that echoed before getting to my speakers. Like I had cups wrapped in foam over my ears or something. With my soundcard, everything sounds better, as it should sound and as I expect it to be. I listen to a lot of music, and I've heard the difference. It is very subjective I suppose, but I could never go back to onboard sound.

I'm going for it.

I still really need help with the SSD. I like the card, but 30 GB will just barely be enough. I'd like to find something else affordable that is at least 50GB. No rush though. Still got another week till I can buy it.

This sounds horrible. Something I would definitely not overhear. So I can just assume it's either your settings (it can make a huge difference which environment simulation and graphic equalizer settings you choose) or your particular soundchip was really crappy. Not sure if there's so much difference though, so I suspect the former.

This intrigues me however, I haven't tested many devices at home which is the only place where I can get consistent audio quality and have the equipment keeping up with good sound cards. I've had 2 onboard sounds so far and an old SB Live! lying around which I'm not using anymore because there's no proper drivers for x64 Windows.
Maybe I should try to get a chance to test more devices. Maybe I just got lucky and there are huge differences between onboard soundchips?

That SB Live! probably isn't much better actually. Just for reference, I wanted to really see the measure of difference for myself once when I put this build together. I switched back playing the same MP3 from my soundcard and then from the onboard sound. It was so much worse on the onboard I couldn't fathom how anyone ever put up with it.

Hrrm. If it makes a big difference, I would assume that there would be a big difference in quality when I plug my Zune HD into speakers (you know, it's made to sound good) vs when I plug the speakers into my lappy, right? I'll try that tomorrow.

I've just thought of an easy way to test if my sound chip is holding back sound quality. I'm burning a CD and play it simultaneously on my computer and on my stereo, then I switch between PC and CD playback and have a direct comparison! I'll do that tomorrow.

Also the most important factor for sound quality is your speakers (quality, configuration 2.0 - 7.1, passive vs. active) and if you're using digital or analog signal transmission. An expensive sound card is useless if you're using crappy speakers or if your sound card can't encode a digital 5.1 signal in real-time (only few are capable of doing that). And it makes a huge difference on which card to recommend if you're using your sound card mainly for gaming, playing music or watching videos.
So CAFG you should tell us these details so we can find the best suited sound card for you (since apparently you've already decided you want one).

Uncle Sam just gave me 600 smakeroos So I have some serious leg room.
I have these really nice speakers that are everything but surround sound. They were a gift, so I don't have any specs for them on paper. I'm only using it for music, movies, and gaming.

I think I'm also gonna buy a router. I have a perfectly woring and functional $100 netgear router, but I can't seem to find any way to turn the wireless off. Everthing's wired into it so it's completely unnecessary; all it's doing is adding annoying feedback into my speakers. So I'm searching for the simplest non-wireless router that does what it should. This seems to be ok http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122008
Also, a simple 3-function laser mouse with above average dpi

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 9 2010, 11:25 pm by ClansAreForGays.

For the router, I'm not liking that one, perhaps you should get a good wireless one and just turn the broadcasting off? I have this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833162134 and it is by far one of the best routers period. NetGear, Linksys and D-Link simply can't compare. Buffalo usually does commercial grade, high end routers and this one, although a little cut down still uses a great chipset and can be flashed with DD-WRT or Tomato. I know for a fact you can turn the wireless off in settings.

Mouse: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826161004 I have this as my current mouse. I could not think of a single flaw. Absolutely love it.

Are you looking to bring the build up in specs due to the increase in funds? If so, give a new price range and we'll see whats up.

fyi, DD-WRT was made for the wrt54g by linksys. I greatly dislike my netgear wpn824, since it can't handle more than a few people using it while torrenting, and it has virtually no QoS settings, nor can it use tomato/dd-wrt. My dad has a dlink that works pretty well, but it's not awe inspiring.

You're going to want wireless-n if you have any laptops which support it, however, it's not really necessary, and in my experience the throughput is anywhere from 24 Mbps to 250 Mbps, and constantly fluctuates. Doesn't inspire confidence in the tech.

Get that mouse now, asap, while it's $30. if you don't manage to get it on time, you can wait around and see other deals. I have an mx518, and absolutely love it. I never knew I could like a mouse so much before I bought it. It was almost life changing. Now it's pretty cheap too.

I've never had a problem with onboard sound. I had a soundcard in this computer, Augidy 2 ZX Platinum, no idea if that's good or not. Couldn't tell any difference between that and the onboard, and the onboard had better drivers, so I sold the audigy.

As for Buffalo vs Linksys - never heard of Buffalo, but Linksys is owned by Cisco, the largest networking equipment seller on the planet. The company I work for is a competitor of them. I've never had a problem with a linksys device (although I haven't used too many). Maybe Ex has more experience with the products in the price range he's looking at, but just want to point out that Linksys aren't some johhny-come-lately. Netgear is also a good brand. D-link on the other hand, while it has been around for a long time, tends to put out feature-poor buggy products that don't work too well, although they are generally cheap - avoid them.

As for which SSD to get, I haven't kept up with the latest news or exactly what brand has what controller/chip in it, so can't give you a direct answer there. Mostly it isn't relevant for me anyway as only a few brands end up in NZ, and I buy stuff through my mum's work at a cheap price so can only choose from what they offer anyway. Here are some articles that should help, though:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3812/the-ssd-diaries-crucials-realssd-c300
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3690/the-impact-of-spare-area-on-sandforce-more-capacity-at-no-performance-loss
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3681/oczs-vertex-2-special-sauce-sf1200-reviewed
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3661/understanding-sandforces-sf1200-sf1500-not-all-drives-are-equal

So I'm assuming they are analog, 2.0 and active, put on your desktop rather than the floor?

They aren't like attached to the monitor if that's what your asking, and there is huge bass thing that sits on the floor.

Signal transmission: Do you plug them into a 3.5mm jack (analog) or into SPDIF/optical/HDMI (digital)?
Bass = X.1; ___ Stereo, no bass = 2.0; ___ Surround with bass = 5/7.1
active = integrated amplifier; speakers are powered straight from the socket or by batteries (my condolences)
passive = amplifier is a discrete device, usually your stereo; speakers are connected to amplifier
floor vs. desktop: mainly regarding their size. Usually passive = floor and active = on the table.

I think he has a 2.1 setup from what he's saying Nude. I also have a 2.1 setup, and as I've explained above, my investment in a soundcard was a very wise one.

I have a 2.1
The day is finally upon us! Here is what I have so far: (I wish I knew how to make those large vertical screen shots)


I need to know what the best keyboard+mouse deal is here. I like a mouse with high dpi, but not too many buttons. Also, wireless is shit - I'm only doing wired.
http://www.newegg.com/Store/ComboDeals.aspx?ComboStoreID=70&name=Keyboard-Mouse

Lets try and keep the total under $1k now. Just got my check, and the deposit should clear tomorrow night, which is when I'll be placing the order. I'm almost there!

Edit: I'm guessing this is my best choice http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.458375

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 19 2010, 2:06 am by ClansAreForGays.

Also thinking about upgrading to the Vertex 2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227610
I notice in the combo deals for these, there are trying to sell these $500 "controller cards" Do I need one of these to use a SSD?

The 'controller card' is just extra SATA ports plugged in via PCIexpress. You definitely do not need this for an SSD, especially because both the SSD and the card are SATA 2 only. You can just use the SATA ports on your motherboard.

If you had a SATA3 SSD then you would need a SATA3 add-in card as currently there are not any motherboards that ship with them natively. The small reading I've done on SATA3 SSDs don't show very much of a performance gain over SATA2 drives yet - the potential is there, but they're being let down by implementation I think, because SATA 3 is still very new.

Still not liking the router you chose. I have no experience with it, but my gut, (which I've not listened to and regretted on many purchases,) tells me that it is a bad buy.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 19 2010, 11:53 am by Excalibur.

I fixed my current one so I'm no longer buying one. So I dropped the router and upgraded the SSD to the Vertex2 I linked. I feel uneasy about making the final purchase, so I'm gonna let it sit for a bit. More comments plz! In return - RL cafg video.

Alright made the purchase. Now What's the best way to go about streaming this?