Onboard Realtek ALC889 audio vs dedicated soundcard Xonar D2; which is bett

[kiddingguy]

I'm thinking of getting myself a SATA3 controller card (to get the most speed out of my newly Intel 520 SSD).

However, I currently have 1 PCI-E port available which is currently used by my Asus Soundcard Xonar D2/PM.

My Asus P6X58D Premium has a 'Realtek? ALC889 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC' onboard.

Can this Realtek ALC889 be compared to the Xonar soundcard and can I swap this one for a SATA3 controller card? Or do I really notice the sound quality?

[+Zlip792 MVC]

ASUS Xonar D2 is better than onboard one..

I heard that you can place PCI-E x1 card in PCI-E x16 slot so if you have one free than you are good to go.

[kiddingguy]

(...)

I heard that you can place PCI-E x1 card in PCI-E x16 slot so if you have one free than you are good to go.

If that's the case that would help me a out a LOT.

Can anyone confirm this?

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

Yes, you can put any x1, x2, x4 x8 or x16 card into an x16 slot. Same with all the other shapes and sizes.

[cork1958]

Yes,

Backwards compatible.

[abysal]

I've never tried any of the ASUS sound cards, but I've found no discernible difference between my on board Realtek and a X-FI titanium, regarding sound quality or CPU utilization.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I have an Asus Xonar Essence STX with the onboard headphone amp. It's absolutely fantastic compared to the onboard soundcard, no doubt about it! Did cost me a fair bit but I'd definitely always go standalone now rather than use onboard audio certainly if you're using headphones over say powered speakers.

[+Zlip792 MVC]

Now your issue is resolved.. Since other people also confirmed about backward compatibility..

Enjoy!!! Both at a time..

[spaceelf]

I've never tried any of the ASUS sound cards, but I've found no discernible difference between my on board Realtek and a X-FI titanium, regarding sound quality or CPU utilization.

I'd be surprised if the codec chips could process anywhere near as much data at a time as a PCI-E soundcard, but now that pretty much all game audio is software you probably won't.

[Mando]

If that's the case that would help me a out a LOT.

Can anyone confirm this?

it will work, but check mobo book and ensure that the Pci-e(x) slot you choose doesnt halve the pci-e bandwidth of your GFX cards slot.

[ViperAFK]

The xonar is better, but tbh I doubt you'll hear a difference unless you have really nice speakers/headphones. You could always try out the integrated sound temporarily and see if you notice a difference.

[Noir Angel]

Honestly the average user is unlikely to be able to tell the difference. I've been using onboard Realtek solutions for about 5 years now and I find they do the job just fine. So unless you're doing some seriously high end stuff I'd say save the money and put it to another use.

[spaceelf]

it will work, but check mobo book and ensure that the Pci-e(x) slot you choose doesnt halve the pci-e bandwidth of your GFX cards slot.

It would only do this if the other slot were populated by another 16x card from what I know. (or an 8x, which I've never actually seen.)

[hjf288]

Onboard sound, sounds really flat... my X-Fi brings music to life XD

[Ambroos]

You can easily hear the difference even on not-so-good speakers. I still have an old PCI Creative Audigy 2SE in my desktop since everything just sounds much more open and detailed, and the dynamic range is a lot better on the Audigy. In general the DAC's (digital-to-analog converters) are quite crappy on onboard audio chips. Only my Vaio laptop gives a decent audio output from the onboard.

As it's been said before, you can plug all PCI-Express cards in an x16-slot. It'll work just fine!

[Matt423]

It's similar to monitors (and many other things), you can get used to almost anything, but you instantly realize what crap it is when you compare it to something better.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

I haven't used a dedicated card since the 95/98 days. And I've been fine.

[Astra.Xtreme]

If you're not super picky about having top-notch sound quality, then onboard will be perfectly fine.

But if you do have decent speakers/headphones, a dedicated card will make a pretty good difference.

As others have said; throw the card in any slot as they are all backwards compatible.

[tsupersonic]

Whoa thread bump

[kiddingguy]

Some "wakey wakey" here :shiftyninja:

Always nice to know that even older posts/threads are read by you guys.

Btw, I've decided to stick with the onboard Asus, because I got some perfect THX certified Logitech speakers.

[LaP]

The real question is what is the quality of your speakers ?

Too much people invest lot of money on expensive receivers or sound cards and use those expensive hardwares with bad quality speakers.

If you have standard quality PC speakers an on board sound card will do the job just fine.

If your PC is pluged directly in an expensive good quality speakers set or headphones (not via pass thru) then investing in a good quality sound card might worth it.