Rampage Extreme Sound Card Question

[VAF-Striker 0]

I just purchased an ASUS Rampage Extreme MB. I've torn between usingthe provided sound card that comes with the board or disabling it inthe BIOS and use my tried and true Audigy II.

 

My experience hasalways been that the on board sound card or added card on some boardsis basically prone to trouble with games and that I should go with theSoundblaster card instead.

 

Does anyone have experience with this MB or close model?

[JediMaster 451]

I've not tried that, no, but the general rule of thumb seems to be if you're using XP the add-in card is better, but if you're using Vista it's better to use the onboard sound. That's more because of the way Vista's driver model handles sound than anything else now, plus the fact that with the powerful CPUs we have now all that stuff we used to rely on offboard-processing for sound effects is no longer necessary.

 

However, since you aren't buying the card and have it already, just try both. First go with onboard only and try all your games and see how it fares. If something's not right, you can always disable it and put the Audigy and its software on. I don't recommend trying the other direction (audigy first) because the SB software is so big and involved and if you wind up NOT using the card it's a waste.

[VAF-Striker 0]

Thanks, that's a good suggestion!