SoundMAX vs SB?

[ricrat]

OK. I'm still deciding on what to get in theway of motherboard.

I'm interested in having a better than average soundcard and was looking
at the SB Audigy MP3. Then I was reading about ASUS boards that have
SoundMAX built-in. The one in particular was the P4PE Deluxe. It's about
$35.00 more than the standard version. Is this better than the MP3?

Also, is there that much performance difference between a P$ 2.0 and P$ 2.4. Again, the price is about $20.00 more between them.

I have EZ CD 5 Platinum and am very happy with that. The soundcard
I'm using now is the SB Live which seems to work pretty good for my needs. I may just keep that with the new systme and see how it works.

Any input appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[cfitz]

The soundcard I'm using now is the SB Live which seems to work pretty good for my needs. I may just keep that with the new systme and see how it works.

I don't have anything to say about the new sound cards/subsystems you are considering, but if you are happy with your current card and nothing is compelling you to leave it in the old system, why not transfer it to the new one and save a few dollars?

cfitz

[BuddhaTB]

I agree with cfitz's advice. But I'm loving my Sound Blaster Audigy 2. As for the P4, I would spend the extra $20 and get the 2.4GHz.

[ricrat]

I think it's the couple extra bucks to go with the 2.4.

I'm going to wait to see how my old soundcard works before upgrading.

Thanx for input.

[TheWizard]

Definitely spend the extra $20 and get a P4 2.4GHz with 533FSB and 512KB Cache. You really do get more for your money in this case.

As for the sound board, I have the Intel D845PEBT2 Motherboard with SoundMax built-in. It's not bad for built-in sound. I don't think it can match the features of an Audigy 2, but it comes pretty close to an Audigy MP3. Built-in sound cards have really improved over the years, too bad the same can't be said for built-in video. I'd still rather have a separate AGP video card so I can game and run advanced graphics applications smoothly.