Gaming 7 - onboard audio

skeletonw00t · 6 Aug 2016 at 22:48

Hi,

I have the Gigabyte Gaming 7 mobo & also a sound blaster z card.

Is the onbord audio on the mobo better than the sound blaster Z? Or should I install the sound card?

Thanks

mickyflinn · 6 Aug 2016 at 22:58

Try the onboard audio and then give the soundblaster a try, but i think the soundblaster will be far better.

skeletonw00t · 6 Aug 2016 at 23:08

Ok great thanks.

The sounblaster is installed already but I was wondering if i should remove it. I'll leave it in

Greebo · 6 Aug 2016 at 23:44

Modern mobos have come on leaps and bounds with sound even using the same chips and amps as add in boards.

However been on the mobo even with shielding still deteriorates the sound a lot.

Saw a comparison once with the same high end sound on the board and an add in card and the results of the mobo was awful, everything suffered.

Mobo should scrap trying to put good sound stuff on their boards and save money.

peahead · 8 Aug 2016 at 13:56

I just recently picked up a Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Ultra Gaming Intel motherboard
and i was shocked how good the onboard audio is on this motherboard.

I have a powercolor devil HDX soundcard and i am finding it hard to notice much difference between the two

Deluxe1 · 12 Aug 2016 at 21:45

skeletonw00t said:
Ok great thanks.

The sounblaster is installed already but I was wondering if i should remove it. I'll leave it in

I have the same motherboard and soundcard, whilst the onboard is good the soundblaster is much better.

Beerstalker · 3 Sep 2016 at 20:05

Xonar D2X vs onboard sound

Glad I found this thread than start another.

I recently upgraded to a new build. An anus 7170-A and thought I'd give the onboard sound a whirl :

Realtek® ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC featuring Crystal Sound 3

I was quite impressed. Listening mainly with HyperX cloud headphones.
Then I thought I'd put my Asus Xonar D2X back and try an compare.
Apart from it lacking volume, because the onboard sound as it built in, I couldn't tell the difference in quality.
My question is, should the dedicated card be better?
If not I might as well go back to the onboard sound and flog the Xonar just to get some more airflow in he case.

What you think?