Sound Card Question

[CyStar]

Here's my current specs:

AMD Athlon 550mhz
FIC SD-11
2x 128MB PC-100 SDRAM (generic)
Western Digital 5200rpm 8 gig HD
Western Digital 7200rpm 15 gig HD
Creative Labs Annhiliator 2 GeForce 2 GTS 32mb ram
Diamond MX300 Sound card
NetGear FA310TX NIC
RealMagic Mpeg Decoder card
Acer 40x CD rom (generic)
Toshiba 5x DVD-Rom Drive
KDS VS-195 19" monitor
Aura Aspect 20 satellite speakers
Aura Aspect 40 subwoffer

Whew. That said, I'm currently upgrading to:

AMD Athlon 800mhz CPU
Abit KA7 motherboard (KX133 chipset)

Upon reading these forums, I've learned that my current soundcard may be incompatable with the kx133 chipset. If this is the case, can you all help me decide a new sound card?

The new soundcard much match this criteria

PCI
Compatable with above specs
Good for gaming
$50-100 max.

I'm looking into the SB Live Value, but I was wondering if the SB PCI 512 was comparable, better, worse, etc?

Any information into soundcards (I've been out of the loop for awhile) and what is the best 'bang for your buck' would be most appreciated. Thanks!

~Cy

 

[Prodigy^]

SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
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SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
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SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
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SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
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SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
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SB Live! Value
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SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value
SB Live! Value

Oh, and the SB Live! Value is also a good card

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=197400

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=197413

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=197135

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=193678

 

[duragezic]

I second that Prodigy^.

eagle

P.S. I'd say the SB PCI 512 is far worse but don't quote me on that.

 

[NFS4]

SB Live! is the way to go

 

[Piano Man]

I would recommend Tbeach Montego, but because of the compatiblity issue, I have to say the SB Live! with Digital Out(if you need it). Your speakers will be holding back the quality of the card(this is common though).

 

[CyStar]

Wow, thanks for the responses! I read the other threads as well and it seems to be an overwhelming decision that the SB Live! line is the one to go with. I'll most likely pick up the value just because I don't care for any of the software packages and pricewatch has em for $40-50. Anyone know if that is the price retail as well? Like at Best(worst)Buy or Circuit city? Thanks again!

 

[Prodigy^]

that sounds like a fair price

 

[PowerJoe]

Before you start buying things, why don't you try your current sound card? Oh, use the reference Aureal drivers from http://downloads.aureal.com, not the Diamond drivers. Diamond drivers suck. Diamond support sucks. Actually, the entire Diamond company sucks.

-PJ

 

[CyStar]

Don't get me wrong, I have every intention to make this sound card work. I love the MX300, it's not let me down yet. However, as I stated in my first post, after reading the forums and seeing what Epox posted abut aureal chipsets and the kx133 incompatability issues, I wanted to jump the gun and start to research and ask questions. As for diamond being a bad company, well, their products have never let me down. From the first voodoo card I had to the mx300, they've been solid and done everything I've expected and tweaked em to do. Sure their drivers suck, but I haven't used a manufacturer's driver for a sound card or video card in forever. Course, you could say that's due to Diamond's horrible driver support, and I'd agree, but then again, why use diamond's when developer drivers are generally more on top of things?

~Cy

Oh btw: Any good SB Live reviews out there? Seems alot of the review sites I visit are slim on sound card reviews.