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Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: theomen on January 15, 2005, 06:15:40 PM

Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: theomen on January 15, 2005, 06:15:40 PM: I\'m going to try to boost my notebooks ability to game, and I\'m thinking of an external sound card. Now wouldn\'t an external Soundcard take some pressure off the cpu and raise performance, or would the addition of USB slow it down?

I\'ve googled it but to no avail. And would it even be worthwhile to add the soundcard to a notebook.
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: THX on January 15, 2005, 07:28:49 PM: Yea, taking the sound away from the motherboard and onto a hardware based card noticably raised the FPS when tons of sounds came on. There are exceptions to this rule but for the most part people get a dedicated sound card for gaming.

A simple way to test is to go into your BIOS and disable the onboard sound, then test out your games.
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: theomen on January 15, 2005, 07:31:11 PM: well I know about soundcards on a desktop, but I\'m talking external USB sound card for a notebook, do you think it\'ll be benneficial this way. I just imagine the usb transfer taking more cpu power than it would be saving.
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: THX on January 15, 2005, 07:51:08 PM: I\'m pretty sure the USB transfer is similar to the PCI transfer that works right on the motherboard, meaning you\'ll see performance gains.
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: theomen on January 15, 2005, 08:15:52 PM: [napolean dynamite mode] Sweeet![/]

thanks, I thought so but I needed someone to confirm my thoughts.
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: §ôµÏG®ïñD on January 15, 2005, 09:23:01 PM: onboard = cpu usage.. APU = non cpu usage... Of course it will increase your fps. gezz..
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: Evi on January 15, 2005, 09:44:39 PM: [Yoda]Increase your performance, it will[/Yoda]
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: theomen on January 15, 2005, 10:50:55 PM: I was just double checking myself, I\'m not going to go and buy an external card and find out I wasted my money
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: mm on January 15, 2005, 11:53:25 PM: it will, but barely

best bet is to upgrade the cpu and graphics card (if possible)
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: theomen on January 15, 2005, 11:58:04 PM: yeah, well I can\'t upgrade the gpu thanks to it being soldered but people who have this notebook have been playing HL2 in med to high settings with 30ish fps. I\'m just trying to get ready for it\'s arivall with the goodies to squeek out a little more power.

Next paycheck I\'ll pick up a Gig of ram and maybe a 7200 rpm hdd. I figure with those, ocing the vid card a little, and omega drivers, I should be able to play decently.
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: THX on January 16, 2005, 12:23:51 AM: That thing sounds like it\'ll get hot! I have a meager celery 1.5 with radeon 7500 and I have to take it off my legs because of the heat.
Title: Sound Card, increase FPS?
Post by: theomen on January 16, 2005, 12:45:57 AM: It might, but I\'ve been lurking in a forum dedicated to the little bastard and a couple people have them oced quite a bit with no complaints. If it gets too hot I\'ll pick up a notebook cooler for 10 bucks or so. Some of them are pretty sweet little setups, running completly off the USB port.