Ney

Hi!

I have a Inspire 4.1 and don't plan to change it.

I also have a SB Live Value (and I like it), but since it's time to upgrade my computer, I'm getting a new sound board too.

There are 2 things I really gotta get: a new motherboard and firewire (onboard or pci).

I'm undecided between buying an Asus A7n8X-e Deluxe (Soundstorm, firewire) or a cheaper motherboard together with an Audigy 2 ZS.

Is the Audigy 2 ZS overkill for these speakers?

Will I notice much difference (with the Inspire) going from a Live to any of these cards?

The performance hit with some AC'97 (if I decide to walk a cheaper path) is that high compared to my Live?

My CPU is an Athlon XP 1600+ and I'll upgrade to a Barton 2600+ at most. Motherboard is ECS K7VTA2.

Thanks a lot in advance!

dj_stick

well the A2ZS may have higher sound quality than the soundstorm… compare the SNR, noisefloor etc…
but a high quality m/b is more expensive to replace than a soundcard - maybe the sound card is the best bet

i could not tell any difference between an SB live! on kX(higher snd quality than creative drivers) and soundstorm, but the audigy 1 model i now have is far better

also the A2ZS supports EAX 3/4 if you are into gaming

also the cpu usage would be much lower on a soundcard - even the the nvidia APU takes alot of the strain away…

EDIT: audigy 1/2/zs boards have at least one firewire port built in as well - and most have an internal expansion for a frontpanel connector aswell

__________________