Asus A7N8X query

Crazy Diamond · May 9, 2003, 09:21 PM

Does anyone know what the real difference between the deluxe and non deluxe versions of this board is?

How much better is the nVidia Sound Force thing than the realtek chip?

Dom · May 9, 2003, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crazy Diamond
Does anyone know what the real difference between the deluxe and non deluxe versions of this board is?

How much better is the nVidia Sound Force thing than the realtek chip?

There are a lot of differences. The deluxe model has onboard SATA with RAID, Dual LAN...the non-pro doesn't.

The onboard sound (nVidia Soundstorm) actually uses the Realtek chip to emulate the sound I believe, but it is in no way the same thing. Soundstorm is better and has ASIO, something that is normally not included with onboard sound.

fornicatarachnid · May 9, 2003, 09:40 PM

Here are a couple of reviews for the boards....

A7N8X

A7N8X Deluxe

Hope this helps you decide.

Crazy Diamond · May 9, 2003, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dom
There are a lot of differences. The deluxe model has onboard SATA with RAID, Dual LAN...the non-pro doesn't.

The onboard sound (nVidia Soundstorm) actually uses the Realtek chip to emulate the sound I believe, but it is in no way the same thing. Soundstorm is better and has ASIO, something that is normally not included with onboard sound.

I'm afraid I don't really know what those terms mean. What is SATA, RAID, ASIO?

Warning: Dumbass alert!

Dom · May 9, 2003, 09:54 PM

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment - ATA also know as IDE, the most common interface of hard drives and CD drives. ATA33, ATA66, ATA100, ATA133, the numbers next to ATA is how many MB can be tranfered per second. Most common is ATA100, SATA uses ATA150 (150mbps), SATA also uses a defferent interface than IDE or regular ATA.

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks - A data storage method in which data, along with information used for error correction, such as parity bits or Hamming codes, is distributed among two or more hard disk drives in order to improve performance and reliability. The hard disk array is governed by array management software and a disk controller, which handles the error correction. RAID is generally used on network servers. Several defined levels of RAID offer differing tradeoffs among access speed, reliability, and cost.

Crazy Diamond · May 9, 2003, 10:09 PM

Thanks - very informative! Any info on the ASIO SoundStorm thing?

scobywhru · May 10, 2003, 12:09 AM

Think of it this way, with the SoundStorm CPU utilization while playing any audio file, with or without any special filters like EAX or A3D uses less CPU cycles, power, mhz, whatever you want to call it. Think of it as a processor for sound, and nothing else comes close to its performance, not even the Audigy2

Seth965 · May 10, 2003, 12:23 AM

ASIO ( Audio Stream Input/Output), developed by Steinberg, is a cross-platform, multi-channel audio transfer protocol that is being adopted by many of the manufacturers of audio/MIDI sequencing applications. It allows software to have access to the multi-channel capabilities of a wide range of powerful sound cards.
ASIO expands on the basic capabilities of a standard computer sound card, most of which can only provide stereo (two-channel) audio input and output. The ASIO specification defines the interface that manufacturers of professional audio sound cards must use to create an ASIO driver for their hardware. This driver allows the host audio/MIDI application to "see" all of the inputs and outputs available on the sound card. The user can then assign these I/O ports as needed for recording or playback when using an ASIO-compatible software program. This allows the users to record more tracks simultaneously than the previous limitation of two channels imposed by a standard sound card.

NVIDIA SoundStorm .... please check this :

http://cn.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=ss_chs

scobywhru · May 10, 2003, 01:10 AM

Deluxe means more Features and more performance, since the regular one uses an onboard Realtek® ALC650 audio CODEC, which means its not using the full potential of the APU built in the nForce2 chipset, they use a cheaper one without the full soundstorm features, so you won't be able to get the features no matter what.

You could think of a soundstorm on board audio as a high end sound card, with all the bells and whistle you would want and lower CPU usage then any other sound card out there. it also has good SNR rating so you won't get as much humm and other noises when you try to play audio files, your speakers permiting

***craig5320*** · May 10, 2003, 01:15 AM

Jus installed the Deluxe one myself and it's a v. nice board, packed with everything.

Crazy Diamond · May 14, 2003, 05:04 PM

How does the sound capabilities on the normal A7N8X measure up, to something like a soundblaster live?

DarkFoss · May 23, 2003, 12:49 AM

Late post but I just bought the rev 2 A7N8X non deluxe for my daughter's rig; Great fast board Just pulled 4700+ in 3D Mark 2003(sound test failed not supported hardware) with only an AMD XP 2000 running stock 133 fsb with 2 sticks Corsair 2700ddr, Ati 9700 pro (the one I actually rma'ed from that nasty feline incident)
Damn things only 100 points less than my rig ..Hmm
Anyways Nforcershq's boards are full of sound problems with the non deluxe and I can vouch for that myself even though it's states on the box and on their webite 6 channel sound I've been completely unable to get more than front speakers and bass to work no rear/center at all ..no matter which drivers I use ..even went as far as to remove Nvidia's drivers and install realtec's latest AL 650's . Bottom line I'd spend the extra 25 bucks and get the deluxe ..unless you'd rather wait until Asus gets around to fixing the issue or by a soundcard. The deluxes sound is simple amazing.

May 9, 2003, 09:21 PM	#1
Crazy Diamond DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Wiltshire, UK Posts: 87 Rep Power: 0	Asus A7N8X query Does anyone know what the real difference between the deluxe and non deluxe versions of this board is? How much better is the nVidia Sound Force thing than the realtek chip?

May 10, 2003, 12:09 AM	#7
scobywhru DriverHeaven Senile Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Penthouse Basement Posts: 619 Rep Power: 0	Think of it this way, with the SoundStorm CPU utilization while playing any audio file, with or without any special filters like EAX or A3D uses less CPU cycles, power, mhz, whatever you want to call it. Think of it as a processor for sound, and nothing else comes close to its performance, not even the Audigy2 __________________

May 10, 2003, 01:10 AM	#9
scobywhru DriverHeaven Senile Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Penthouse Basement Posts: 619 Rep Power: 0	Deluxe means more Features and more performance, since the regular one uses an onboard Realtek® ALC650 audio CODEC, which means its not using the full potential of the APU built in the nForce2 chipset, they use a cheaper one without the full soundstorm features, so you won't be able to get the features no matter what. You could think of a soundstorm on board audio as a high end sound card, with all the bells and whistle you would want and lower CPU usage then any other sound card out there. it also has good SNR rating so you won't get as much humm and other noises when you try to play audio files, your speakers permiting __________________

May 10, 2003, 01:15 AM	#10
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,573 Rep Power: 445 System Specs	Jus installed the Deluxe one myself and it's a v. nice board, packed with everything. __________________ HardwareHeaven on Facebook

May 23, 2003, 12:49 AM	#12
DarkFoss HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Downers Grove IL Posts: 688 Rep Power: 0	Late post but I just bought the rev 2 A7N8X non deluxe for my daughter's rig; Great fast board Just pulled 4700+ in 3D Mark 2003(sound test failed not supported hardware) with only an AMD XP 2000 running stock 133 fsb with 2 sticks Corsair 2700ddr, Ati 9700 pro (the one I actually rma'ed from that nasty feline incident) Damn things only 100 points less than my rig ..Hmm Anyways Nforcershq's boards are full of sound problems with the non deluxe and I can vouch for that myself even though it's states on the box and on their webite 6 channel sound I've been completely unable to get more than front speakers and bass to work no rear/center at all ..no matter which drivers I use ..even went as far as to remove Nvidia's drivers and install realtec's latest AL 650's . Bottom line I'd spend the extra 25 bucks and get the deluxe ..unless you'd rather wait until Asus gets around to fixing the issue or by a soundcard. The deluxes sound is simple amazing. __________________ Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety,deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Ben Franklin, 1755

May 9, 2003, 09:40 PM	#3
fornicatarachnid Clanless Join Date: May 2002 Location: On the web, England UK Posts: 714 Rep Power: 0	Here are a couple of reviews for the boards.... A7N8X A7N8X Deluxe Hope this helps you decide.

May 9, 2003, 09:54 PM	#5
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Serial Advanced Technology Attachment - ATA also know as IDE, the most common interface of hard drives and CD drives. ATA33, ATA66, ATA100, ATA133, the numbers next to ATA is how many MB can be tranfered per second. Most common is ATA100, SATA uses ATA150 (150mbps), SATA also uses a defferent interface than IDE or regular ATA. Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks - A data storage method in which data, along with information used for error correction, such as parity bits or Hamming codes, is distributed among two or more hard disk drives in order to improve performance and reliability. The hard disk array is governed by array management software and a disk controller, which handles the error correction. RAID is generally used on network servers. Several defined levels of RAID offer differing tradeoffs among access speed, reliability, and cost.

May 9, 2003, 10:09 PM	Thread Starter #6
Crazy Diamond DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Wiltshire, UK Posts: 87 Rep Power: 0	Thanks - very informative! Any info on the ASIO SoundStorm thing?

May 10, 2003, 12:23 AM	#8
Seth965 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Ro / Constanta Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	ASIO ( Audio Stream Input/Output), developed by Steinberg, is a cross-platform, multi-channel audio transfer protocol that is being adopted by many of the manufacturers of audio/MIDI sequencing applications. It allows software to have access to the multi-channel capabilities of a wide range of powerful sound cards. ASIO expands on the basic capabilities of a standard computer sound card, most of which can only provide stereo (two-channel) audio input and output. The ASIO specification defines the interface that manufacturers of professional audio sound cards must use to create an ASIO driver for their hardware. This driver allows the host audio/MIDI application to "see" all of the inputs and outputs available on the sound card. The user can then assign these I/O ports as needed for recording or playback when using an ASIO-compatible software program. This allows the users to record more tracks simultaneously than the previous limitation of two channels imposed by a standard sound card. NVIDIA SoundStorm .... please check this : http://cn.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=ss_chs

May 14, 2003, 05:04 PM	Thread Starter #11
Crazy Diamond DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Wiltshire, UK Posts: 87 Rep Power: 0	How does the sound capabilities on the normal A7N8X measure up, to something like a soundblaster live?