on board Realtek ALC888 vs Audigy 2zs

[Halestorm]

Hey guys, maybe you could give me some help with a small problem i have. This is my frist post, but i've been a long time lerker of the reviews :D

Ok, so I have a set of creative inspire 5.1 surround sound speakers, and a set of sennheiser pc 161 headphones.

My audigy is nice and currently installed, but due to the pin lay outs i cannot use my front audio hub on my antec 900. This means i have to unplug and reconnect my speakers whenever i want to play games or use my headphones.

Question is, should i take out my audigy and use my Realtek ALC888 that is onboard my gigabyte ep45-ds3l or leave the audigy and just have the inconvience of unplugging and reconnecting my speakers.


Full system specs as follows:

Gigabyte EP45-DS3l
e4500 at 3.0 ghz
2X 1gb of buffalo firestix
9800gtx+
1X 500gb WD
1X 320gb seagate
coshair 620HX
and of course the Audigy 2zs.


Any help to my small issue would be appreciated.

I am a little bit of an audiophile, but will i notice that much difference in the on board and the audigy? and how much more cpu power will it use if i used the onboard sound?


Thanks guys.

[cadaveca]

If you are in Vista, yes, use the ALC888.


Actually, scratch that...try them both out for yourself, adn see what sounds best to you. Personally, I think the 888 is better, but only in Vista.

[enaberif]

The onboard will be much better all around.

[Halestorm]

thanks guys,

im on xp, but ill give it a try... stupid audigy never gave me anything but problems anyway lol :D

[Halestorm]

K i actually like the onboard sound much better than my audigy. As crazy as it sounds, it seems to be driving my subwoofer more without the tiny thing bottoming out... which is awesome.. and now i have headphone support right in the front of the pc which makes me a very happy camper..

thanks guys.