ISA and PCI Sound Cards

[yardape13]

Was wondering if someone could help me with the difference. I'm thinking about going with this motherboard:
Epox 8KEM Socket A Motherboard w/ Duron 950 . I want to buy stereo-quality speakers, so is it essential that I buy a certain card for that sound? thanks for any help!

 

[Jakespeare]

Hi.
ISA is Dead. Just rule that out as an option. Period.

That mainboard doesn't even support ISA.
>EPoX EP-8KEM VIA KLE133 2DIM UDMA100
******* 3PCI Video/Audio M-ATX

The difference between ISA & PCI is the performance,
and the Interface.
> ISA = 16 BIT and NOT Plug & Play (generally - I don't want any silly arguments over this)
> PCI = 32 BIT and PLUG & Play

**** SOME ADVICE. DO NOT buy the Duron 950. It cost almost as much as an ATHLON, only a $5 diffference, than a 900 MHz ATHLON .... and is MUCH LESS processor. Shop around........ check out

http://www.newegg.com

or

http://www.pricewatch.com

Sound Blaster sound cards are the industry standard these days, and you can buy a PCI 128 for about $22.

Have fun.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

ISA is far from dead. If you want a very cheap soundcard that works with the majority of games, the 16-bit Soundblaster pro, the AWE 32 or 64 are more than adequate. PCI versions of these cards can be picked up for $10 on any auction site.

I won't argue about P&P, but Windows 9x + systems always auto-detect a genuine SB card and provide working, adequate drivers.

The Epox 8KEM doesn't have an ISA slot, though, so to answer the original question, your choice is made for you.


No-one asked about processors

CE

 

[paparazi]

Go with the flow! if your buying new then make it PCI because it is a faster interface and devices will plug and play(auto detect)
Most cards offer stereo nowadays so practily anything will do, but to future proof availability of drivers etc then as has been said something like a Creative labs 128 would be the one to go for. Martin

 

[ceh4702]

Last time my company ordered IBM computers there were no ISA slots. This is a growing trend. I have seen some GPA slots that might work with a short ISA card according to the bios option. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[neomagic]

Yardape13,
Sounds like your gonna go for quality, know what your getting before you get it too include speakers. Don't make the mistake of buying digital speakers and a analog sound card w/no digital output. Also rember not to buy those appealing surround sound speakers only to find out your sound card only has one output! That can hurt the wallet.
As to the ISA/PCI issue, ISA/Legacy is being forced out by the industry and you can see it in the new pc's being built and also by the operating systems. Win2K has limited legacy support and forget it with XP. Were moving to the 64bit world. You don't want to buy a gasoline operated vehicle when there is no gas and everybody is on electric.:~/