New sound card in old computer?

[glarson52]

I have an old HP Pavilion (specs below). When I upgraded the video card, I was advised not to bother getting a top of the line card because the CPU and the rest of the system wouldn't be able to handle the output anyway. So I got a TNT2 card and it has worked out fine.

Now I want to replace the sound card (specs below). Do I need to look for an older, not too powerful sound card? If so, does anyone have any specific suggestions? Thanks.


Here are the computer specs:
HP Pavilion 8652C Desktop PC
Model number P1309A
Base processor and speed Intel Pentium (R) III 550 MHz processor
Maximum HP supported replacement: Intel Pentium III 650 MHz (socket 370, 100 MHz)
Chipset Intel 810, Rev A3
Memory
256 MB (2 x 128 MB DIMM)
Speed 100 MHz synchronous

Here are the present sound card specs:
Sound/audio
Compatibility 3-D Stereo, PCI, 16-bit Sound
Controller AMC97 codec
Location Rockwell Riptide combo card
Noise Cancellation Yes
Line Out Yes
3-D Spatializer Yes
Wavetable Yes
Tone Control No

 

[franklin97355]

What is it you expect to accomplish by swapping the sound card?

 

[Nathan123]

You can put any type of sound card even if its the expensive type or the cheaps you can find as long as its a PCI card and always check the description at the back of the soundcard box if it will be able to handle your unit. But base on my experince in PC assembly I dont see anything that can stop you from doing so. Good Luck and enjoy the power of your new sound card.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

You can stick pretty much any PCI sound card in there, but whether it hits the CPU or not depends on the soundcard; A good sound card will proudly proclaim that it does not steal CPU cycles. Actually, they all do - even if it's only I/O calls, DirectX or other multimedia extensions and so on.

However, on-board audio hammers the CPU, so any sound card is going to be less of a drain. I'd recommend the SBLive! There's no point getting an Audigy, unless you're serious about recording or sound quality - in which case I'd recommend an M-Audio or Turtle Beach card instead, for true 24-bit/96Khz sound. The SB Audigy doesn't really cut it here - and don't talk to me about latency!

If your budget is up to it, and you're serious about your audio, then Echo are about as good as it gets. If you're going pro, of course, you'd want DigiDesign Pro Tools.

If you don't need to record at all, the SBLive! player cards are really cheap and sound pretty good - and don't steal too much CPU.

As Franklin97355 implies, it depends on what you want to accomplish.

I hope this is helpful

 

[glarson52]

As far as any questions about use, my teenage son plays a lot of games on this computer. I realize the system is not adequate for the latest and greatest releases but there are games that came out over a year ago that work except for decent sound. I have installed the latest drivers for the Rockwell Riptide, and tweaked what I know about, so I am hoping a non-motherboard integrated card will help. I don't want to spend a lot of money on a card that will overwhelm the system and I know there are older cards out there that might work better in this particular computer (given its limitations) than the cutting edge ones. Any suggestions (sound problemwise) or for specific cards I should look for? Thanks.