Sound Blaster 5.1 Not Compatible!?

[Zigen]

I had a pc built for me last week and had placed an order for a Sound Blaster 5.1 card with it. I thought all was well until I went in to pick up my new pc.
They told me that the soundcard is not compatible with my mother board (Asus A7M266 AMD DDR).
I emailed Creative Labs tech support and theyre response was (So long as the motherboard is PCI2.1 compliant *the standard for the last 2 years or so* then it should work fine.)
So does anyone know why my pc shop would tell me the sound card is non compatible???
Also does anyone know if a Creative Labs SB Audigy XGamer PCI sound card will work on my pc?

 

[CitrixEngineer]

Creative's response is correct. Your PC Shop would appear to be mistaken.

I have seen nothing relating to this on any of the other forums I subscribe to, including Creative's.

There is no reason I can think of that an SB card of any description would not work in an ASUS (or any other x86 compatible PCI 2.x compliant motherboard).

Unless it was put into the slot that is shared with the PCI bridge (slot 2, I think).

An old habit of mine is to always put the sound card into the slot furthest away from the graphics card. This is not so important now, but old habits die hard - and all my sound cards in all of my home machines (9 of them!) work perfectly. They are all Creative SBs.

I hope this helps you. CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[Zigen]

So I should not have a problem if I buy and install a soundblaster sound card then?

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I didn't say that, precisely... ;-)

Seriously, it _should_ work. I can see absolutely no reason why not. I've never seen one not work in any board - even my old original Sound Blaster (8-bit ISA with FM synthesis).

However, I'd trawl through this forum (and Creative's) if you want to find out the sort of problems you might have!


Good Luck! CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[Jakespeare]

FACTS:

Citrix knows his, I won't dispute his fine research.


My facts: I owned an Asus A7M266 as my personal mainboard for over 6-months.
** I RAN A SB LIVE 5.1 **
( I ALSO BUILT SEVERAL OF THESE EXACT SYSTEMS, and never had a problem with a SB LIVE 5.1 - other than the fact that they are resource hogs, and you have to De-Tune that awful software)

The PC Shop is wrong. Either Rookies or old-timers who do NOT know what they are talking about, and who do NOT know how to set up a new computer..........
and speaking of NEW computers, why are you using an OLD MAINBOARD ???
WHY ?
That board is OLD........ it is a good board, but rather Slow compared to a mainboard with the KT266A chipset.

I don't like the ASUS A7V266-E - it has RAID built in,
but the NEW mainboards like the EPOX 8KHA+ offer some good performance gains over the "Old" AMD Chipset that is on that board.
Anyway, probably too late to change, and you didn't get a lame board, it's just I suspect those boys are behind the times. ( The evidence speaks for itself).

 

[Zigen]

Thanks for the responses and the help.

 

[ggabbit]

Maybe you should take a look to

http://www.viahardware.com/686bfaq.shtm.

The guys you bought the PC from could be right.
Also, there is something of an remedy,

http://www.viahardware.com/download/viatweak.shtm

or

http://www.viahardware.com/download/george/vlatency_v014.zip.

You could try it.

Hope this helps.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

The first link (partly) deals with the "popping" issue - which this patch only partly resolves. It doesn't confirm that the card does not work with ASUS boards. I have a 686b chipset on my Abit KG7 RAID, with an SBLive Platinum, and can confirm that this patch does stop some of the popping and crackling, but not all.

CE CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[Jakespeare]

I didn't even bother to read that posts links. Sure, I looked at the post, but I know what I know.

SB Live *5.1*' is different from *OLD* SB Live, and the SB Live *VALUE*.
I have NOT had a problem. I also didn't hear any popping, and I have some Nice Creative Labs DTS speakers (5.1 surround sound) and I play DVD movies. I would have noticed any problems, and I sure as hell would have heard about it from customers! I didn't.

What can I say ? I only have personal experience to work with in this matter, and never saw a problem with the SB Live 5.1. (except as mentioned in my 1st post about being a resource hog and having to detune the software).

 

[CitrixEngineer]

As an audiophile, I notice the crackling - however, my S/O always says "what crackling?".

It's not a significant issue - unless, like me, you're used to "squeaky-clean" sounds that you get in professional recording studios!

It totally depends on your expectations from the system, how much strain you put on the SBLive, and how finicky you are about what it sounds like.

Most low-budget home "hi-fi" units suffer from mains pops occasionally - but who really notices? CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[Jakespeare]

Heh, heh.
It's true, the standard of excellence is really a matter of personal tolerance and expectations. However, I never noticed *anything* like pops of noise pollution. Now, my brother the classical pianist, would probably have a different opionion, as might you. I mean, I'm picky, and I think I would have noticed pops, or distortion, etc. I just didn't hear it.
Now I have an Audigy, and it's 3 times what the old SB Live 5.1 was, and I still hear nothing but clean.


** Hear (here, hear, whatever) is where the real audiophiles that I have had as customers have an issue: CD-R recording. It's in the playback that they hear noise. However, it's usually hard drive noise. I still don't know how to get rid of that. OH!, maybe mount the hard drive OUTSIDE the case ?

OH, which brings me to the next outside the box: Sound Blaster has a NEW sound card setup, the External sound card. That might be the HOT TIP! (for the audiophile / audio recording specialist)

 

[Zigen]

I heard about that external card I believe its called the soundblaster extigy. I think I might give that a try!