PCI vs. USB Speed

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skubik

I guess this is a little of an odd question, but does anyone know which
is faster? PCI or USB? Reason I ask is that I'm deciding on whether to
get an internal (PCI) sound card, or an external USB2 one...
specifically the SB Audigy series.
More specifically, which method would utilize less CPU time?
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

- skubik.
 
I guess this is a little of an odd question, but does anyone know which
is faster? PCI or USB? Reason I ask is that I'm deciding on whether to
get an internal (PCI) sound card, or an external USB2 one...
specifically the SB Audigy series.
More specifically, which method would utilize less CPU time?
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

- skubik.
Click to expand...

PCI, PCI, and, PCI.


Dave
 
The only advantage of an external sound card is to get it away from electrically induced noise inside the PC and closer to your amps. I have never had any problems with internal sound cards, but some have complained of weird noises from motherboards with built in sound chips.
 
skubik said:
I guess this is a little of an odd question, but does anyone know which
is faster? PCI or USB? Reason I ask is that I'm deciding on whether to
get an internal (PCI) sound card, or an external USB2 one...
specifically the SB Audigy series.
More specifically, which method would utilize less CPU time?
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

You're buying a card made by Creative. It really doesn't matter which is
faster because it will never work 100% correctly.

USB *WILL* cause a bigger drain on CPU resources though.
 
The only advantage of an external sound card is to get it away from
electrically induced noise inside the PC and closer to your amps. I have
never had any problems with internal sound cards, but some have complained
of weird noises from motherboards with built in sound chips.That's not the only advantage. I wouldn't even say that it was the main
advantage. The main advantage as I see it is connectivity. Laptops, for
example, have really bad sound by default, and not much chance to change
it - unless you can plug a sound card into a USB port. Presumably (I haven't
tried this) it's easier to configure more than one sound card if one or both
of them are USB. And you don't have to open the case, so even clueless
newbies can get better sound from their system.

And weird noises from on-board sound are more likely because of the inherent
crapness of most on-board sound than electrical interference from other
components.
 
Phrederik said:
You're buying a card made by Creative. It really doesn't matter which is
faster because it will never work 100% correctly.

USB *WILL* cause a bigger drain on CPU resources though.
Click to expand...

I kinda thought that might be the case. As for who makes the soundcard,
any other suggestions what to consider?

- skubik.
 
electrically induced noise inside the PC and closer to your amps. I have
never had any problems with internal sound cards, but some have complained
of weird noises from motherboards with built in sound chips.
That's not the only advantage. I wouldn't even say that it was the main
advantage. The main advantage as I see it is connectivity. Laptops, for
example, have really bad sound by default, and not much chance to change
it - unless you can plug a sound card into a USB port. Presumably (I haven't
tried this) it's easier to configure more than one sound card if one or both
of them are USB. And you don't have to open the case, so even clueless
newbies can get better sound from their system.

And weird noises from on-board sound are more likely because of the inherent
crapness of most on-board sound than electrical interference from other
components.
Click to expand...

The post was about ADD-ON sound, not integrated.

PCI is faster, leaves more time for other devices, uses less CPU time,
less USB bandwidth and power allowance, is cheaper, and in general
it's always better to keep all parts of same system, within same
system. The two primary advantages of USB sound are: no PCI slot
available, is all that's left without taking away existing
functionality of the system, or user is willing to tolerate
disadvantages in order to have a BOB (break out box) for audio I/O on
their desktop.

However I'd have to agree with a previous poster's comment that
Creative products seem doomed even before purchase. Then again I'm
biased since I can't even count how many times I've had to wade
through the CL joke-of-a-website to find drives, instead of the quite
simple process it is with other value-added-resellers.

Dave
 
I kinda thought that might be the case. As for who makes the soundcard,
any other suggestions what to consider?

- skubik.
Click to expand...

It is an open-ended question, the answer to which depends on your
needs... you didn't mention those needs.


Dave
 
The only advantage of an external sound card is to get it away from
The post was about ADD-ON sound, not integrated.
Click to expand...

The *original* post was about add-on sound, yes, but the post I was replying
to wasn't. Sorry, I forgot to quote it. The bit I was responding to in my
second paragraph was "I have never had any problems with internal sound
cards, but some have complained of weird noises from motherboards with built
in sound chips."

The bit I was responding to with the first paragraph was "The only advantage
of an external sound card is to get it away from electrically induced noise
inside the PC and closer to your amps."
PCI is faster, leaves more time for other devices, uses less CPU time,
less USB bandwidth and power allowance, is cheaper, and in general
it's always better to keep all parts of same system, within same
system.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I wasn't saying that USB sound cards are better than PCI in all
cases or anything like that. I was pointing out that there are situations
other than an attempt to eliminate electrical interference where a USB
device is a feasible and attractive option. Not that it applies to me - I'm
currently using an ISA sound card...

Actually, although in general I agree that it's best to keep all your bits
together (that's what the case is *for*, after all), the advent of USB's
hot-swap ability has given more options to the consumer. For example, after
my internal modem blew up and my partner's myteriously died I went out and
bought a USB modem. Now we can share the modem just by swapping the modem
from one USB port to another, which in our case is way more accessible than
changing the phone line. Obviously, you wouldn't necessarily want something
like a hot-swappable graphics card, but to quote the capitalist mantra:
Choice Is Good.
The two primary advantages of USB sound are: no PCI slot
available, is all that's left without taking away existing
functionality of the system, or user is willing to tolerate
disadvantages in order to have a BOB (break out box) for audio I/O on
their desktop.

However I'd have to agree with a previous poster's comment that
Creative products seem doomed even before purchase. Then again I'm
biased since I can't even count how many times I've had to wade
through the CL joke-of-a-website to find drives, instead of the quite
simple process it is with other value-added-resellers.
Click to expand...
I've only got two Creative products - my ISA Sound Blaster which has never
caused me a problem, and a GeForce 2. The GF2 is almost exactly identical to
the NVIDIA reference card and hasn't caused me any problems except that I
needed to RMA the first one and this is a replacement. I agree that the
Creative site isn't especially easy to navigate, but the drivers are
relatively painless to find. Technical Support -> Drivers -> say which
product and which OS, IIRC.
 
The *original* post was about add-on sound, yes, but the post I was replying
to wasn't. Sorry, I forgot to quote it. The bit I was responding to in my
second paragraph was "I have never had any problems with internal sound
cards, but some have complained of weird noises from motherboards with built
in sound chips."
Click to expand...

True, that can happen, usually a result of the video card.
The bit I was responding to with the first paragraph was "The only advantage
of an external sound card is to get it away from electrically induced noise
inside the PC and closer to your amps."
Click to expand...

Somewhat, but not entirely true... without exception, motherboard
(onboard) sound always has inferior filtering (compared to normal, not
"economized" cards). There is only so much motherboard real-estate
devoted to onboard sound, which inevitably reduces sound quality, even
on that funky Aopen board with the tube on it.
Absolutely. I wasn't saying that USB sound cards are better than PCI in all
cases or anything like that. I was pointing out that there are situations
other than an attempt to eliminate electrical interference where a USB
device is a feasible and attractive option. Not that it applies to me - I'm
currently using an ISA sound card...
Click to expand...

Sometimes I just make comments, not directly related to the previous
post, but relating to the OP, so I can continue to be lazy and just
get a few words in without starting a whole new post. On the other
hand, as great as USB is, it's always the second choice when an
internal card will do the same job, even though it badly needs updated
to PCI-X, which should've happend about 4 years ago, IMHO.
Actually, although in general I agree that it's best to keep all your bits
together (that's what the case is *for*, after all), the advent of USB's
hot-swap ability has given more options to the consumer. For example, after
my internal modem blew up and my partner's myteriously died I went out and
bought a USB modem. Now we can share the modem just by swapping the modem
from one USB port to another, which in our case is way more accessible than
changing the phone line. Obviously, you wouldn't necessarily want something
like a hot-swappable graphics card, but to quote the capitalist mantra:
Choice Is Good.
Click to expand...

Umm, maybe, but it also depends on the resources available... Before I
used broadband 'net access, I had a dial-up router which was MUCH
better alternative than swapping modems around or using one of the
machines for sharing access. Also consider that 2 PCI winmodems
might be same price as a single USB winmodem.

I've only got two Creative products - my ISA Sound Blaster which has never
caused me a problem, and a GeForce 2. The GF2 is almost exactly identical to
the NVIDIA reference card and hasn't caused me any problems except that I
needed to RMA the first one and this is a replacement. I agree that the
Creative site isn't especially easy to navigate, but the drivers are
relatively painless to find. Technical Support -> Drivers -> say which
product and which OS, IIRC.
Click to expand...

Depends on the particular product... I have accumulated a lot of CL
product, which is far easier to find the driver for after I tried
multipler drivers, identified the proper driver and named it
appropriately after archiving it... CL seems to go to extra pains to
make it as difficult as possible to update the drivers. It's a
really simple thing that *almost* every other reseller manages to do
much better than CL does.


Dave
 
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