Understanding Sound Cards

Non-integrated sound cards

The two most popular sound card vendors are Creative, which produces the Soundblaster line, and Turtle Beach.
Soundblaster: This was the original sound card, produced in 1989, and it dominates the market. The current models include:

Soundblaster Live!
Soundblaster Audigy
Soundblaster Audigy 2
Soundblaster Extigy (external, usb connection)


Turtle Beach produces the following cards:
Santa Cruz
Please note that with the exception of the Soundblaster Extigy, all sound cards mentioned here are internal PCI expansion cards.


Integrated sound cards and motherboard chipsets

Integrated sound controllers

Many motherboards, especially the lower end variety, have sound capabilitites built in as 'integrated audio'. The digital controller for integrated m/b sound is located in the m/b chipset, and the enabled/disabled status of the controller can be toggled in the BIOS.

The fact that the sound controller is integrated into the m/b doesn't mean that the sound is low quality. If the system has a lot of memory and a decently strong cpu, the sound is very good. The difference is that the CPU is burdened with more processing than in a system with a non-integrated card.

To find drivers for integrated sound cards, you find the page for the computer vendor/model or m/b vendor/model.

Asus
Abit
Gigabyte
Intel
MSI
Soyo

In order to download the right driver, you have to be able to recognize the motherboard. Click here for the training on recognizing motherboards.

A primer on motherboard chipsets


A tutorial discussion on chipset technology from hardwarecentral.com
Every motherboard has a 'chipset'. The chipset controls the flow of data on the m/b bus, and dictates how the indivicual devices on the m/m talk to each other. Each chipset has two components: the northbridge (positioned higher on the m/b) and the southbridge (positioned lower on the m/b).
You may download audio drivers specific to the chipset on the m/b to get the integrated audio to work. This is especially important for mom and pop systems with motherboards that are difficult to recognize. Since the chipset is always labeled, you may go to the chipset vendor's website and download the appropriate driver.


Here are some motherboard chipset websites:

Via
Intel Chipsets

Motherboards.org has a 'chipset' database you may refer to as well.