Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Getback on March 12, 2015, 08:32:50 AM
-
Thinking about getting a sound card and forgoing the onboard sound.
Any suggestions?
Thanks for any input.
-
I have the Creative SB 7.1 titanium in one of my rigs and I an looking at getting one of these for my second rig.. I am happy with the SB and the sound quality is awesome and their support is above reproach.
http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-
LawnDart
-
I use Sound Blaster ZxR now after testing just about everything else. I would recommend the Zx for gaming. The audio control module acts as a microphone pickup, can patch to an external mixer or what have you, and the software can adjust for background noise of your environment.
-
Challenge this is the one you are talking about correct???
(it was supposed to be my original post)
http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-zx
-
Don't mean to hijack but I was also thinking of getting a sound card.... I have a Logitech G35 surround sound headset. Does that take on the sound processing instead of a sound card?
-
I have the Zx and used the module. I now use this card with my ROCCAT Kave 5.1. I recommend the card.
-
+3 for the SB Z series........I also have the Zx card & use the module along w/ my Senneheiser 4GAME ZERO headset.
:aok :salute
-
Challenge this is the one you are talking about correct???
(it was supposed to be my original post)
http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-zx
Yes. It's probably the best card for AH IMO.
-
Challenge this is the one you are talking about correct???
(it was supposed to be my original post)
http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-zx
that's the one I have lawn, the sound is awesome. should have never replaced it with the one I have now.
semp
-
It would be interesting to compare what benefit (if any) a separate sound card would provide against a modern on-board sound solution like found in my budget build:
(http://i58.tinypic.com/dwf6hf.png)
The sound blaster site claimed '32.5 times better snr compared to motherboard audio' but in reality the zx has a SNR of 116db and this motherboard audio has a SNR of 115db.
-
It would be interesting to compare what benefit (if any) a separate sound card would provide against a modern on-board sound solution like found in my budget build:
(http://i58.tinypic.com/dwf6hf.png)
The sound blaster site claimed '32.5 times better snr compared to motherboard audio' but in reality the zx has a SNR of 116db and this motherboard audio has a SNR of 115db.
Funny that they don't mention frequency range at all nor have you considered the offloading of audio processing from the CPU.
-
Funny that they don't mention frequency range at all nor have you considered the offloading of audio processing from the CPU.
The Asus sound cards are extremely high quality, no need to mention frequency ranges. It's a given that they meet the specs.
Current CPUs laugh at audio loads. That may have been a concern 10 years ago.
Here's a measured response:
(http://aphnetworks.com/review/asus_striker_ii_nse/benchmarks/rmaa/fr.png)
-
Anyone have a minute to check this one out, sorry im at the office, supposed to be a gem find in the sub human gamer circles $35. at amazon
Asus Xonar DG
Seperate headphone amp
-
Ripley, you already lost this argument in a thread that went like six pages Onboard audio of any kind is the last place you want to go, and it does not matter how fast the CPU is.
-
The Asus sound cards are extremely high quality, no need to mention frequency ranges. It's a given that they meet the specs.
Asus uses C-Media sound chips. They do not design their own chips. C-Media may produce a version of their product for Asus exclusivley, but they are C-Media devices.
Current CPUs laugh at audio loads. That may have been a concern 10 years ago.
That statement does not counter the fact that onboard sound devices, sharing the memory bus, require more CPU time (running time, and dead time due to locking the bus), and cannot run in parallel to the CPU like a dedicated sound card, in a separate bus can.
As to how much an impact that is will vary from application to application. In a DAW environment where you are sampling and mixing at 24 bit/192Khz, you will notice the difference, as an example.
-
Skuzzy, I have the new Reaper (x64) DAW installed, but I also have the physical hardware for ADAT, Effects (Virtualizer), and graphic equalizer (which I use for the outputs to speaker). All of these tie into the firewire interface (Behringer FCA1616) and to Windows via ASIO. Which do you think will introduce the least amount of lag, the Virtualizer, or DAW with VST plugins?
-
Asus uses C-Media sound chips. They do not design their own chips. C-Media may produce a version of their product for Asus exclusivley, but they are C-Media devices.
That statement does not counter the fact that onboard sound devices, sharing the memory bus, require more CPU time (running time, and dead time due to locking the bus), and cannot run in parallel to the CPU like a dedicated sound card, in a separate bus can.
As to how much an impact that is will vary from application to application. In a DAW environment where you are sampling and mixing at 24 bit/192Khz, you will notice the difference, as an example.
This is a moot argument again like your catalyst thing. 10 years ago it may have mattered, today if you lose 1 frame per second from your 200+ it makes no real world difference at all.
-
Ripley, you already lost this argument in a thread that went like six pages Onboard audio of any kind is the last place you want to go, and it does not matter how fast the CPU is.
Lost which argument? There are onboard audio and there are onboard audio. Best onboard audio solutions have their own chips that offload them even from cpu. You're just stuck to ancient way of thinking.
-
You're trying to resurrect a long dead argument. The problem is that it is not one frame. The problem is that stuttering occurs, which is not only irritating but can cause long-term lockups at the worst possible times.
Again, onboard is the last thing you want to do, especially in a game like AH where consistent, smooth frame rates are so important.
-
This is a moot argument again like your catalyst thing. 10 years ago it may have mattered, today if you lose 1 frame per second from your 200+ it makes no real world difference at all.
Has nothing to do with frame rate. Here is where you show a level of ignorance in how the difference between true parallel I/O impacts the actual operation of a computer versus serializing all the I/O.
I really do not care if you want to believe the nonsense you are spewing, but I do care when it is being spewed at our player base. Please, just stop it.
What was true 10+ years ago, is still true today and is why Intel/AMD/NVidia all look to try and run as many parallel threads as they can. It is simply more efficient to overlap I/O so things do not stall.
-
Thank you Skuzzy. As an illiterate computer person I really need to be able to separate the BS from the facts. This is the only game I play and the only interaction I have with computer geeks.
-
See Rule #4
-
Wrong again, but I recognize someone reaching for a safety.
The Steam boards are full of people complaining about stutters in many, many games by all of the bigger software houses. Because of comments like yours it has become impossible to tell anyone that onboard audio is the issue. They will argue until the world ends that it is not their hardware.
-
See Rule #4
-
I never said that, Ripley. Stop putting words in my mouth.
-
Ripley you are so far off the mark, again. I am not going to allow this any longer. You have no idea what you are talking about. You are making statements which are blatantly false.
-
Skuzzy, I have the new Reaper (x64) DAW installed, but I also have the physical hardware for ADAT, Effects (Virtualizer), and graphic equalizer (which I use for the outputs to speaker). All of these tie into the firewire interface (Behringer FCA1616) and to Windows via ASIO. Which do you think will introduce the least amount of lag, the Virtualizer, or DAW with VST plugins?
That has a lot of variables in it, but from a logical perspective, the external hardware will be able to run when the plugins can't. Overall the hardware should offer a smoother experience, but it depends on the quality of that hardware.
I do not have firsthand experience with it, so all I can do is draw from logic.
-
Thinking about getting a sound card and forgoing the onboard sound.
Any suggestions?
Thanks for any input.
Back to this original question.
I am not going to make any suggestion, but this.
If you get a card which uses the same onboard chip as the motherboard does, you are going to lose efficiency. If you get a card which has a complete bus master solution with its own processor and RAM, you will gain efficiency.
How the efficiency is impacted will vary from computer to computer depending on the configuration of hardware and software.
-
Anyone have a minute to check this one out, sorry im at the office, supposed to be a gem find in the sub human gamer circles $35. at amazon
Asus Xonar DG
Seperate headphone amp
Reviews give this card "best value" for the money and looks like it always hits top 5 in the reviews, anyone have any experience with it?
-
Back to this original question.
I am not going to make any suggestion, but this.
If you get a card which uses the same onboard chip as the motherboard does, you are going to lose efficiency. If you get a card which has a complete bus master solution with its own processor and RAM, you will gain efficiency.
How the efficiency is impacted will vary from computer to computer depending on the configuration of hardware and software.
How will I know if it has it's own processor? Never mind I found one with it's own processor.
-
See Rule #4
-
Sorry sir, can we keep it on topic, the original thread starter asked for cards to consider, a few Sound Blasters were mentioned and I brought up the Xonar series. The DG in particular.
Anyone else have a sound card they use and have had good performance with it?
-
I have the xonar dsx. it's a good card. but I dont think it compares to a card like the sb z series. one thing about the xonar dsx i found funny is that it isnt color coded for the out puts. so you really have to mess around trying to figure out rear and side for 7.1. front center and mike are the only ones I saw clearly labeled :).
semp
-
See Rule #4
-
When I tested the Xonar DX I found them to be quite a bit noisier than the claimed 116dB SNR. At the time I thought that the original testing had been done under a very clean setting, and that the cards were picking up noise from my system. Then I put together a new system for someone and tested the card in a 'clean' system (no other peripherals) and found the same noise. The D2X was doing the same thing, particularly at the end of 'play-once' audio in games. You can be forgiving of vox noise, because you don't know the source, but clean game audio should remain clean.
The biggest problem I have with the cards is that they depend on Dolby for their precise 3D positioning algorithms. The cards also use OpenAL as one method, but in that case the precision is extremely lacking. In fact, in AH I would see position variations of about 30 degrees (estimated of course). I concluded that Dolby is a huge mistake for games like AH (verified since). The better X-Fi cards also use OpenAL (although not needed anymore) and even though they were not a whole lot better on noise offered the best 3D positioning available.
Enter the Z series, which has three flavors. The Z has a beam-forming mic, the Zx an audio control module, and the ZxR the ACM and daughter board for "Pro" level inputs. The ZxR offers the best SNR of all the cards at 124dB, which won me over immediately. The reason is simple. I use a 5.1 setup with speakers that are $160 each and while noise does not translate to distortion (necessarily) I still do not want to hear it when I am identifying an enemy tank location. Since most people will never need the DB Pro inputs the Zx is probably the better choice for most.
-
See Rule #4
You need to research "DirectX" and "Miles Sound System."
-
You need to research "DirectX" and "Miles Sound System."
So it seems 'special trickery' is indeed used. This means that I have to change my stance on the potential benefit.
So you can actually benefit from a sound card while using AH2 I stand corrected - but in my personal experience I haven't found any need for it.
-
It's magic mrripley, that's why all the sheep are gone from AH. they were sacrificed so we could have magical sound. I would rather have the sheep back and keep using onboard sound rather than spending money on a sound card :cry :cry :cry.
semp
-
It's magic mrripley, that's why all the sheep are gone from AH. they were sacrificed so we could have magical sound. I would rather have the sheep back and keep using onboard sound rather than spending money on a sound card :cry :cry :cry.
semp
Well don't worry I managed to rank in top 10 some tours in fighters using onboard sound when I still played more. It's about the pilot, not the computer. I never experienced any problems whatsoever using USB or onboard sound. I didn't bother to replace my creative card after it croaked some 10 years ago.
That's why I was so surprised how heavily they were emphasized.
-
. . . I would rather have the sheep back and keep using onboard sound rather than spending money on a sound card :cry :cry :cry.
Meanwhile, the cost of everything between the microphone Nady I use to the sound card itself exceeds the price of most users' entire systems. So much for individual preferences.
-
Meanwhile, the cost of everything between the microphone Nady I use to the sound card itself exceeds the price of most users' entire systems. So much for individual preferences.
challenge you telling me you exchanged your sheep for a good microphone and a sound card. say it isnt so, i miss my sheep :bhead :bhead :bhead :bhead.
semp
-
No! Never replace a good woman for a sorry sheep!
This is why you can't be a Bishop!
-
Well don't worry I managed to rank in top 10 some tours in fighters using onboard sound when I still played more. It's about the pilot, not the computer. I never experienced any problems whatsoever using USB or onboard sound. I didn't bother to replace my creative card after it croaked some 10 years ago.
That's why I was so surprised how heavily they were emphasized.
so why are you arguing about having a sound card?
semp
-
Semp,
I think that's why for the average gamer - Music Audio player the Xonar D series especially the dg at $30. is so popular, it accomplishes a couple things, its cheap, offloads the CPU and improves the sound quality.
Lately AH and Win amp are all I use with a mid $ range set of Logitech 5.1's
Everything I read today and the last few days point to a separate card, however more than I suspected including Toms Hardware and Audio Right Mark make the point that with the current ALC 889 I have the number of options not quality will be better.
Going to Fry's tonight, I waste more than $30 bucks in a blink on a lot less useful stuff.
Thanks all
PPS Ripley and Chalenge kiss and make up I enjoy reading your opinions :salute
-
ripley is just mad challenge stole his favorite sheep then trade it for a real woman. you know love stuff :).
semp
-
ripley is just mad challenge stole his favorite sheep then trade it for a real woman. you know love stuff :).
semp
Hmmmm........................ ........
Better go pop me a double bag of Orville Redenbacher's Ultimate Butter popcorn as this could get interesting.................. ..........
:D
-
Chalenge to Ripley or Ripley to Chalenge ?
I've grown accustomed to his text.
He almost makes the day begin.
I've grown accustomed to the tune that
he types night and noon.
His smiley faces, his frowns
his ups, his downs
Are second nature to me now;
Like breathing out and breathing in.
I was serenely independent and content to post before we met;
Surely I could always be that way again-
And yet
I've grown accustomed to his text;
Accustomed to his sheep
Accustomed to his posts
a stab at a Favorite Dean Martin tune
-
You all need help. Just saying.
-
we dont need help, we just well... yeah we do need help, but those sheep do really look good dont they?
semp
-
My rockave 5.1 is awesome with my recon 3d sound card
My onboard sound is alright when i tried it on military class mother board
To be honest your colonial Country and western music sounds odd on both set ups
-
My rockave 5.1 is awesome with my recon 3d sound card
My onboard sound is alright when i tried it on military class mother board
To be honest your colonial Country and western music sounds odd on both set ups
It came from Ireland.
-
See Rule #4
-
See Rule #4
-
I bought a sound card a probably better than a month ago and finally have it installed. I had other issues like bad stick of Ram and operator errors. So it took a while.
Bought the Soundblaster Z, the one that was 5.1 ready. I tell you I never knew so much sound was coming out the computer.
Following the operator error theme. When I first set it up I had no sound, I thought the volume needs raised. So I turned it up and turned it up some more. Then realized my speakers weren't on. Pressed on button and Blame. I almost blown out of the office. Quickly turned that down.
I don't think you are getting the full sound out of on-board audio.
-
Some of the on board audio with the x99 platform boards is very good, on par with the Creative SB Z IMO. MSI's x99 Gamer 7 board is the one I have, and the audio boost 2 on board sound is actually by Creative IIRC, and has boosted output for headphones that previously needed an amp of some kind to work properly. So, if you get a newer MB, IMO you don't need a sound card, as the on board audio is much, much better than previous on board sound.
-
I bought a sound card a probably better than a month ago and finally have it installed. I had other issues like bad stick of Ram and operator errors. So it took a while.
Bought the Soundblaster Z, the one that was 5.1 ready. I tell you I never knew so much sound was coming out the computer.
Following the operator error theme. When I first set it up I had no sound, I thought the volume needs raised. So I turned it up and turned it up some more. Then realized my speakers weren't on. Pressed on button and Blame. I almost blown out of the office. Quickly turned that down.
I don't think you are getting the full sound out of on-board audio.
Don't confuse output level to 'full sound'. If your source has a higher output level it just means that you get more sound at a lower volume setting.
-
After last statement i am now confused :)
-
After last statement i am now confused :)
Research has shown that if a person compares two audio devices of identical quality, but so that the other compared device has a higher output level (it's louder), the person will almost without fail think that the louder device sounds much better.
This psychoacoustical reason is also why radio channels use maximum compression so that their channel would sound the loudest of all.
-
So, if you get a newer MB, IMO you don't need a sound card, as the on board audio is much, much better than previous on board sound.
Except that despite the quality of the electronics it still suffers from the same limitations of every other onboard sound system.
-
Except that despite the quality of the electronics it still suffers from the same limitations of every other onboard sound system.
This link compares benchmarks taken with the creative separate card to onboard audio solution. The differences between performance are almost within the margin of error.
http://hothardware.com/reviews/Creative-Sound-Blaster-ZxR-Versus-Onboard-Audio?page=4
-
This link compares benchmarks taken with the creative separate card to onboard audio solution. The differences between performance are almost within the margin of error.
http://hothardware.com/reviews/Creative-Sound-Blaster-ZxR-Versus-Onboard-Audio?page=4
I do agree w/ this review on both counts......
My RIVG's onboard sound chip's inability to maintain fast frame rates was not it's weakness, it's sound quality output was, especially the bass response which I have noted was lacking on every onboard sound solution that I have owned to date & was 1 of the main reasons why I got discrete sound cards to use in all my prior boxes.
When I bought this RIVG 1 of the selling points was the potential of the onboard sound solution as it was reported to be heavily influenced by Creative X-Fi tech & in games the low frequency sound output, resonance & response is paramount for good gaming immersion & music reproduction, at least it is for me. The Realtek onboard chip just didn't deliver it to my satisfaction no matter what I did w/ the equalizer & so I went looking for a discrete card to put in my box & the 2 PCI-E vers of the Asus Xonar series cards I already have are the original Xonar DX & D2X that came out when MS Vista came out & so are not the better solutions to use at this time (I also have a PCI vers Xonar..the DS 7.1 that uses an auxillary power cable to power it but it's useless now as my box's mobo has no PCI slot) so I read on this BBS a post that mentioned this Creative SB Z series cards so I got 1 to try it out.......& the rest is academic from there.............
With the advent of graphics cards also being able to process surround sound as well the time is coming where even a discrete sound card will not be needed for sound output fidelity either....................
One day this will all become a moot subject in computer land......................
:salute
-
The Creative zX is better than my GA-Z87X-UD4H onboard audio with a built-in 600 ohm headphone amp (Realtek ALC898). The card has noticeable improvements in both gaming and music playback and rounded out my PC.
-
Again, not all onboard audio is created equal.
The latest x99 platform gaming MB from MSI and others have the Creative SB Cinema 2 chip, which from several comments I've read here and there is performing at least on par with dedicated SB cards in those users who have it opinions, which is my experience so far as well. There is very little out there in terms of reviews and data that I can find so far.
I have the SB Zx in one machine, and my x99 platform we just built has this on board new Creative audio. I don't have any testing equipment or methods, but they sound virtually identical with the different headphones I have.
From MSI's site -
The Creative Cinema 2 has
- Isolated audio PCB, which they claim " acts like a dedicated soundcard by physically isolating the audio circuitry which is separated by a red LED path. Less interference gives you a more clear audio signal."
- Direct audio power, " A dedicated power input to Audio Boost 2 allows for a more powerful and stable power delivery, resulting in a more explosive and pure sound experience."
- EMI shielding
- Dual headphone boosting/amps
- Professional Nichicon Japanese capacitors, specially designed for audio purposes
- Gold Audio connectors
- 5v stable audio power for USB DAC, which means little to me really.
- Capability to use a discrete direct power input, one can switch between this and MB supplied power
Anyhow, I'm not sure how all of this stacks up to the stand alone SB Z series on paper, but I can attest that the effect on the ears is the same, so far at least. I have no idea if the new SB Cinema 2 onboard uses more resources/CPU/MB or whatever power up, versus either older onboard sound systems or the Creative SB Z cards. I do like it though, and considering the system is a 5960x I'm not going to lose sleep over any loss of performance, as the sound as I said is at least as good as my system with the SB Zx. I hope the new Skylake motheboards will come with this better onboard audio, at least some of the "gaming" models anyway. If a stand alone card comes along that really trumps this onboard newer sound from MSI/Creative, I'll go back to doing it that way again.
-
Again, not all onboard audio is created equal.
The audio solution in my 'budget build' thread motherboard for example uses shielded components, high quality caps, dedicated headphone amplifier and the whole audio section is physically separated from the rest of the motherboard.
(http://www.pctekindia.com/Reviews/Z97PROGAMER/Compo_10f.jpg)
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/79905-asus-z97-pro-gamer/?page=8
-
Except it has never been about interference. It amazes me that just a month ago we had this same discussion and the problems with any and all onboard systems was clearly defined, and yet it is already forgotten.
You can listen to audio in the playback of a DVD on your system and it will be much clearer (perhaps) on the X99. Play audio in a video game like Aces High and the same old problems crop up. Again, this is not a problem in Aces High, but with the way onboard audio functions.
I didn't read anything in the specifications that indicates that the "new" onboard audio has independent memory, or a separate memory pathway, or anything else that might correct the issues in play.
-
Except it has never been about interference. It amazes me that just a month ago we had this same discussion and the problems with any and all onboard systems was clearly defined, and yet it is already forgotten.
You can listen to audio in the playback of a DVD on your system and it will be much clearer (perhaps) on the X99. Play audio in a video game like Aces High and the same old problems crop up. Again, this is not a problem in Aces High, but with the way onboard audio functions.
I didn't read anything in the specifications that indicates that the "new" onboard audio has independent memory, or a separate memory pathway, or anything else that might correct the issues in play.
Yep I'm in shambles with trouble. Steady 144fps, no stutters or problems. Maybe I should invest an extra 100 bucks to a sound card. :noid
-
Yep I'm in shambles with trouble. Steady 144fps, no stutters or problems. Maybe I should invest an extra 100 bucks to a sound card. :noid
but that's not really the question is it? built in sound chips still slow down the cpu. how much? well for some the extra 100 bucks it's worth while. after all you did spend 500 euros give or take on an internal ssd that really wont make your computer faster.
then again that is your money. but for some reason you only think that money the other guys spend is wasted and you spend money the right way :).
semp
-
There really is no way to ascertain the exact impact overlapped (100% asynchronous) audio will have versus serialized audio (100% synchronous), by using any existing applications. It is a fool's errand to try and do so. Only tells me that is a site to avoid any type of real idea of how anything works.
You want to know what overlapped I/O will buy, versus serialized I/O? Try running a render with Renderman (you might be able to accomplish it with Carrara 8.5 Pro too) set to the highest CPU priority AND playing a piece of music. You need to play the music before you start Renderman so it is preloaded into memory. Oh, the software used at that WEB site to measure will not work in this scenario. It cannot get any CPU time to run. The fallacy of such software.
Onboard audio will stammer and stutter, quite frequently. If you understand hardware and system software, you will understand why.
-
It's hard for me to gauge the improvement in an unbiased fashion since just threw some bucks on a new card. I will tell you I am happy with the sound.
-
Like I said,
There is very little out there in terms of reviews and data that I can find so far.
- so far as the "new" Creative built onboard "gaming" sound on a few of the newer x99 and supposedly forthcoming SKylake ready boards.
The only review I've found that even really touched on it, did a poor job in reviewing the audio IMO, and I've yet to find one that has compared say a common sound card like the Creative SB Z series or Asus Zonar to this new SB 2 onboard sound. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/X99S_GAMING_7/12.html is such an example. There have been a couple of youtube reviews of this Cinema 2 onboard sound, but they've not done anything such as Skuzzy recommended to test it, they've only really just offered the same observation that I've had, that the sound itself is about as improved as you get with the SB Z cards compared to previous onboard sound.
I'll download a rendering program and try running a render both with the Cinema 2 Creative OB sound and then I'll run it on another system with the Z card. I'll disable the onboard Cinema 2 sound on the MSI x99 board, and I'll stick the SB Zx card in there and try it as well, as it wouldn't be a fair or accurate test running a 5960x vs an older x79 system where my Zx card is currently sitting, as one will obviously render far faster, and possibly more smoothly than the other, which could make the music or song stutter for other reasons. So, I'll try and find the stuff in the bios to disable the onboard sound on the new MSI board, and try it.
-
Make sure all the CPU cores are at, or above, 98% utilization when you run the test. A good render program should have no issue doing that.
I know in my system the audio played perfectly using the sound card, while the onboard audio device cut out, dropped sections of audio and just did really badly. Now, to be fair, my onboard audio is a crappy RealTek chip. I would be interested to hear the results from other onboard devices.
I am certain it can be improved upon.
-
Make sure all the CPU cores are at, or above, 98% utilization when you run the test. A good render program should have no issue doing that.
I know in my system the audio played perfectly using the sound card, while the onboard audio device cut out, dropped sections of audio and just did really badly. Now, to be fair, my onboard audio is a crappy RealTek chip. I would be interested to hear the results from other onboard devices.
I am certain it can be improved upon.
This is a scenario almost soluely affecting rendering through, games do not push 4 or more cores to permanent 99% load. Having said that, even with the G3258 that only has two cores AH runs like a champ using the onboard solution.
-
This is a scenario almost soluely affecting rendering through, games do not push 4 or more cores to permanent 99% load. Having said that, even with the G3258 that only has two cores AH runs like a champ using the onboard solution.
Not talking about any "issue". Only talking about a proper way to gauge the impact overlapped I/O versus serialized I/O can have. The purpose of any such test is to actually attempt to find the true impact it can have. If you want to find a case where its impact is minimal, then that is quite easy to do as well. However, any decent benchmark would cover both cases.
Aces High, currently, only uses two cores and not full time. The granularity of any game is very large which hides many subtle gains made, unless the entire system (all cores included) are being utilized. That said, I have plenty of reports of sound stutters in my files, all related to the implementation of the sound chip.
Many motherboards layout the interrupts to be shared between the network chip and the onboard sound chip, or the SATA controller and the sound chip. So performance will vary from motherboard to motherboard.
The gains in using fully parallel I/O are quantifiable (physics and basic electronics are indisputable). Just because you cannot make use of the benefit does not mean there is no benefit.