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CT2830 vs CT3980 Socket 7 Build?

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First post, by T3LF0Rd

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Hi All,

Finally gotten around to building my Socket 7 IBM Aptiva desktop and am stuck on one simple question... I have two old ISA sound cards laying around - a CT2830 and a CT3980 and was wondering which one would be better for the build which will be playing old DOS games and Windows games up until 1997/8ish.

I think from reading other posts that the CT2830 has a note hanging bug, but it is also my understanding it is one of the last to use a Yamaha chip?

Im not sure if that matters much as i have a DB-X50G Daughterboard i will be using on either card? The CT3980 also has both of its memory sockets filled with RAM.

For DOS MIDI i also have a Roland MPU-401 card which will be hooked up to at CM-64.

Im leaning towards the CT3980 but just wanted some professional opinions on which sound card before committing to the build.

Thanks!

Reply 1 of 2, by The Serpent Rider

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but it is also my understanding it is one of the last to use a Yamaha chip?

No. CT1747 was manufactured for Creative by Yamaha. It has authentic OPL3 and overall the best SB16/AWE32 series chip you can get.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 2 of 2, by jesolo

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Both cards have the CT1747 bus interface chip which has an integrated OPL-3 core. Cards with this chip doesn't have the MIDI hanging note bug.

Also to point out is that the CT3980 is a Plug 'n Play card, whereas the CT2830 is not.

My CT3980 also has this crackling noise when playing back digital samples and I realised that by disabling the high DMA channel (i.e., assign the high DMA channel to use the same as the low DMA channel) resolves this problem.

The CT3980 is an AWE32. If you are planning on using a MIDI daughterboard, then you might not need the AWE32 at all.

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