Audigy 2 ZS is what I'd go with

oeuvre wrote:

Audigy 2 ZS is what I'd go with

I second this.

For Win98, you should also have a Vortex 2 card.

gdjacobs wrote:

For Win98, you should also have a Vortex 2 card.

looking for card that work best for both 98 and xp

oeuvre wrote:

Audigy 2 ZS is what I'd go with

is a particular model or any of them

and do you with external hub thing or is ports all of the card itself

External Hub thing no. You want a PCI card or a PCMCIA if this is a laptop.

ok and that be good for win98 and xp games

Robhalfordfan wrote:

gdjacobs wrote:

For Win98, you should also have a Vortex 2 card.

looking for card that work best for both 98 and xp

So, don't use it for XP. For some Win98 titles, A3D is a vastly better experience.

Audigys you need to use the VXD drivers if u want sb16 emulation in 98se. For DOS I've heard audigys are not as good as like SB Live 5.1. None of them are as good as a real SB16 or AWE32 ISA. Unless you have a mobo that supports SB-Link.

Just a cheap card that works good for 98 and xp is SB LIve 5.1 also

Warlord wrote:

For DOS I've heard audigys are not as good as like SB Live 5.1.

That's like debating the kind of torture you prefer.

Do you need a gameport for a joystick?
When I look at Audigy2 ZS on eBay, the main card doesn't have one.
The gameport came on a separate bracket, like ----> this one <-----
but most cards on eBay are sold without it.

the mobo as a built in gameport (nae bothered too much) and I have no intendion of running dos game in this rig (like I said in first post - I have another rig for that)

looking for best sound card to cover win98 to early-mid XP era (the card I am temp using is soundblaster pci512 is fine enough but noticed audio stuttering in some xp games like doom 3)

gdjacobs wrote:

Robhalfordfan wrote:

gdjacobs wrote:

For Win98, you should also have a Vortex 2 card.

looking for card that work best for both 98 and xp

So, don't use it for XP. For some Win98 titles, A3D is a vastly better experience.

what do you mean and what a3d stand for

Robhalfordfan wrote:

what do you mean and what a3d stand for

A3D is a type of positional 3D sound that's supported in many games from the time period you mentioned.
You can read more about it at the Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A3D

skitters wrote:

A3D is a type of positional 3D sound that's supported in many games from the time period you mentioned.
You can read more about it at the Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A3D

Yes, A3D is the 3D audio technology used by Aureal. It competed with EAX from Creative during the Win9x time frame.

dont think that would do and look for best for both xp and 98 using one card

You do realize you don't have to use it in XP, right?

i know but wanna use one card for both o.s. and have more free slots for future expansion

if it worth doing have two separate card for sound then was thinking of doing that along the graphics card

more is in this post of that - agp and pci graphics at same time

also when i everything fine tuned and sorted is use kvm for all my rigs for cleaner setup when this rig is when i feel is just perfect (may take a while)

Robhalfordfan wrote:

looking for best sound card to cover win98 to early-mid XP era (the card I am temp using is soundblaster pci512 is fine enough but noticed audio stuttering in some xp games like doom 3)

So by "best PCI sound card" you are mainly looking for clean sound with no stuttering?
(not any type of 3D sound like A3D or EAX)