First post, by Tetrium
- Rank
- l33t++
So I've been wondering this for a while now.
I know PCI sound cards (I mean especially the 1st generation of PCI sound cards like Soundblaster 128 PCI and Vortex and about that age) produce sound mostly by software, which I though slowed the rest of the system down due to the processor being used to produce the sounds.
Now ISA sound cards often have real hardware sound acceleration like OPL3 and whatsnot, but I also read that using a single ISA card in an otherwise PCI-only system also slows the rest of the system down.
Now, I know very little about sound cards. All I basically know is how to ID a card, install it's driver and have it produce sound.
Now the question is, if I build a new system, what will be slower? An ISA sound card or a PCI sound card? Or doesn't it matter if I use an ISA sound card or not?
Mind you, I'm a real sound card newb here, so feel free to enlighten me 😅