Grab an inexpensive Sound Blaster Live, and I am almost 100% certain that the sound quality and performance will be better than the on-board sound on most motherboards before about 2010 unless yours has a nForce2 chipset. You could also grab an Audigy 2 if you can find/afford one, which would give you better audio quality and more advanced EAX effects in games that support EAX HD.

In my experience, a dedicated sound card would sound much better. Better hardware in them, such as DACs.

Fortunately, good PCI sound cards can be found for cheap. I recently bought an Audigy for $5 used and typically see them listed locally for around $20.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-08-30, 17:31:

In my experience, a dedicated sound card would sound much better. Better hardware in them, such as DACs.

Fortunately, good PCI sound cards can be found for cheap. I recently bought an Audigy for $5 used and typically see them listed locally for around $20.

Nice to hear this, I'm a noob when it comes to a sound cards. I might pick up one that is the best for a Windows games.

MadMac_5 wrote on 2024-08-30, 17:30:

Grab an inexpensive Sound Blaster Live, and I am almost 100% certain that the sound quality and performance will be better than the on-board sound on most motherboards before about 2010 unless yours has a nForce2 chipset. You could also grab an Audigy 2 if you can find/afford one, which would give you better audio quality and more advanced EAX effects in games that support EAX HD.

Saw this card on other threads, will look, thanks.

Old_mATX wrote on 2024-08-30, 17:35:

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-08-30, 17:31:

In my experience, a dedicated sound card would sound much better. Better hardware in them, such as DACs.

Fortunately, good PCI sound cards can be found for cheap. I recently bought an Audigy for $5 used and typically see them listed locally for around $20.

Nice to hear this, I'm a noob when it comes to a sound cards. I might pick up one that is the best for a Windows games.

Great!
Fortunately, there is a ton of knowledge here on sound cards. If you have any questions, there will probably be someone who can answer you. Beware that getting into retro sound cards is highly addictive and you might end up with a closet full of them (-:

One question is whether you play any games that use either EAX or A3D audio options. These were effects added to games to produce richer sound (including 3D positional audio) in various games.

For EAX supported games, the main options are either a SoundBlaster Live or Audigy based cards.

For A3D supported games, cards like the Diamond Monster MX300 or Turtle Beach Montego II are commonly used.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-08-30, 18:23:

One question is whether you play any games that use either EAX or A3D audio options. These were effects added to games to produce richer sound (including 3D positional audio) in various games.

For EAX supported games, the main options are either a SoundBlaster Live or Audigy based cards.

For A3D supported games, cards like the Diamond Monster MX300 or Turtle Beach Montego II are commonly used.

For start, I play NFS 3-5, TR 4-5, Q2-3. I think some of them support EAX enhancements.
What about Audigy 2 ZS? Is it good for Win 98?
Saw this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfmYYG1rVug
Sounds promising and cheap on eBay.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-08-30, 18:03:

Old_mATX wrote on 2024-08-30, 17:35:

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-08-30, 17:31:

In my experience, a dedicated sound card would sound much better. Better hardware in them, such as DACs.

Fortunately, good PCI sound cards can be found for cheap. I recently bought an Audigy for $5 used and typically see them listed locally for around $20.

Nice to hear this, I'm a noob when it comes to a sound cards. I might pick up one that is the best for a Windows games.

Great!
Fortunately, there is a ton of knowledge here on sound cards. If you have any questions, there will probably be someone who can answer you. Beware that getting into retro sound cards is highly addictive and you might end up with a closet full of them (-:

I resent that! I can quit whenever I want to! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go re-arrange my sound card collection. *rummaging sounds from closet*

Old_mATX wrote on 2024-08-30, 18:38:

For start, I play NFS 3-5, TR 4-5, Q2-3. I think some of them support EAX enhancements. What about Audigy 2 ZS? Is it good for W […]
Show full quote

For start, I play NFS 3-5, TR 4-5, Q2-3. I think some of them support EAX enhancements.
What about Audigy 2 ZS? Is it good for Win 98?
Saw this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfmYYG1rVug
Sounds promising and cheap on eBay.

Audigy 2 ZS will be fine. It supports up to EAX 4, which is a bit overkill for Win 98. But it will certainly work with Windows 98 games that use older versions of EAX. I think most Win 98 games are typically EAX 1 or 2.

The main thing is to make sure to install the VxD drivers (as opposed to the WDM drivers).

There is a whole guide on installing Audigy cards in Windows 98 available here: Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Audigy cards (version 3.1)

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-08-30, 18:03:

Beware that getting into retro sound cards is highly addictive and you might end up with a closet full of them (-:

I feel attacked. 😉

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-08-30, 19:05:

Audigy 2 ZS will be fine. It supports up to EAX 4, which is a bit overkill for Win 98. But it will certainly work with Windows […]
Show full quote

Old_mATX wrote on 2024-08-30, 18:38:

For start, I play NFS 3-5, TR 4-5, Q2-3. I think some of them support EAX enhancements. What about Audigy 2 ZS? Is it good for W […]
Show full quote

For start, I play NFS 3-5, TR 4-5, Q2-3. I think some of them support EAX enhancements.
What about Audigy 2 ZS? Is it good for Win 98?
Saw this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfmYYG1rVug
Sounds promising and cheap on eBay.

Audigy 2 ZS will be fine. It supports up to EAX 4, which is a bit overkill for Win 98. But it will certainly work with Windows 98 games that use older versions of EAX. I think most Win 98 games are typically EAX 1 or 2.

The main thing is to make sure to install the VxD drivers (as opposed to the WDM drivers).

There is a whole guide on installing Audigy cards in Windows 98 available here: Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Audigy cards (version 3.1)

Awesome, thanks.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-08-30, 19:05:

Audigy 2 ZS will be fine. It supports up to EAX 4, which is a bit overkill for Win 98.

Just a small note here, EAX 4 only works with WDM drivers. And you don't want to install those under Win9x since older games have issues with them.

P.S.

Games that use EAX 4 started appearing around 2004, so it's not worth playing them under Win9x anyway, as they are likely too demanding for that.