PC Peripherals How to interpret RightMark 3DSound test results...

[Trajan]

I downloaded the software and ran the CPU utilization test.... i got the analyzed data but donno to interpret it....

Does the value of "Mean of Distribution" mean the amount of CPU utilization? the following are the values got....

Empty CPU test: 2.9091
DirectSount 2D: 6.6085
DirectSount 3D:16.6412
DirectSount 3D + EAX: 16.7748

I checked the manual but did not find what "Mean of Distribution" meant...

If it denotes the CPU utilization then 16.7748 is really high.... that wud hurt the gaming performance a lot right? cud the driver be the blame?

My mobo has onboard Realtek ALC650 6-channel audio.

Is the CPU utilization of onboard audio always this high?

 

[Amol]

Yes, the cpu utilization of onboard codecs is high, since they lack a DSP for processing the sound signals, and rely upon your cpu to do it. for a normal stereo signal, it wont tax your cpu, but if you enable EAX or any hardware based processing, it will eat your cpu for lunch.

16 % cpu utilization doenst mean that the soundcard is taking up 16% of the cpu's power, it means that 16% of the workload done for handling the audio is done by the cpu.

 

[Trajan]

Even without EAX the utilization was 16% (DirectSount 3D). During gaming will Direct Sound 3D be enabled? If so there will FPS will take a beating right?

Will having an external sound card reduce the CPU utilization? How much will the CPU utilization be if i get a sound card like Creative Soundblaster live 24 bit?

and what abt the difference in audio? will there be any difference using Creative sound blaster from Realtek ALC650?

 

[Amol]

The performance of the Live 24 bit is same in terms of cpu utilization, since it lacks a DSP too, but is capable of processing EAX 3.0 in software, means that you can enable EAX 3.0 but it will utilize the cpu to process the effects, instead of using it's own DSP.

Regarding the audio quality, the difference between the onboard audio and the live 24 bit is noticable, the live is much clearer and open sounding. Should be noticable on your ATP3.

But if you want something that is capable of a decent sound quality and also processing 3d sound in hardware, get an audigy 2/audigy 2 zs.

 

[Trajan]

audigy 2 is out of budget for me....

from what u hav told i think there is no point buying live 24 bit when looking at the CPU utilization front...

is there any other card that helps reducing the CPU utilization which is cheap?