motherboard sound problem

i currently built a new computer:-
motherboard- ASUS M2N-E SLI
RAM- 3GB DDR2 800
Processor- AMD 6400+
Graphic cards- 2x 8600GTs

my problem stems from the motherboard and the sound chip im guessing, it uses CMEDIA CM6501 intergrated sound. no idea what that means, i previously had realtek and wish to god now i was still with realtek.

The sound quality from my new logictech 5.1 surround speakers is rubbish, but previously was great but then i messed around with the drivers whilst sorting another problem and i dunno what to do now. I cant find any new drivers for this particular chip. And the biggest problem is something to do with the USB bandwidth which i dont know how this is effecting that when the sound does not use USB ports....

the software side which is really casuing me problems is when i install battlefield 2, i get to the end of the installation and it says USB bandwidth exceeded. If i disable the USB process which is using 61% of the bandwidth, i loose all sound but the game installs, but then if i enable it again, battlefield crashes all the time, i cant even get on a game. I dont get how to solve this problem, all i can say is i hate CMEDIA.

 

Onboard is no good in most cases. Easy solution: uninstall all cmedia drivers, disable onboard sound in the BIOS. Get this for decently cheap, its a great card and will make your speakers and games sound much better. Refurbished should be just fine. I have an original audigy card and its still running strong 8 years later. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...s&ie=UTF8&qid=1201217730&sr=8-2&condition=all

 

ive never used a sound card, even with my previous computer, its this time my new mb happens to not use realtek and now i have this problem with battlefield 2 conflicting with the sound drivers =/ if you think its best to get a sound card then i mite just do it.

but what do i do about the USB bandwidth? its driving me up the wall and all tht is using it is something to do with the sound

 

Did you install the proper chipset drivers for your motherboard? If not, thats likely the problem.

A nice soundcard is a good investment to me. It can move to your next system, its markedly better than onboard, and takes some strain off of the CPU, which can result in increased performance, especially in games (although 1-2fps isnt much, it can help in a pinch or stop some glitches). My rule of thumb is that, gaming aside, onboard works ok for generic crappy speakers, but if you have anything nice, a sound card is necessary.

 

okay well ive took your advice and purchased a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer tonight online, so i will let you know how it goes when it comes. it says output 7.1 but i asume it will work with 5.1 too?

 

Yup. Just be sure to configure the driver for 5.1 output. You should be prompted for this during the driver installation. If not, you can do it thru the application that is installed alongside the driver which allows you to use custom settings for your particular needs.

 

ah right. sounds good
never used a sound card before, do they realy make a vast improvment like they are made out to do lol

 

some onboard sound chips are half decent, but I can clearly tell the difference between a crappy card and a good card, especially with nice speakers.

Some may say otherwise, but I usually find those are the people who blast their 2W speakers and dont understand what a signal to noise ratio is. I get a headache listening to crappy speakers turned up loud. With a nice sound card + nice speakers, you wont even realize how loud it is until you try to talk /rant

 

ah right lol, hmmm ranting that sounds like me lol
thanks, i hope this card does the trick anyway, if it dosnt im gonna be upset for the price ive just paid lol

 

I have a (9 or 10 years old now) Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 PCI card. It makes a difference, big difference, over onboard sound chips.