MSI K8N SLI Platinum nForce4 Onboard sound?

[gate1975mlm]

How does the onboard sound on the MSI K8N SLI Platinum nForce4 compare to the Audigy 2 cards?

[jAkUp]

It uses an onboard Soundblaster Live. Its great for onboard sound, not quite as good as an Audigy 2 however.

[netviper13]

I just read on Newegg reviews (although I question the accuracy of it) that you must have a 24-pin ATX plug in order to use the onboard Sound Blaster...can anyone confirm/deny this?

[Ninjaman09]

Most new power supplies come with the 24-pin plug, which I believe is now standard for PCI-Express boards. Unless I'm mistaken. ;)

[saturnotaku]

I just read on Newegg reviews (although I question the accuracy of it) that you must have a 24-pin ATX plug in order to use the onboard Sound Blaster...can anyone confirm/deny this?

That is not true. Actually, can use a regular 20-pin ATX connector in a 24-pin board. You just have to make sure the pins are lined up properly. Long as you're not overclocking, the 20-pin connector will provide more than though juice to get you by while you wait for another power supply or the 24-pin adapter.

The onboard Live 7.1 is more than adequate. If you have a good speaker setup, you may want to invest in an Audigy 2 or the like, but I'm more than happy with the Live. It does what I need it to do, and that's all I can ask.

[HighTest]

I have one of these boards and it works great. I also have a 20 pin Enermax 460W powersupply and it works just fine with the board.

What's important for the audio chip portion is finding a power supply that provides -5V, you'll see this on MSI's website.

To make sure I was good and stable, I used an I-Star 20 to 24pin adapter (part #12-145-002) from newegg.com, it was only $4.00.

[jAkUp]

You need a -5v rail for the onboard Audio? I don't think the Enermax Noisetaker line have those... the whisper line have it I believe...