Why would integrated sound have less niose than SB Live?

[sillyeagle]

I get a good 50% more noise through my Klipsch 2.1 speakers with my SB Live than with AC97. Seems to me the SB Live should be cleaner than integrated, or have a higher SNR, but I guess not.

With integrated I can keep my windows volume at in the middle and there is no hiss, with the SB Live there is noticeable hiss.

[nekrosoft13]

try a different PCI port and different driver

[sillyeagle]

try a different PCI port and different driver

Drivers didn't help. I'll try to swap it with my wireless nic. Thanks.

[nekrosoft13]

two more things to check

check if the live is sharing IRQ

and mute inputs: Line-in, Line-2 etc..

[Starscream]

Something I've found that helps a lot with SB Live's is to mute all the inputs you possibly can including cd audio. I've seen many Live's that put out a lot of hiss when the extra inputs aren't muted.