Should be the same. Of course you don't have to use nvsound, the kernel i810_audio module is identical (well, it was in 2.4.20) and works well.
I've used i810_audio for testing but I generally use the ALSA sound modules.
http://www.alsa-project.org/index-ok.php3
If the Intel 810 audio is built in the kernel, go ahead and use that instead of nvsound. Then there's no need to rebuild nvsound every kernel change as i810 is already there ;-) (I'm lazy).
The only change needed (assuming the i810 audio is in the kernel) is to change the /etc/modules.conf file and replace nvsound with i810_audio. (My entry for that in the modules.conf file looks like:
alias snd-card-0 i810_audio .)
Good luck