couple general hardware questions.

[HRslammR]

first question: if i'm just using the digital out on my current soundcard, would it make sense to use my onboard soundcard? would i notice a difference in the CPU?

2nd question: what the heck would cause my onboard network card to crap out? at quakecon last year it randomly quit working and i have a PCI network cable installed now.

 

[leSLIe]

1: if u have an X-FI or an audigy4, i´d suggest u stick with your creative cards

2: Might be your internet connection, malware, could also be your NIC, does it happen often?

 

[tominox]

1. If your already using your soundcard, might as well disable your onboard sound, and only use your soundcard. At least your wont have possible driver conflicts.

2. I've killed my fair share of network cards. Tried re-installing the driver for it?

 

[DeathFromBelow]

I use the digital out on my X-fi. I don't know if there is a quality difference, but you can use EAX and the other effects with the X-Fi digital out.

As for your NIC, sometimes NICs just crap out and die. I've heard that there are some issues with the nForce firewall software on nForce 4 boards causing corruption and dropped connections, but that was a long time ago.