Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe: First ATI RD580

Audio Performance

For audio testing, we used the latest version 2.2 of the Rightmark 3D Sound CPU utilization test. This benchmark measures the overhead or CPU utilization required by a codec or hardware audio chip.  Versions earlier than 2.2 would not work properly on the RD580 chipset based A8R32-MVP.

The High Definition audio codecs have generally shown lower CPU utilization in audio benchmarking than earlier AC’97 audio solutions. The Empty CPU and 2 D audio both showed extremely low utilization scores in the 1 to 3% range. However, 3D audio on the Realtek ALC882 was around 9% - far from the 30 to 40% that we have seen in the past, but still enough to steal a few frames-per-second from games. It is worth mentioning that the even more demanding 3D Audio+EAX test showed a slightly lower 8.82% CPU utilization

Realtek has been very consistent in recent months in releasing regular updates to their HD audio drivers, and we suspect that trend will continue, with ATI and Intel both firmly committed to HD and NVIDIA also introducing hew HD solutions. Each new Realtek update has lowered CPU utilization and we also hope that will continue.

ATI chipset motherboards have the necessary hooks to deliver Azalia High Definition audio. Those who have been complaining about the poor AC’97 audio present on most AMD boards should be very pleased to find Azalia HD on the ATI chipset boards. The nForce4 family does not offer the necessary chipset hooks to support HD Azalia audio on their top Athlon 64 chipsets. However, recent introductions by NVIDIA have included the HD audio option and we expect future NVIDIA chipsets to offer this feature.