Quality difference between various types of integrated audio cards

[Eli.Wallace]

HI, I wanted to ask more savvy about difference between integrated audio cards - ALC1200 and ALC1220. I am finishing my new build and I am torn between X570 MB with ALC1200 (Asus X570 Prime P, 190$) and some B450 mobo with ALC1220, which would be cheaper. Rest of the build is R5 3600X, 32 GB RAM 3333@CL16 or higher, RX 5700 XT Nitro+ and Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W. I have my music in lossy formats + Spotify and I don't have great headphones.

Thank you for your replies, its bugging me quite a lot.

[TempestCatto]

If you want good quality audio, use an external dac. There's little to no difference between the two cards. I'd just get the x570 so you can later upgrade when Ryzen 4xxx comes out.

[Eli.Wallace]

Thank you for your reply.

[Eli.Wallace]

Also, what do you think about Asus X570 Prime P?

[ChaosClarity]

12 hours ago, TempestCatto said:

If you want good quality audio, use an external dac. There's little to no difference between the two cards. I'd just get the x570 so you can later upgrade when Ryzen 4xxx comes out.

Not to derail this thread, but Ryzen 4000 series should be supported on x470 and b450 motherboards. AMD has said their AM4 socket will last until the 4000 series before an overhaul of the socket is done. This is the very reason I just purchased Gigabyte’a x470 Gaming WiFi 7 motherboard because of its build quality and features compared to their x570 counterparts.

[Eli.Wallace]

47 minutes ago, ChaosClarity said:

Not to derail this thread, but Ryzen 4000 series should be supported on x470 and b450 motherboards. AMD has said their AM4 socket will last until the 4000 series before an overhaul of the socket is done. This is the very reason I just purchased Gigabyte’a x470 Gaming WiFi 7 motherboard because of its build quality and features compared to their x570 counterparts.

Yes, AM4 is supposed to last till DDR5 and PCIe 5.0, so Zen 3 should go in. What's so good about that GB?

[TempestCatto]

4 hours ago, ChaosClarity said:

Not to derail this thread, but Ryzen 4000 series should be supported on x470 and b450 motherboards. AMD has said their AM4 socket will last until the 4000 series before an overhaul of the socket is done. This is the very reason I just purchased Gigabyte’a x470 Gaming WiFi 7 motherboard because of its build quality and features compared to their x570 counterparts.

3 hours ago, Eli.Wallace said:

Yes, AM4 is supposed to last till DDR5 and PCIe 5.0, so Zen 3 should go in. What's so good about that GB?

Correct. But shoot for a higher spec board with better VRMs and power delivery for a more stable experience, and to get a nice stable OC if you do.

[Mister Woof]

My personal opinion on integrated audio solutions:

 

If you aren't an audiophile, you won't generally tell the difference in output.

 

If you are an audiophile, then it doesn't matter because none of them are good enough.

 

So imo the chip for normal folks doesn't matter.

 

Exception would be if you are doing content creation with a mic.

 

My main system has an ALC1220 and my wife and tv gamer systems all use ALC892, which is lesser. Can't tell the difference at all.

[Eli.Wallace]

6 minutes ago, Mister Woof said:

My personal opinion on integrated audio solutions:

 

If you aren't an audiophile, you won't generally tell the difference in output.

 

If you are an audiophile, then it doesn't matter because none of them are good enough.

 

So imo the chip for normal folks doesn't matter.

 

Exception would be if you are doing content creation with a mic.

Thanks for your reply Just found out that Asus on X570 does not have integrated IO shield, which sucks.

[ChaosClarity]

3 hours ago, TempestCatto said:

Correct. But shoot for a higher spec board with better VRMs and power delivery for a more stable experience, and to get a nice stable OC if you do.

Hence why I went with the older x470! Check VRMs on Gigabyte’s x470 gaming WiFi 7 versus any of their x570 counterparts and you’ll see what I mean. I think they dropped the ball on x570 boards unless you are willing to spend $300+ for the master. So much mis-information being spread here in this thread...