My new build is experiencing a slight drawback. Realtek chip ALC 892, when having audio sources plugged into the rear of the case, gets some pretty heafty feedback from all my USB devices and monitor, especially when browsing the internet. Apparently it has something to do with a wire grounding issue. Updated drivers don't help, nor does the "mute PC Beep" option. Line-in is also muted. This is not a huge enough deal for me to tear out my motherboard and RMA it. My question is, are the front audio jacks any different? I have both HD and AC '97 available. I plugged in HD, and it sounds fine to me, with no feedback. Is this a viable option or is the quality of the rear panel going to be better? Realtek pops up and asks me what I'm plugging into the front panel so I'm assuming it's similar.
Also, the only spot I have available in my case is a PCI-e 1x slot, which is great but I don't like any of the options for sound cards, and I don't see the point in dishing out $184 for an e-Claro for 2.1, especially not if the front panel will be fine.
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