What jax mentioned above could be the thing. Onboard sound depends alot on cpu usage. Im not fammiliar with soundmax, but if u are expiriencing audio delay systemwide, it's definitly the onboard sound problem. try lowering hw acceleration or quality for sound in control panel. Try disabling it in bios and use pci sound card. I have the crappy ac97 and have 1 second delay in all quake3 engine based games :(. bought the cmi8738 for $10...problem gone..
