sndconfig SHOULD be modifying your /etc/modules.conf file with the results it found (assuming you have write privileges, and you have to run sndconfig as root). Thus, unless something is overwriting things, that should fix it the first time out.
My problem - a VIA sound chip on Shuttle AK31 motherboard - is a bit stickier:
http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/long_list.cgi?buglist=54905 So I may just live with a silent box until RedHat 8.1 comes out and (hopefully) fixes my problem.
Some people, when well-known sources tell them that fire will burn them, don't put their hands in the fire.
Some people, being skeptical, will put their hands in the fire, get burned, and learn not to put their hands in the fire.
And some people, believing that they know better than well-known sources, will claim it's a lie, put their hands in the fire, and continue to scream it's a lie even as their hands burn down to charred stumps.