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[Stuggernaut]

Ok I don't have a sound card in my new computer yet...been running off the onboard sound. So far everything is working fine. Music sounds good, games sound good, etc.

A friend of mine is sound card shopping and it reminded me that I still don't have one. My question is what kind of differences would I get by putting in a real card? I'm not talking state of the art sound system here either. I would only get an Audigy or maybe just a SB Live 5.1.

So would I realy notice huge differences in sound quality?

My current setup has the SoundMAX system built into my board.

EDIT : Here is a link to my board...

http://intel.com/design/motherbd/rl/index.htm?iid=ipp_browse+motherbd_d865perl&

 

[The Shadow]

Unless you play games or are really picky about sound quality of music, you really don't need to get a soundcard. If it sounds fine to you, why bother?

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Well other than SQ, there are input/output connections to consider as well. That's one big advantage.

 

[MrAngryFace]

ive had my sblive Value for like, fucking ever, and its fine.

 

[DarthWoo]

There is also the issue of what kind of resources the onboard audio might eat up that a sound card would not. Certain onboard audio takes up a considerable amount of system resources that could otherwise be devoted to something else while you're playing games, for example. Then again, certain sound cards are bad at that too.

 

[Stuggernaut]

There is also the issue of what kind of resources the onboard audio might eat up that a sound card would not. Certain onboard audio takes up a considerable amount of system resources that could otherwise be devoted to something else while you're playing games, for example. Then again, certain sound cards are bad at that too.

That's part of what I was worried about...never dealt with onboard sound before.

I am tempted to take my SB Live Value out of my other computer to see if it makes any diff.

Extra question though...

Is adding a sound card going to put much of a power strain on my system?? I only have a 350w but just wondering if the added hardware is going to demand a lot more power making yet another upgrade.

 

[DarthWoo]

Here's a Tom's Hardware article on the subject of onboard audio comparisons.