Computers: On Board Sound or Sound Card?

[phoenix6]

Ive ALWAYS had on board sound, just never bothered spending $50 on a sound card, never thought it made a HUGE difference, just speculation however. I could absolutely be wrong.

So I was wondering the facts to getting a creative sound card (MAYBE X-Fi) and how much of a difference I will notice. I dont do ALOT of PC Gaming, but I do a good enough share where if this takes some load off my CPU, Ill be happy.

 

[figgie]

Well the answer is as always it depends!

What are your speakers?

Onboard sound is quite fine even for on board gaming. Now if you are an Frame rate monger than outpbard sound will do you better but usually a 1-2 F/s drop with onboard in unnoticeable unless you are teetering on the 30 f/s level. Also the speakers will dictate more than anything if you can really "notice" the difference between onbaord v. add-on sound card.

 

[Big Wang Bandit]

I'm a speaker nerd. So I can't stand onboard sound, and I love my 5.1. I like loud

 

[phoenix6]

I have a nice little Logitech 2.1 System, I had a creative 4.1 a while back but it was starting to piss me off (volume knob was hell, too many speakers for my set up, ect)

 

[figgie]

oh heaven no.

I am talking about studio monitor speakers used in a near field configuration. Those computer speakers are rarely flat freq response wise.

Don't get me wrong. They are better than the old junky altec lansing etc but still, physics can only go so far

 

[phoenix6]

Haha, yeah, I know they are nothing special, just didnt know if a $30 sound card was worth it or just a waste of money.

 

[NgoFcukinWay]

it's worth a shot if it's only $30. If I had a 5.1 set-up, I'd let you know more about my X-fi card.

 

[drunk_medic]

I'll let you know how things seem in a month.
My current setup has an Audigy2 running 5.1 on some Logitech Z5500's. It sounds great. My next machine has onboard 7.1 and no room for expansion [dual-slot VGA card takes up all available room]. I'm wondering if this newer onboard 7.1 will sound better than an older Sound Blaster board.

 

[Kai]

Creative drivers are a pile of steaming crap, as shown by the Daniel_K debacle. However, their hardware is good, if you need that kind of thing - however, get the Auzentech Prelude - same X-Fi hardware, but way better drivers and support.

However, i use onboard sound - i can live with the 0 to 1% of CPU utilisation - it's 7.1 surround and has spdif (coax) and optical outputs - you'll find that these days unless you're a real sound junkie and have a kickass speaker setup, modern onboard audio solutions are more than enough for most people.

 

[Poodles]

My SoundBlaster card caused stability issues when I overclocked...

 

[Facime]

I wont use creative labs cards anymore in my builds. Too many problems and conflicts and thier support is garbage. Unless you are running your PC as a home theater system and outputting to a good surround system then onboard is more than enough especially if you are getting a good mobo to begin with.

Unless you are a total audiophile, stick with onboard.