I agree with vanthus, onboard is ok, but nothing special.
But firstly, what are you planning do with you system? what sound system do you have? What headset/mic do you have? If ya use one that is.
A good soundcard will allow your system to output games/media/movies in 5.1 Dolby Digital. Although the onboard sound can output DVD's in DD 5.1, that's only because DD 5.1 is already recorded onto the disk, however, the onboard sound can not output DD 5.1 from games/movies and other media, purely because it cant. So if you have a ( or plan to get ) a high end 5.1 digital speaker system/digital 5.1 gaming headset I'd certainly invest in a soundcard. DD 5.1 in games is flipping fantastic and a massive step up from onboard or pro logic II - (kinda like pretend surround sound lol)
I bought a ASUS DX (pci-e) for 50 quid and its perfect does everything us picky gamers want. You could also get a creative recon 3d card, they are on offer at the moment I believe. So that's a good choice! Go for the cheaper version though, they are all the same cards with different design shells. ALSO make sure you get the new recon 3d version, not the old titanium version.
A good digital soundcard will output - edit ignore this sentence, lol dont know what happened here....
If you use headphones that only give sound in 2.1, does it make a difference?
I've never used a sound card so in what circumstances, and to what extent, do they make a difference?
Thanks a lot Tom,
I just saw the motherboard being capable of 5.1 and thought job done! (Evidently I should of researched this a bit more...)
I might be getting back into some Promod CoD4, but I think the only FPS games I'm into nowadays would be BF3 and L4D2, but having the amazing sound of a jet flying past my ear might be to good to pass..
Are you using just headphones? Is it for gaming? Music? Some cards are designed for music some for games -such as the recon 3d versions.
I think it may be a good idea to either
- Stick with onboard and see how you find it, if ya dont like it, then look into get a sound card, then you, like I did, see the benefit.
- You could go for a soundcard now, but again this depends on what ya actually plan to use the rig for.
Well I'm planning on getting the Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio with the CREATIVE INSPIRE A520 5.1 SURROUND SPEAKER SYSTEM. In the near future ill be purchasing a Blue: snowball microphone for voice recording and teamspeak, I'll also be getting a Tritton AX720 for a headset for gaming and music. Once I get the computer I'll mostly be using it for music, movies and games such as shogun 2, arma 2 and wargame EE. Once I get all my equipment together however I will be recording videos so It is important to me that I get the right hardware with my computer.
Just for gaming, really.