Is a sound card needed?

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Solution
geofelt
No, you do not need a discrete sound card. Every motherboard will have 7.1 HD sound.
Try onboard first, you can always add a discrete sound card later.
Some comments on your build:
1. In a new build, go with 4670K. It is 5-7% faster per clock up front.
2. CM hyper212 will come with thermal paste. extra is not needed.
3. Sabretooth motherboards are overpriced. Any Z87 motherboard will do at half the price. Z87 as a haswell chipset has advantages, like more than 2 6gb sata ports.
3. I like the ram pick, 8gb will be fine for just gaming, but ram is cheap so 16gb is probably a good thing.
4. A ssd for the os is fine, but 60gb is just too small. 120gb will hold the os and a handful of games. with 240gb, you may never need a...
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xtobymc

xtobymc

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Jan 5, 2013
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Most motherboards will come with on-board sound, unless you're paying very low prices for the motherboard. If it has audio jacks coming out the back of the motherboard then yes, it includes sound. I'm not entirely sure whether GPU's process sound, it's never something I've thought about. I have my GPU running all the video graphics for games, but then I just plug my headset into the motherboard's audio jacks for audio, and it works fine. Just type the motherboard's model number into google and their website will tell you whether they support sound. 9/10 times they will.
 
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fmbailey

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Feb 11, 2013
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Really, unless you have a high dollar headset and a burning desire for equally high quality sound you don't really need one. I've done fine for years off of the soundcards built on to the motherboards and the most recent rig I have I had put a sound card into and I can't really detect much difference between having it vs not having it.
 
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RaisingTheBarHD

RaisingTheBarHD

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May 8, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.05 @ DirectCanada)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 12g Thermal Paste ($18.68 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($194.99 @ Memory Express)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($147.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($269.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Canada Computers)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($9.99 @ Memory Express)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.75 @ DirectCanada)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.75 @ DirectCanada)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.75 @ DirectCanada)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.75 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($17.50 @ Vuugo)
Total: $1256.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-17 09:17 EDT-0400)

take a look at this, i changed a few things like the mobo isnt needed and the asus will perform the same. gave you a better LP ram. More HDD and better SSD. The gpu is the same cost but will perform better also.

and no a sound card is not needed
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
54,345
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No, you do not need a discrete sound card. Every motherboard will have 7.1 HD sound.
Try onboard first, you can always add a discrete sound card later.
Some comments on your build:
1. In a new build, go with 4670K. It is 5-7% faster per clock up front.
2. CM hyper212 will come with thermal paste. extra is not needed.
3. Sabretooth motherboards are overpriced. Any Z87 motherboard will do at half the price. Z87 as a haswell chipset has advantages, like more than 2 6gb sata ports.
3. I like the ram pick, 8gb will be fine for just gaming, but ram is cheap so 16gb is probably a good thing.
4. A ssd for the os is fine, but 60gb is just too small. 120gb will hold the os and a handful of games. with 240gb, you may never need a hard drive at all.
Consider deferring on the hard drve, you can easily ad one later. My picks ofa ssd for reliability would be Samsung or intel.
5. 7870 is ok. But, I might look at a GTX660. It is in the same performance tier and cheaper.
Also, the direct exhaust blower cooler will get heat out of your case and keep it cooler. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826
6. I like the case. But, I think you are overdoing it on fans. The supplied fans should do the job. You can always add fans later. And... I would use 140mm fans instead of 120mm; they will be quieter. Don't bother with side fans, they tend to disrupt normal front to back airflow.
7. The corsair 600w psu is a decent budget psu.
 
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Solution
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Adam Hodgins

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Jul 15, 2013
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Thanks for the advice
 
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