Do you even need to buy a sound card these days?

[texan1337]

It seems like most cards are integrated on the motherboard now.

 

[jaguarskx]

It depends on if you like how it sounds. The sound quality of an integrated sound chip is still inferior to that of a dedicated sound card, but I think integrated sound improved over the years.

If you are trying to save money, then simply use integrated sound. If it sounds bad to you then spend some money for a decent sound card like a Soundblaster Audigy 2 or the X-Fi (more money).

 

[The_OGS]

Do you even need to buy a sound card these days?

No.

 

[mesarectifier]

No of course you don't need to if you don't care, but if you have nice speakers for listening to FLAC or APE (or even CBR320) on then you'll want to invest in something a bit proper.

If you are doing any kind of sound production then of course you need a dedicated solution with better quality parts (especially noticeable when recording - you need something with HQ mic-preamps, for example).

But most people are just content to have it sound acceptable and come at them from all directions, which is cool also.

@ StrangeStranger - it's nothing like integrated GFX. You can still listen to a high quality source with integrated sound, it's not going to 'drop any frames' like a cheap GPU would. It's also not nicking any of your system RAM.

 

[jitpublisher]

It's entirely personal preference. Some on-board sound is quite good, some not so good. Unlike pure frame rates, or benchmarks, most people have big differences in what they think sounds good and what does not.
Put 10 people in a sound room with 20 different sets of speakers and 10 different amps, ask them to pick out what sounds best, and you will likely get 10 different configurations.
I personally think a decent mid ranged sound card, couple with at least some good midrange 5.1 speakers "sounds" much better than any on-board sound I have ever heard.

 

[satan_jap]

well i have an old sb live De 5.1 and it is still some more capable than my intel p965 board. The sound quality and response is socres better .

This when u are comparing it with a 9-10 year old soundcard technolgy (sb live was released in 97-98 ) So one should not think comparing it to an audigy 2 or an X-FI

 

[fatcat]

I'll go with the flow here. A dedicated sound card is not mandatory but in most cases it provides better sound. My son is using an old Sound Blaster 128 in his rig and even though it's old technology it sounds better than many integrated solutions that can be found on recent mother board.

 

[anthropophaginian]

For everyday use, no. Most of the integrated sound these days is very good. However, sometimes it fails or is just a bit crappy, or you might need one for professional use, or you're a fusspot and demand the best.

I wouldn't spend money on one until I heard what was coming with the board.

 

[bjmarler]

There's only 2 reasons you might need a sound card.

1.) You are an audiophile. (I'm not so I may have spelled it wrong. If you don't know what that word is, then you are NOT one. lol ) I will not comment on this one since I am not quailfied.

2.) You are a hard core gamer. (Yes I am that! lol) I Ill comment on this since I am qualified

For #2 - The hard core gamer is VERY concerned at squeezing every possible "frame rate" or FPS, out of his computer. He also needs the absolute best sound to be able to tell if for instance, footsteps are coming from behind, above, etc... For example, some games that support the latest Creative Xi-Fi fancy features will give you an edge in tracking down your foes, etc... So, you either have that sound card, or you die a whole lot more than everyone else. lol

 

[mannwhite]

I would like to ask the same question but in a different context. Is it worth buying a new soundcard now that vista has removed all support for EAX etc?

 

[I]

If you can't think of a reason why YOUR particular uses would need a separate sound card then you may not need one.

Many people like to cite paper specs for a card versus onboard but often the most significant difference is that with onboard sound there is too little board real-estate available and lesser quality and numbers of filters (subcircuits) are used, so the onboard sound is noisier. Amount of noise can vary from one system to the next, even one board to the next with SMT parts used having poor tolerances in most budget constrained board budgets.

Try the onboard sound, and if you find it acceptible you just saved a buck, unless you already had the other card and it was a good one, then you might as well use it as leave it sitting around collecting dust.

 

[radicalentity]

Gamers have been trained to see the difference between high and low resolution image by seeing the constant evolution through the years.

Most people are more visual-centric; they turn off soundtrack's to games, and often times have no problem muting the sound in a game where it isn't completely essential.

The comparison of onboard GFX to onboard audio is somewhat suiting. If your video card produced a crappy, fuzzy signal, with lots of noise in it, you'd probably scrap it right away for a better solution. This is essentially what onboard audio provides; a signal with lower definition and a poorer signal-to-noise ratio.

 

[mannwhite]

Well, I may have misinterpreted the information but I took it to mean that EAX et all will be outmoded in vista. The guy in question even went as far to say that they could do all the things EAX can do with 2% of a core. I took this with a pinch of salt but they way he was talking about things it really looked as if game developers now could write their effects in software and have vista take care of things. I'll try looking up the page again and will post it as soon as i find it.

*update* just had things cleared up in another site. EAX will be available for all X-fi soundcards except the music pro (whatever that is) via OpenAL in Vista. It's a relief as I just bought the friggin soundcard hehe.

 

[chills225]

This is just the info I have been searching for...I got the eVGA 680i mobo, and was wondering whether to get a sound card or not. Im that hard core gamer, but have been out of it for 3yrs, back in the day when AA and DFLW and DF2 were hit was when I was hard core, and now Im getting back into it. Since then so many things have changed, I mean, crap, my last hi-end vid was a Radeon w/ 128mb which at the time was 399 and was the cream...

And now getting back into gaming, e6600, eVGA 680i mobo, eVGA 8800GTX, Corsair TWIN2x1024C5D, 2x WD Raptor 75GB in RAID 0, Plextor PX-755SA, CoolerMaster CM830, ThermalTake ToughPower 850w, and 6x Antec D-BB 120mm Fans, pusing Dell 3007 Monitor, the sound card was my only concern...

As far as the foot steps!! it makes a huge difference, back in the day, especially playing AA, sitting in the Insurgent Map building by the window, you hear the footstep outside, pull a nade, toss it out the window, and then get the WTF from the guy you killed, thats sound quality, just like the guy outside the wooden door, hearing him walk up, and blasting the M249 through the door...A huge difference was also going from true surround, Klipsch 5.1's to Digital Headphones, the headphones allowed for sooo much that wasnt apparent through regular surround, it was crazy, now I only game with headphones, and party with the surround...Now I gotta find the latest and greatest digital headphones...HAHA

Thanks for the info guys, if you have anything to add, Im all ears...

 

[Lazarus7]

Its worth noting that with onboard sound, the cpu will be required to perform all of the encoding, sound processing tasks which will then reduce the cpu's performance in other areas such as graphics processing. Whereas with a sound card most of these tasks will be performed by the card which then frees up the cpu to work on other tasks.

I remember a while back looking at a comparison which showed an additional 2-5 fps being acheived simply by the addition of a sound card. Whilst this isn't much if you are looking to squeeze every last bit of performance out of your pc then this is one area which can help (and with the setup you have I think you should definately shell out the extra cash to get one. Plus as has been said you do get improved sound as well.

Hope this helps