Hey everyone, I'm rather new to the audio world. I had a few question and suggestions I wanted to ask. I have just put together a new build, going to build it tomorrow. Its as followed:
e6750
p965-ds3
OCZ Silent X Stream 600w
2gb OCZ Reaper ddr2 800
Antec 900
500gb HD
2x Sata DVD burners
8800gts

At first I was going to settle with on board sound since the ds3's isn't that bad. But I started searching around and found that everyone agrees to this basic rule that sound cards > on board mostly. I would like to know if the ds3's onboard sound is good enough to hold me over for now. I game heavily and listen to music a lot. I have Altec Lansing 2100 2.1 speakers. Does anyone know if these are good speakers? I got them as a present. ALTHOUGH if the ds3'sonboard sound is crappy/so-so what card would you recommend? I have heard that Creative has crappy drivers. Im looking for a good gaming/music listening card. Id like to spend ~75 no more than a hundred. Any input is appreciated in advance. Thank you.

To my ears soundcards sound noticeably better, to some it's indistinguishable. In the end I think it up to the individual if a soundcard is worth it or not. I hear a lot of fuss about Creative cards, but I have never had a problem with any of the 3 Creative cards I have owned.

Good is a very relative scale, and the final component is your own tastes--is it good enough for you?

As for speakers in general, consider extremely high end home theater speakers are often in the $2000/pair range. I'd say diminishing returns curve starts out at $50/pair (basically entry-level bookshelf speakers). With a basic amplifier and you are looking at a $100 investment.

PC speakers are a bit less audio performance for the money, but they go as high as $750 for a 5.1 system. Good stereo PC speakers are generally in the $130-200 range (my top picks are the iFi [or Klipsch 2.1s, but thats brand redundancy], AL MX5021s, AL MX6021s).

Stores usually don't carry very good brands, so I'd suggest you order from a major online retailer with a no-hassle return policy, and see which ones you like yourself.