i'm a amateur filmmaker. my current 'all purpose' computer is being used for gaming, video editing and a little sound editing/composing.

unfortunately, i'm using my on-board soundcard. (probably gonna add x-fi or sth this christmas). but i have some questions:
1) i have an old creative soundblaster 5.1 live lying around. is there any chance that it will work better? i occasionally have to record "what you hear" sounds, but apparently realtek drivers dont allow that (ex-Fraps) but creative does.

2) i may be changing my speakers soon, but i'm confused about normal 5.1 pc speakers and studio monitors (like those from JBL) so far i haven't found any reason to buy these monitors (except they look cool!). people say they work best with music composition but is it worth it for gaming or video editing? 5.1 is important for them i believe.

thnx

anything is better then onboard... Get the speakers

o btw, my mobo is gigabyte g965-ds3.

which speakers? 5.1s?

how much money are you willing to spendon the speakers? that makes a large difference

Get an X-Fi card from $80 and up. Since u use a lot of audio/video stuff, I recommend the X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS edition that comes with front panel.

For speakers, get the Logitech Z-5500. Nice BASS and clear, high quality sound.

nof said

If you're using a pro editing card for film making such as matrox RTX xxx series, pinacle or canopus hardware cards... turtle beach makes some good sound cards that work decent.

SB has been known to work somewhat with these cards, but has had problems with various configs.

Don't forget to disable the onboard sound in the bios.

As far as speakers, you pretty much get what you pay for with those.

Yes, the sb live! is alot better than onboard sound, alot!!

yes listen to the masters!!1

wow! i said i'm an 'amateur' filmmaker! i'll see into those matrox cards later!

back on topic- so i basically plan to buy a creative x-fi, and a 5.1 speakers. but for now the sb live will do the work, right?

so wats the use of those studio monitors then?