I don't really want to buy a sound card and I've heard that the onboard on this is pretty good. But games say that they require a direct x 8.1 or higher sound card in their requirements. But can you still play them without one?

The onboard sounds great. Personally I couldn't tell the difference between the onboard and an Audigy 2.

However the onboard sound started getting some choppiness after about a month - not sure if it was a problem with the hardware or maybe a driver issue. I installed a spare Audigy 2, disabled the onboard sound, and the choppy sound went away.

But what about the other question? With games that say in the requirements that you need a sound card with DX8.1 or whatever, do you actually need one to play the game or what?

It will work fine, don't worry about it. Are you sure you're not talking about graphics card with the Direct X 8?

On board sound is average, but for most people (including me) it is fine.

I can't recall any games that won't play with on board sound - your on board sound acts like a sound card, so it meets game requirements.

If you are going to buy a decent sound card, you also need to make sure you have a good set of speakers - I would budget at least $80 for the sound card and $100 for the speakers.

Ideally, you would spend $150+ on the sound card and $200+ on the speakers.

I'd budget $0 on sound card and $180 on the speakers.

Only point in getting a sound card (imo) is for use with headphones. I haven't even hooked up my speakers to my X-Fi.