Sounblaster Audigy 2Z vs. Onboard EVGA 780i mobo

Short:

Which is better? I have both and could run either

detailed

I am upgrading. Merging some old components with mostly new ones. I'm have a new case, psu, additional card for sli, new mobo and new pcu.

I'm waiting on a soundcard because of all the negatives surrounding creative, and I cant justify $180 for the azuntech.

The new evga 780i mobo has optical out (required for my speakers, which are good). Would I get better sound out of mobo vs. my older sound card? I'm running vista ultimate btw.

if u use the pc for gaming or listening musics just choose onboard sound, it's quite good, the quality of onboard sound nowdays has no big difference with add-on soundcard.But if u have 'pro' ears and mobo sound doesn't satisfy u, choose those expensive Creative's soundcards.

I'd say it really depends on your speakers/headphones. Most folks that say they cannot discern any difference between onboard and a contemporary sound card are likely in one of these scenarios:

A. They're using optical/coaxial digital output, in which case they're bypassing the onboard sound's DAC (or soundcard's for that matter), which is a good thing since they're generally weak compared to that of a discrete card. Tip, if you're using the Logitech Z-5500 and a contemporary soundcard USE THE CARD'S ANALOG OUTPUTS.

B. They're using lower end speaker system (including the Logitech Z-5500) or lower end headphones. Some are even using the optical output with the Logitech Z-5500. IMO, the Logitech's DAC is nothing to write home about and sounds rather dull when compared to the DAC of even a X-Fi Extreme Music, let alone an Auzentech Prelude or better. If you've got a pair of Sennheiser, AKG, Grados, or Byer's that cost more than $200US you've probably got enough resolution to hear the differences in opamps and DACs.

C. Your hearing has been somehow degraded (this is not a joke or insult and is quite common, especially as we age).

Onboard sound has definitely improved, but its still not the same as having a GOOD contemporary sound card, if you've got decent speakers/headphones.

Vista is differnt , no gameport or MIDI support.

Yeah, I have a real nice multimedia system in my living room. I use that for movies/xbox/music etc. Plus a decent aftermarket system in my car.

I will use the logitech for games and occasionally music. Nothing extreme is needed. But I am one of those guys who wants the best out there. Surround sound gaming is almost as important to me as good graphics. Real immerses you in games like fear, bioshock and hl2.

Thanks for your input guys. I think I'll just play around and see what works.

I agree with everyone, onboard is fine unless you have some seriously top quality speakers hooked up.

That's true as long as its a Creative Labs based/licensed solution. If its not a Creative Labs card (or Prelude 7.1) that has an APU (i.e., the SB Extreme Audio) you get no CPU off-loading for audio. TBH, I'd not think it too much of an issue with dual and quad cores being the norm now. Nowadays, I'd tend to think there's plenty of CPU power to handle in game sound for those with a multi-core processor, especially a quad core.

Yes, indeed they are.

Thanks for the heads-up. I've just installed them and they seem to work great in Vista64. ...but to be fair, so did the previous edition, and the edition before that.

It seems like the bad press with the Daniel K. event really got their attention. Good job Creative, you're works not done (will it ever be?) but at least there's some readily apparent effort.

It really depends where you want the digital to analog conversion to be done...it is going to be done. It can be done by the Z-5500s or it can be done by the soundcard. So, you have to look at the quality of the conversion, analog connection, etc., etc. If you have a good soundcard then you're paying for its ability to make a high quality conversion and its high quality analog output, amongst other things. If you're going to stick with onboard sound, use the digital output so you can bypass some of the problems inherent with onboard sound, like EMI, poor quality-poor specs audio components.

I can't speak to that. I'm not much of a gamer.