Gday
I am looking to buy a soundcard for my gaming rig. I don't need extra quality or performance for music or movies, mainly for FPS games like Counter-Strike Source and Black Ops 2.
Upon reading threads and more threads and posts I've hit info overload. Still I cannot decide to buy or not too buy. Creatives seem to be frowned upon with driver problems so don't want to go down that road.
My rig:
Motherboard : ASUS P8Z68-V PRO
CPU: i7-2700k 3.5GHz
RAM: 16GB
System: Win7 64
GFX: Nvidia GTX 570
PSU: Antec EA750
Headphones: Plantronics GameCom 367
Am quite happy with sound quality at the current level but would love to up the stakes. The plantronics are cheap but very comfortable for extended sessions of gaming.
I don't want to pay for something I will never use to it's full potential but I still want some form of future proofing. I have rabbits and am very leery of spending loads of money on headphones where they could chew through the cable (again).
Some options:
Xonar Xense with Senheisser 350's (two birds one stone?)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-010-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=
ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 PCI (cheap enough to get rid of if no improvement from on-board)
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Sound+Cards/ASUS+Xonar+DG+5.1+PCI+Soundcard+-+OEM+?productId=47111
Xonar Essence STX
http://www.cclonline.com/product/36662/90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z/Sound-Cards/Asus-Xonar-Essence-STX-Audio-Card/SND1052/
Any advice and guidance would be greatly appreciated. Max budget is £200. To get any real benefit from a soundcard do I need to upgrade my headphones?
Cheers!
I am looking to buy a soundcard for my gaming rig. I don't need extra quality or performance for music or movies, mainly for FPS games like Counter-Strike Source and Black Ops 2.
Upon reading threads and more threads and posts I've hit info overload. Still I cannot decide to buy or not too buy. Creatives seem to be frowned upon with driver problems so don't want to go down that road.
My rig:
Motherboard : ASUS P8Z68-V PRO
CPU: i7-2700k 3.5GHz
RAM: 16GB
System: Win7 64
GFX: Nvidia GTX 570
PSU: Antec EA750
Headphones: Plantronics GameCom 367
Am quite happy with sound quality at the current level but would love to up the stakes. The plantronics are cheap but very comfortable for extended sessions of gaming.
I don't want to pay for something I will never use to it's full potential but I still want some form of future proofing. I have rabbits and am very leery of spending loads of money on headphones where they could chew through the cable (again).
Some options:
Xonar Xense with Senheisser 350's (two birds one stone?)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-010-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=
ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 PCI (cheap enough to get rid of if no improvement from on-board)
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Sound+Cards/ASUS+Xonar+DG+5.1+PCI+Soundcard+-+OEM+?productId=47111
Xonar Essence STX
http://www.cclonline.com/product/36662/90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z/Sound-Cards/Asus-Xonar-Essence-STX-Audio-Card/SND1052/
Any advice and guidance would be greatly appreciated. Max budget is £200. To get any real benefit from a soundcard do I need to upgrade my headphones?
Cheers!