Is an onboard soundcard better than a pci diamond

I never owned or used the "diamond" sound card. But from experience ANY sound card I ever used was always better than on board sound....even a $29 sound blaster..... exception.... the few mother boards that have x-fi on board.

That just depends on the exact model you are referring to. The really cheap models are basically the same as the onboard sound that comes on your PC. Just use google to find a review of the model in question. The model number should be somewhere on the box (I'm assuming you saw it at CompUSA or something). If the onboard sound is good enough for you though, then no sense in buying a cheap card to replace it.