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n00b question: Onboard vs. Card

E

elchorizo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Messages
234
I'm going to build a new system in a month or so and I have
a question about sound. Why is a card better than onboard
sound in general? My primary concern is playing games and
very infrequently playing some MP3s. I will be using
headphones a log for the gaming not speakers so much.
And for more info about the games, some samples of what I'll
play are Doom III, HL2, CoD, WoW, City of Heroes, UT2k4, etc...

What do sound cards provide that onboard doesn't? Higher
quality sound? Higher quality enough to be noticeable in games?
Louder sound? Sorry to ask such a n00b question but I dont
know so I might as well ask :)

By the way, if I end up getting a card my budget will be
less than $100.

Thanks guys,
Marshall
 
Hmm dont mind. The upgrade from a typical onboard solution to the newest creative style sound card is not that worth it for people like you.. you have to have a quite some interest with audio on comp before the $ are really worth it. audio fidelity will not even be that much better, maybe less noise on the analogue outs but ok whatever

cheers:)
 
If you really feel like spending some money tho, an audigy2 might be something for you seeing you are into gaming a lot, and could/would like to have the genuine eax support and stuff. It's good for games. Just get some cheap bulk version A2 for around 100$
 
I had the same question as you Marshall. I actually chose to use the onboard sound. That lasted about a month. Now granted I have a 5.1 set up and I feel I wasn't getting the best out of the motherboad's sound chip.

So I upgraded to the Audigy LS ($50). For me it did make a difference, it's definately in 5.1 and the clarity is better. Not MUCH better, but better.

That said, the onboard sound does work nicely if you aren't worried about using a good 5.1 set up. I just was a little nit-picky so I upgraded.
 
Every motherboard that you will buy will have some sort of onboard sound. Buy the motherboard you want, paying no attention to the onboard sound. Test it out for a time, and see if it meets your needs. You can always buy a soundcard later.
 
I think the 3D positional effects will be a lot better with the latest Audigy (which you can get certain versions for less than $100) and you will notice that a lot more than the sound quality. Sound quality of onboard sound is pretty decent these days

n since you say you will primarily be using headphones for gaming, I would say try onboard 1st. You will likely be satisfied
 
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