• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Need help upgrading

I

insane111

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 31, 2008
Messages
196
I'm currently using run-down 4 year old Creative T7700's(given to me for free) in a 2.1 setup with the onboard Realtek ALC888.
Yuck, right? I don't know the first thing about setting up a decent audio system, so I need your help. I'd like to keep the budget
around $200, maybe a little higher, but I absolutely won't go over $300.

I'm in a relatively small room, and if it makes any difference in your choices - my priorities for PC audio are TV/Movies > Music
> Gaming. So, if anyone could set me up a half-decent audio system for a small/mediumish bedroom I'd greatly appreciate it.
Also, size of the speakers shouldn't be an issue, my desk plenty specious.
 
Last edited:
You can probably get a nice Onkyo HTIB for $200-300.

Thats a good start but if you have room for 5.1-6.1-7.1 so I don't know. Maybe a Swan M200.
 
The problem is I need to budget a sound card too, which leaves me about $175 for speakers. I'm sure I would be happy with a 2.1 system, choosing one is a pain though.
 
Your onboard isn't that bad a sound card. Unless you're planning on pairing in some high end speakers, i would stick with the Realtek, it will do just fine. It should even have an optical/coax out for digital.

I've always been happy with Logitech surround systems, i think they even have some 5.1 systems in your range.
 
Using the optical out from your onboard sound will be the same as having optical out from a soundcard. Don't buy a soundcard. Spend the money on a receiver or HTIB instead.

Once you use a receiver, you'll never go back. Logitech doesn't even come close. Just make sure it's a decent receiver.

What I did: Bought used Onkyo receiver off ebay ($130) and a speaker kit from parts-express ($140). Added a subwoofer later to hit the 20 Hz-30Hz range. My bookshelves go down to 35 Hz though without any noticeable loss. They have nice 6.5" woofers and sound awesome.

With the sub, it's even better.

Depending on how much you like surround sound for movies, you may want to go with a HTIB for $300 to give you all the channels.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top