Should I get a sound card?

[BASIC]

I'm not really an audiophile or anything but,

Is there any improvement that I'll actually hear if I spend the money on a sound card over integrated? I know I could always buy top of the line gear, but will I actually even notice?


Also, if so, any recommendations?

 

[newls1]

hands down YES!! NIght and day difference.

 

[kniah]

Improvement will depend on the quality of your headphones/speakers.

 

[450]

hands down YES!! NIght and day difference.

Not true depending on the setup, especially if using digital output and/or a modern integrated audio chipset.

 

[Lethal]

What mobo do you have? Some have decent onboard sound, some would benefit greatly even from a low-end sound card.

 

[koopaGG]

Improvement will depend on the quality of your headphones/speakers.

Yep.

I had some decent speakers when I first picked up my old Audigy 4 and it was a huge difference over onboard. The X-Fi prelude sounds better than that.

If you use a cheap pair of speakers or a cheap logi headset you probably won't notice a difference.

 

[no2censorship]

If using digital output it only matters if the onboard stutters/distorts when the system is in heavy load.

I wouldn't use onboard if I was using analog output though.

I'd be fine with my onboard if it could work fine with high utilization of the hdd and dvd drive, but it doesn't so I just ordered a sound card.

 

[BASIC]

Currently Im using a gigabyte UD3 board. But my main mobo is a P5E with the PCI-e sound card.