Which PCI-e SOund Card to use for Headphone gaming only

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[H]ard|Gawd
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the motherboard I use doesn't have an amplified headphones out jack so I need to get a sound card - but which one? When I game I use Sennheiser HD 599 phones 100% of the time

The motherboard was expensive (for me anyways, $230) so I'd like to not drop a lot on this sound card. What do recommend (besides telling me I should have bought a different motherboard) and why? Thanks ...
 
Have you thought about something like the Sennheiser GSX 1000? It's an external DAC rather than a soundcard - reviews well.
 
Those headphones are 50ohm so don't really need amplification. Might sound a bit better with an amp though. You could buy just an external headphone amp and not a soundcard.
 
As rezerekted said, the Realtek ALC1220 on that board is more than capable of driving your 50ohm headphones. If you're dead set on an amplifier, you're better off with an external desktop amp. What is your budget?
 
An external USB DAC is all you need for headphone gaming with those headphones.

The dragonfly comes to mind as a good budget option with well above any soundcard options you can get.
 
As rezerekted said, the Realtek ALC1220 on that board is more than capable of driving your 50ohm headphones. If you're dead set on an amplifier, you're better off with an external desktop amp. What is your budget?

One would think so but it's not. Maybe NZXT needs to improve their drivers? I have a 3 year old Gigabyte uATX I use for HTPC and I have to lower the gain wheel on my Logitech G810 keyboard whenever I game with that mobo.

I'll check out the external headphone amp idea ... thanks
 
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