OCFreak Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 I haven't had a sound card in my system since the days when you actually one in order to have sound. Since then I have always just used on-board units. Currently I am using Klipsh Promedia speakers and I am wondering what are the benefits, if any, with purchasing a sound card? I haven't kept up with the sound game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verran Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 Some people will notice a huge difference and other people will notice nothing at all. It just depends how picky you are really. If you've been using onboard for this long and not had a problem with it, I would bet you won't notice a big difference going to a separate card at this point, but you never know until you try one out for yourself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kash Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 I personally notice the difference, hence why I have a dedicated sound card. A lot of my friends have no problem with onboard. It's all subjective. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compxpert Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 I personally notice the difference, hence why I have a dedicated sound card. A lot of my friends have no problem with onboard. It's all subjective. I'm with ya on that boat.... plus the X-Fi cards... most of em anyway are modable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 I'm picky, I have a sound card. In past years I had an external USB sound card for my laptop, and both an Audigy 2 ZS and Auzentech Xplosion. On my "older" hardware (laptop from 2003, and desktop from 2005), I can hear the difference. With that said, on newer computers, the onboard chips have increased in quality (take for instance, the Gene II which has an X-Fi chip on it). This means that there is less of a difference, if any, between onboard and a dedicated sound card. While there are definite indicators of performance (i.e. SNR), it boils down to whether or not you can determine a difference, and how much you care about it (or, conversely, how much you are willing to spend to improve your listening experience). Totally subjective. If it sounds fine now, perhaps ignorance is bliss? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bp9801 Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 If EAX effects are important to you, then go for an Auzentech X-Fi Forte or Prelude. I have troubles recommending a Creative card just because they use inferior parts on their cards. Auzentech makes X-Fi cards like how they are supposed to be built with high quality components and DACs. Plus on the Forte, you are gaining a dedicated headphone amp which is just a bonus to it. Have a powerful pair of cans, like the Sennheiser HD-595 or Beyerdynamic DT 880, you can plug them directly into that port and get the best sound you can possibly get out of them without needing to spend money on a seperate amp. If you don't care about EAX, which is going by the wayside, then any other Auzentech card or any ASUS Xonar card would work out well. The Xonar D2X is a nice, all around card but if you want even better quality, then check out the Xonar Essence STX or ST. The STX supports 2.0 with RCA plugs and surround through digital, but since you have the ProMedias, the ST would be the better bet imo because of the add-on card you can get that increases it to 7.1. The ST is the PCI version, STX is PCI-E. Both of the Essence cards have a dedicated headphone amp built in, just like the Forte. If you want Auzentech, the X-Raider or X-Plosion would work out well. Both are PCI and offer some really sweet sounds from them. I use the X-Raider and haven't had a single issue with it, easily beats out my old Xtreme Gamer card by a longshot. Plus well, upgrading the op-amps to find a perfect balance for you is just a lot of fun. Don't like the audio quality of the op-amps it came with? Swap them out to get more punch, better highs and mids or booming bass. Nearly all the ASUS and Auzentech cards have easily replaceable op-amps, just pull them out of the socket and drop in a new one. Creative cards don't really play nice with that, you can still do it, just its not as easy or simple. The nice thing about getting a dedicated sound card is the increase in fps in most games. Some cases its small, like 5-10%, but in others it can be as high as 25%. I went from 35-40 fps in Fallout 3 at 1920x1200, 4x AA and 8x AF with drops as low as 5 fps, to closer to 45-50 fps with drops into the mid 20s all because I went from onboard to a dedicated card. Now, it differs from game to game and I'm not saying you'll get a huge increase in everything, but in some cases it is really a nice benefit to have a more consistent frame rate across the boards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick2500 Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 Has Creative fixed any of their driver issues yet? That was the main reason I switched to onboard sound, Creatives drivers for Vista were . at best. But I haven't looked into it in a while so that is something you should look into before buy a Creative card. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comp Dude2 Posted October 18, 2009 Posted October 18, 2009 Haha, creative have a long running reputation for having complete crap for drivers, or just not bothering at all, and just leaving you out to dry...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCFreak Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Thanks for the replies everyone. I am going with the following card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16829270006 I have read the reviews at NE as well as a few other places and heard nothing but great, great and great! I will let everyone know what I think of it after I receive and install. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bp9801 Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Thanks for the replies everyone. I am going with the following card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16829270006 I have read the reviews at NE as well as a few other places and heard nothing but great, great and great! I will let everyone know what I think of it after I receive and install. Not a bad card, hopefully you'll see some improvement with it. I am using a card with the exact same audio chipset as that SIIG card, definitely an improvement over the onboard sound. Speaking of, I decided to boot up Mass Effect last night because I had never tried it out with my new sound card installed. I went from choppy framerates at 1920x1200, so much so I had to drop it to 1680x1050 whenever I was in the vehicle, to perfectly smooth at 1920x1200 with no noticeable slowdown at all. Its just buttery smooth and the only thing I changed was adding in a new sound card. Onboard is alright yeah, but the performance increase with a sound card is just too good to pass up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterRex862 Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 Most of the newfangled integrated 'HD Audio' chipsets perform about as well as base model sound cards (though sound cards don't rob you of CPU cycles). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCFreak Posted November 1, 2009 Posted November 1, 2009 Just an update. I received the card two days ago, ran a few tests and sure enough it has made quite a difference in gaming (I mostly play GRID and other racing games. Music seems clearer but I can't be sure ... overly sound quality does seem better, though. I am more so impressed with the frame rate jump in most games, things are definitely smoother. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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