[SOLVED] Cheap sound card?

[BKsniperguy]

I recently built a high end 2007 gaming pc. Everything worked fine and it can play crysis but I've run into the issue of the mobo not having an integrated sound chip. Does anyone know of a cheap sound card that is:
Windows xp compatible
Uses pcie x1 or pci
Doesn't suck too bad
A secondary question I have is are the usb "sound cards" actual sound devices or are they just adapters? BTW I have an intel dg41ty and pentium e5300.

 

[Karadjgne]

You can get Soundblaster Audigy, x-fi, Z, live all pretty cheap on ebay.

 

[gamerk316]

The obvious options for cheap soundcards are the ASUS Xonar DGX ($40) and Creative Soundblaster Z ($99). The Soundblaster Z is more capable, but the DGX is a perfectly capable card in it's own right.

Most USB devices are soundcards in the sense they convert from digital to analog, but I've found the majority are very low quality. I'm sure good ones exist, but I don't tend to recommend them except for laptops.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

You can get magnificent performance and sound out of Schiit Audio Fulla

far better than a crappy card that needs drivers.

That is a SUPER versatile DAC/AMP combo, if $99 is in the budget that is. It even has a PreAmp output so you can plug powered monitor speakers into the back of it and headphones in front.

If you need a good headset that does 7.1 with a good DAC/AMP included, the HyperX Cloud 2 model is under 90 dollars and works excellent on PC and consoles

I would choose the Schiit Fulla because it NEEDS NO DRIVERS, plug in usb and go.

this is what it looks like inside the Fulla, yes, it's a REAL soundcard

 

[logainofhades]

That board has audio, just a very basic one. Those three 3.5mm connections, below the Ethernet port, are for audio. The green one is audio out.

https://www.priceblaze.com/dg41ty-Intel-System-Boards

 

[BFG-9000]

That board's onboard Realtek ALC888 audio isn't too bad. 97db SNR and about as bog standard as there is, so drivers for everything.

 

[gamerk316]

You can get magnificent performance and sound out of Schiit Audio Fulla

far better than a crappy card that needs drivers.

It's specs are worse then both the DGX and Soundblaster Z I recommended, and it looks like it falls under my banner of "yet another generic C-Media audio device".

 

[BKsniperguy]

That board has audio, just a very basic one. Those three 3.5mm connections, below the Ethernet port, are for audio. The green one is audio out.

https://www.priceblaze.com/dg41ty-Intel-System-Boards

Didn't realize that board had intergrated audio. do you have any idea where I can find the drivers?

 

[logainofhades]

You should be able to find them, on the support page, for that motherboard.