Gaming Headset

[charon711]

Hi, I recently posted a thread HERE asking about freezing and my onboard sound chip. It seemed to have been solved with Skyrim (which is the main game i play atm) but alas my headset was killed by the evil wheels of my chair R.I.P.

So I came here to ask another question. Up till now all my headsets have used 3.5mm connection. But now I'm looking at maybe getting a set that uses USB as they tend to have their own built in sound system that would bypass my onboard chip.

I was looking for an opinion on whether it is worth it? Are the USB headsets of usual sound quality? They catch my attention because they offer 5.1 and 7.1 virtual suround and in gaming that could be very useful.

So would it be worth getting? or should I save my money up and get a 3.5mm headset and eventually a sound card?

Right now my budget is $40 but i'd rather stay around the ~$30 mark.

 

[gamerk316]

USB headsets, as far as audio quality goes, generally are worse then onboard, oftentimes significantly.

The best option when it comes to headsets is to buy a halfway decent soundcard paired with a cheap audiophile grade headset. If you want surround, then use whatever virtualized surround option the soundcard offers, rather then getting a surround headset.