Getting USB headphones, do I need a soundcard for gaming?

[Bushwick]

Ok so I'm building my new system, it's all in the mail already:

DFI LANparty ultra-D
Opty 165 (plan to OC)
2 gigs Ocz DDR-500 gold series
ati x800 GTO2 (OC also)
535 watt Enermax PSU
74 gig WD raptor
Other stuff (no sound card yet)

And these Senns
.

I play games, mostly FPS and I like to use the sounds to find my enemies, if possible. You guys think I'll be ok with onboard sound, or am I making a mistake?

 

[chocobocorey]

i thought USB headphone dont even rely on sound card.. but i could be COMPLETELY wrong.. in which case ill aready call myself an idiot

 

[FlyGuy]

i thought USB headphone dont even rely on sound card.. but i could be COMPLETELY wrong.. in which case ill aready call myself an idiot

Idiot! j/k gotta have a sound card! Well, the mobo sound counts. I don't know if bushy should get a soundcard though. I abstain.

 

[Bushwick]

Idiot! j/k gotta have a sound card! Well, the mobo sound counts. I don't know if bushy should get a soundcard though. I abstain.

The headphones claim you don't need a soundcard. But I think that would be a mono thing for teleconferencing stuff. Obviously I would use the regular in/out on the mobo. Would it suck? Anyone have any experience with this type of setup? Originally I was gonna get a Xi-Fi but that seemed silly to spend $125 to run some headphones, or the crappy "creative labs 4.1" speakers that I never use.

 

[hunter_ace]

If they are a usb headset then they will have the dsp unit built into them. they are a complete sound system with headphones and a mic. (totally seperate from the onbrd sound)
now as far as gameing goes there are few advantages and disadvantages to a usb headset.
advantages
1 they are usb (plug and play) enough said.
2 most usb headsets are of a decent quality not the greatest but good usally.

disadvantages
1they use cpu to do all the work. (means you will lose a few frames per second in your game)
2 you usally wont be able to use as many channels being that they use software rendering.

your onbrd sound is one of the better ones so id try it out first before buying a sound card.

I have mine setup so my teamspeak goes through the heaset but my game sounds come through my onbrd sound. It makes it little easyer to hear squad comms that way.

if your going to use any kind of voice comms for gameing then id recomend some kind of headset instead of speakers.(i get tired of the echo from everyone thats to cheap to get a headset on ts.)

now granted you can get a regular headset to plug into your onbed sound. (providing you have front sound ports. If your like me, i have no front ports so i made a switch box to switch between the two. i believe there are few that make those radio shack comes to mind if your in usa.)

here how id rate the ones i have used

logitech usb headset lowest sound quality ($30.00
onbrd alc650 codec little better than logitech (free)
planotronics headset great sound (can hear the fottsteps of someone sneaking up on you with ease) ($125.00)
any of the mid range gameing cards audigy 2 is what i had and sound was great compared to others pluss bonus of more fps in game and effects.(you can spend anywhere from $50 to $300) just make sure it does hardware rendering on the sound card.
some soundcards sound great for music and movies but are S*** for gameing.

Now everyone correct me here if i have screwed up somewhere.
sry didnt see link those are about = to the plantronics i had. That would be my best guess