GPU HDMI out or High End Sound card for gaming?

[mac_angel]

I can't remember if I asked this before, but it's back in my mind. I'm trying to decide whether I should get a high end 7.1 sound card for gaming, or just stick with the HDMI out of my NVidia GTX 1080ti card. It's going to a high end Onkyo A/V Receiver, THX 7.1 system. I've found lots of reviews on sound cards and such, but nothing that compares them against using the sound out of a GPU with the HDMI. Is it worth going to a high end sound card for gaming? Would there be a noticeable difference? One thing I do know is that GPUs at least support Dolby Atmos right now (with Windows 10), and there aren't any soundcards that do. My receiver is only 7.1, but some day I will end up upgrading it.

Headphones is a non-issue at the moment. One, I don't have any. Two, when I do plan on getting some (hopefully in a couple of months) I plan on getting a pair of high end ones with a decent DAC like the Creative Labs E5. So for this post, I'm only focusing on 7.1 surround sound for gaming.

 

[mac_angel]

no one has an opinion on this?

 

[toshibitsu]

Most people either just use a 2/2.1 speaker setup or a headset/gaming headset. Due to this, they normally just use the GPU or motherboard sound output. Since you are using a 7.1, that would then benefit from having a dedicated sound card. Just make sure you look at the specs and verify that the card you choose will actually be better then your GPU/motherboard as the integrated sound is pretty good these days.

 

[mac_angel]

Most people either just use a 2/2.1 speaker setup or a headset/gaming headset. Due to this, they normally just use the GPU or motherboard sound output. Since you are using a 7.1, that would then benefit from having a dedicated sound card. Just make sure you look at the specs and verify that the card you choose will actually be better then your GPU/motherboard as the integrated sound is pretty good these days.

thanks for getting back to me. I know it's kind of a tough call. It's one that's been bouncing around in my head for a couple of years. Every so often I wonder about getting a good 7.1 sound card for gaming (~$300CAN range - I'm an audiophile and picky). Only thing I can't really figure out is if these gaming sound cards actually have any greater technology for immersion in sound like EAX back in the day. My Onkyo A/V Receiver was their top of the line when I got it, but I got it about 8 years ago. So, the DAC in it should be pretty decent, just not sure how it might measure up to DACs on a high end sound card. I can go back and forth on this all day, lol. Very indecisive, and was hoping someone might have some input. I think I should probably post in Audioholics since they might be more geared towards my kind of set up.

 

[madmatt30]

Im running hdmi out from a 970 to a sony 820 receiver with a 7.2 speaker setup.

I don't see how a sound card can possibly any better quality than the nvidia audio , its a purely digital signal so there is no quality loss.

 

[mac_angel]

Im running hdmi out from a 970 to a sony 820 receiver with a 7.2 speaker setup.

I don't see how a sound card can possibly any better quality than the nvidia audio , its a purely digital signal so there is no quality loss.

well, that part would be a matter of who has the better DAC, sound card or receiver. But I'm more wondering about the software and gaming specific technology that might be on a sound card vs direct sound.

 

[madmatt30]

^ still not getting it.
If you have an hdmi enabled surround receiver then it makes no sense whatsoever to buy a sound card which will convert digital to analog then pass it to a digital class amp which converts it back to digital , then back to analog again & through to the speakers.

Its a totally nonsensical thing to do.

The nvidia gpu's simply offer a straight dolby passthrough to your reciever.

There is no internal processing done on the pc side of things at all, which is exactly how it should be.

 

[gamerk316]

^ still not getting it.
If you have an hdmi enabled surround receiver then it makes no sense whatsoever to buy a sound card which will convert digital to analog then pass it to a digital class amp which converts it back to digital , then back to analog again & through to the speakers.

Its a totally nonsensical thing to do.

The nvidia gpu's simply offer a straight dolby passthrough to your reciever.

There is no internal processing done on the pc side of things at all, which is exactly how it should be.

You can argue that you want some processing done on the PC side if you care about certain processing options (LFE crossovers and the like), but for the most case I agree the receiver if used should be handling the majority of that processing.

It basically comes down to which device does a better job at converting the audio signal back to analog: The receiver or a dedicated soundcard. As the OP is connecting to a receiver, I'd just let that handle the conversion; the difference in audio quality isn't going to be significant enough to justify getting a soundcard over just connecting to the receiver he already has.