Is a sound card worth it?

[WastedBenji]

You can see the motherboard I have in my specs list, the on-board sound card is the Realtek ALC887. I am only 15 so I have very very little money. I bought some HyperX Clouds from Christmas and was wondering if there was any really budget sound cards that would make a noticeable difference to my games and the odd bit of music here and there.

I have seen http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Xonar-5-1-Sound-Card/dp/B006LFXBB8 it's about the right price (Could maybe go up a little bit) but I have no clue if it is worth it

Thanks

 

[bob hays]

A sound card won't make a difference over on board in terms of quality. If it has a feature you need like 7.1 vs whatever you already have then yes it can be worth it. Another scenario where a sound card is a good idea is if you have a very high end pair of headphones or high impedance ones you cant drive with on board sound (not the case with the clouds).

Basically, no it's not worth it.

 

[mas7873]

Agree with bob, low end sound cards aren't worth it so unless you are willing to shell out for a mid-high end sound card then there isn't much point (imo). Besides you can just get a decent pair of gaming headphones.

 

[WastedBenji]

Agree with bob, low end sound cards aren't worth it so unless you are willing to shell out for a mid-high end sound card then there isn't much point (imo). Besides you can just get a decent pair of gaming headphones.

What would be a mid-high end sound card be then?

 

[bob hays]

Agree with bob, low end sound cards aren't worth it so unless you are willing to shell out for a mid-high end sound card then there isn't much point (imo). Besides you can just get a decent pair of gaming headphones.

What would be a mid-high end sound card be then?

You shouldn't be looking at mid-high end sound cards. They won't help you with those headphones. If you get a pair of high-end headphones then a sound card (preferably external) will help but not with the HyperX Clouds

 

[stormflakes]

the people above are right,
but dont get scared now. your onboard audio IS good!

to give you an example, i just ordered 2500$ worth of pc components and i will use the on-board audio from the motherboard.
It is really good these days.
If your pc is for gaming and you just want to hear the explosions in "call of battlefield, black 4" you really really dont need it, unless you have the hearing of a dog. But then you would be playing something like " snoopy, the bloody christmas axe".