Is a Sound Card worthwhile?

[SystmOveRide]

Okay so, at the moment I run a 2.1 speaker setup running off of my stock MSI motherboard on-board soundcard. I was thinking of maybe updating to a 5.1 speaker system, but I don't know if it's worth getting a separate soundcard for that too. I was only looking at getting a cheap ASUS soundcard, and then if the speakers had the capability hooking it up via the optical cable from speakers to soundcard.

I guess what I want to know is am I gaining anything from using a PCI soundcard over an on-board one.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Hard to say as you didn't list what model but, according to JJ from Asus, the ALC 1150 (which is found on most mid range MoBos) would be equivalent to a $75 Asus Xonar Sound card.

 

[SystmOveRide]

Oh, sorry about that.

My mobo at the moment is an MSI H97 Gaming 3 and I was looking at the ASUS Xonar DS soundcard, since the Xonar DSX is out of stock currently.

 

[SamiSC]

Its not worth it l. Especially if your just gaming or watching vids.

As mentioned the newer motherboards H97 amd Z97 come with great audio already

 

[SystmOveRide]

Okay,

Thanks to both of you for your asnwers, saved me a bit of money and a PCI slot at least haha

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Well a good amount of H97 / Z97 MoBos come with ALC 892 and that frankly is not all that great.

 

[SamiSC]

The msi gaming 3 comes with a realtek alc1150. So your good to go. No need to spend on something that wont be needed.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

As other peeps will be reading this thread, I just wanted to clarify that all newer H97 MoBos do not have ALC 1150 .... most do not. The Gaming 3 is one of the rare exceptions. Other ones include the Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H / G1 Sniper H6, Asus H97 Pro and Asrock Fatal1ty

ALC 887 and 892 are more common w/ this chipset with the 662 used at the low end

 

[SystmOveRide]

I have another brief question, regarding my MSI mobo and the fact that the audio section of the i/o isn't colour coded at all..

But for 5.1 speakers, where do I plug them in to? The speakers I want to get are the Creative Audio INSPIRE T6300 and it has three audio jacks, a green, an orange, and a black one. This is the i/o for the Gaming 3 (well it's the i/o for the Gaming 5 but the audio ports are the exact same): http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/images/MSI-Z97-GAMING-5-IO-shield.jpg

Thanks again!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

See page 1-9 of your manual...

http://www.msi.com/support/mb/H97-GAMING-3.html/#down-manual

if you Board is the "bottom"....

Left column
Line in: Used for connecting external audio outputting devices.
Line out: Used as a connector for speakers or headphone.
Mic: Used as a connector for a microphone.

Right column
RS-Out: Rear surround sound line out in 4/ 5.1/ 7.1 channel mode.
CS-Out: Center/ subwoofer line out in 5.1/ 7.1 channel mode.
SS-Out: Side surround sound line out in 7.1 channel mode.