Is the worth it getting a sound card?

[keivngzx]

Hey guys hum im building my 1st custom gaming rig together so.. ya . Just wondering i got this logitech 5.1 pc speaker from like 2 years ago right now im using it on my ASUS laptop i think the sound is pretty dang good for $100 speakers. But now im buiilding a pc within a week or two and idk IF i should get a sound card or not + i don't want to spend over $ 100 on it. I don't use headphones too much but ill use it when im on skype/vent/etc while playing games. And the pc is pretty much
ASUS sabertooth x79 Mobo
i7 3820
gtx680
corsair 16gb
intel 520 120GB SSD .
Mostly for gaming,school work,internet,movies. ( i don't do video editing etc etc etc).
Oh ya and i don't have a good headset for gaming now i was looking at logitech G35 and the .. humm i forgot but its wireless looks like G 35.

 

[sk1939]

Hey guys hum im building my 1st custom gaming rig together so.. ya . Just wondering i got this logitech 5.1 pc speaker from like 2 years ago right now im using it on my ASUS laptop i think the sound is pretty dang good for $100 speakers. But now im buiilding a pc within a week or two and idk IF i should get a sound card or not + i don't want to spend over $ 100 on it. I don't use headphones too much but ill use it when im on skype/vent/etc while playing games. And the pc is pretty much
ASUS sabertooth x79 Mobo
i7 3820
gtx680
corsair 16gb
intel 520 120GB SSD .
Mostly for gaming,school work,internet,movies. ( i don't do video editing etc etc etc).
Oh ya and i don't have a good headset for gaming now i was looking at logitech G35 and the .. humm i forgot but its wireless looks like G 35.

Not worth it.

 

[HEXiT]

it depends . it wont really save you anything as far as cpu performance goes as todays cpus are so powerful the audio often accounts for less than 1% of the cpu usage.
but if you skype and teamspeak to chat while gaming a soundcard will cut out all the motherboard interference that is more often than not present due to lack of shielding.
an asus xonar d1 or creative audiology 2 (2 cheap cards that are better than 95% of onbard) would be enough in most cases to give passable sound and like i say you wont get any audio contamination when your chatting while playing.

also if that pc is for gaming save yourself some money and get a 2500k or 2600k on an 1155 socket as the i7 socket wont give you any more over the i5 but will cost a fair bit more...

 

[gamerk316]

Depends on the speakers/headphones. Using generic or low quality speakers, you won't see any difference. Using even mid range speakers though, the differences can be significant.

 

[ngrego]

Only if it offers you something you don't have on-board (DTS etc.)
Otherwise there's no need!

 

[skaughtz]

Ultimately, you have to be the judge of the value of a sound card. I would suggest hooking up the system with the onboard sound first, and if the sound seems fine to you, stick with it. If you are unhappy with the quality, then buy the dedicated card.

I'd say a good rule of thumb is that if you are using a subwoofer, a sound card will provide better quality than onboard. However, a two speaker desktop setup doesn't need it as you won't notice any difference anyway.

Personally, I have been using dedicated sound cards in all of my personal systems for more than a decade.

 

[gamerk316]

I'd say a good rule of thumb is that if you are using a subwoofer, a sound card will provide better quality than onboard. However, a two speaker desktop setup doesn't need it as you won't notice any difference anyway.

If using generic $20 desktop speakers, true. If using a high quality stereo setup? Big difference.

Again, I view a soundcard the same way I view a GPU: Is it worth spending an extra $100 to enable 4x AA in your games? 99% of the people on this forum would say "yes".

 

[sk1939]

I'd say a good rule of thumb is that if you are using a subwoofer, a sound card will provide better quality than onboard. However, a two speaker desktop setup doesn't need it as you won't notice any difference anyway.

If using generic $20 desktop speakers, true. If using a high quality stereo setup? Big difference.

Again, I view a soundcard the same way I view a GPU: Is it worth spending an extra $100 to enable 4x AA in your games? 99% of the people on this forum would say "yes".

He's using a 2 year old 5.1 Logitech set that was around $100 when he got it.

 

[bobochez]

The g35 has a usb connection which means that if you got a sound card, you wouldn't be able to use the g35's with it. So if you are going to get a card, get a headset with a standard audio jack.