New sound card for Z5500?

[Markardi]

Hi,

I'll looking to put a new system together and was wondering what sound card (if any) I should be considering to pair with my Z5500 speaker set?

I've currently got an i7 860, Intel mobo, and an Auzentech X-Fi Prelude sound card. I originally had the speakers plugged into the onboard sound, but I noticed a world of difference when I installed the X-Fi Prelude. In an ideal case I would just transfer my card, but the Prelude is a PCI card and Auzentech doesn't even exist anymore.

There are a few options I could do:
- Have onboard sound cards advanced enough to match that of the Prelude?
(Something like the MSI Z97 Gaming 7)
- Do I not care about a sound card or onboard sound and digital out to the Z5500?
(Though I don't think the DAC on the Z5500 is all that great)
- Find a PCIe sound card that matches or exceeds the Prelude?

So, what do you think I should be looking at?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Markardi]

After doing some more searching around, I came across a few motherboards that still have some PCI slots so I can still use my Prelude! Asus and MSI both offered some decent ones and I settled on the MSI Z97S Plus because of the location of the PCI slots. The Asus board had both next to the PCIe x16 slots so any SLI/Crossfire setup would block the PCI slots. The MSI board had one PCI location that would not be obstructed.

Also, on a side note, the MSI had Intel ethernet with I read was still top tier. Apparently the Killer NIC is just marketing hype, but that's what read, I have no experience with Killer.