My aunt gave me a Dell Optiplex 390 computer a while back, and I've been slowly converting it into as close to as gaming PC as my budget will allow. I've upgraded from a i3-2120 CPU to a i5 2500K CPU, and Ive got an AMD Radeon HD 5450 video card with 1gb of on-board memory, as well as 6GB of RAM.
Is it worth it to add a dedicated sound card into the computer? I've tried using the on-board sound from the motherboard, but it always came out tinny and extremely reduced, so I'm currently using a pair of Turtle Beach X12 headphones plugged into the motherboard. Will adding a dedicated sound card fix the tinny sound quality, or will I still require speakers and need to route all of my sound through those?
If it IS worth it, what sound cards would you guys recommend? I'm on budget, so anything under 50$ would be great. Any advice would help.
Also, on a side note, I tried using Camtasia 9 to record some audio using my microphone and my computer could barely pick it up. The same thing happened when I connected a separate microphone, so I'm thinking it's the on-board chip not picking up my microphone. Could this be the issue, or am I going down a rabbit hole here? If it IS the issue, would a dedicated sound card also fix this?
EDIT: Is it even worth trying to convert this into a decent gaming PC, or am I better off buying a new MOBO that's compatible with my LGA1155 chips i already own?
Is it worth it to add a dedicated sound card into the computer? I've tried using the on-board sound from the motherboard, but it always came out tinny and extremely reduced, so I'm currently using a pair of Turtle Beach X12 headphones plugged into the motherboard. Will adding a dedicated sound card fix the tinny sound quality, or will I still require speakers and need to route all of my sound through those?
If it IS worth it, what sound cards would you guys recommend? I'm on budget, so anything under 50$ would be great. Any advice would help.
Also, on a side note, I tried using Camtasia 9 to record some audio using my microphone and my computer could barely pick it up. The same thing happened when I connected a separate microphone, so I'm thinking it's the on-board chip not picking up my microphone. Could this be the issue, or am I going down a rabbit hole here? If it IS the issue, would a dedicated sound card also fix this?
EDIT: Is it even worth trying to convert this into a decent gaming PC, or am I better off buying a new MOBO that's compatible with my LGA1155 chips i already own?
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