Should I get a sound card and if o which one?

[The Domino]

I was thinking about getting a soundcard but my knowledge on them is very basic, how much of a difference would it make? I have this motherboard at the moment https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-Z97-Gaming-LGA1150-Motherboard/dp/B00K8KPXUO and I use headphones which were around £80 so they are good quality, would I notice much of a difference if i got a soundcard or should I get some higherr end headphones aswell as a soundcard, any advice on what sound cards are good would be much appreciated aswell.

 

[Traciatim]

Unless you have some specific need for it then these days a sound card is generally a waste of money.

Many years ago on board sounds was just a cheap afterthought and usually had tons of problems with quality and performance so sounds cards made sense. These days on board sound is pretty good and the difference in them and a sound card is generally imperceptible. So unless you need a type of connection that you don't have, or are having some specific problem with your on board sound then I wouldn't bother.

 

[The Domino]

Thanks for the advice, I will probably just get some nice new headphones and see what I do from there

 

[zthomas]

I run a sound blaster Z.. not a waste of money... you will love the features.. pushes the sound for game movies and music.. get some decent powered speakers.. there is a zillion to choose from..

 

[Isokolon]

always depends on your preferences
but I do see too many people buying a nice soundcard but use it with some USB gaming headset that comes with a build-in soundcard

the sound of a dedicated sound card is usually better than build-in chips but you need the equipment and ears to recognize it.
then again a good soundcard is 80$+ which is really hard to justify for most users


but if you got the board already and don't find anything wrong with the sound it outputs then you're probably fine

 

[zthomas]

Ishokolon.. yea I found that out the hardway.. I bought Turtle beach gaming headset.. has a built in sound setup.. was useless with the sound blasters.. when I bought the headphones I had a dirt cheap soundcard.. with zero features.. which pissed me off.. after upgrade and rebuild.. they convinced me the card was top notch.. salesman.. had me going.. anyway the headphones would have been fine with the cheaper version.. but the headphones themselves.. way to much bass.. and thought my hearing would be damaged if used all the time.. Sound blaster is like having a high end receiver controling your sound in your puter system, I still recommend this soundcard.

 

[Tradesman1]

Your mobo has the Realtek ALC1150 Codec which is very good, to do better would prob be looking at $100 or so