is it true that a regular mobo sound system is good enough for gaming and music?

[jidsp]

i have a asus k8n-e deluxe mobo for my new pc. it comes with 8-channel audio i/0 and s/pdif ports and standard audio ports. i was thinking of buying a soundcard but a buddy of mine said dont bother cuz it won't be that much different. im gonna listen to alot of music and play a lot of games with this new pc. so should i just stick with my mobo. and if not, wut soundcard should i get. thanx guys.

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

It really depends on your speakers, the other half of the sound, and your budget. I went from onboard to a Audigy 2, and I was very impressed with it, even though I only have £50 speakers. Are you pleased with the sound at the moment? If you are happy with it as it is, then I don't see much need to change it.

[shadowbreaker513]

I would suggest springing for a sound card, I have onboard sound with mine and it's fine, but I'm getting 5.1 speakers, and a sound card will really help take a lot of the load off the cpu, freeing it up to do other tasks. A great, economical one is the Turtle Beach "Santa Cruz" mode, which runs about $30.

[Hi Ho]

Sound is subjective. Unless you hear it with a sound card it's difficult to tell. I was happy with my onboard sound until I upgraded to an Audigy ES. It made a huge difference. I am glad I upgraded.

[TwoRails]

I know several people that are happy with their onboard sound, and that mobo is supposed to have pretty decent sound. Like mentioned above, it is subjective, and the speakers do matter. Try out the onboard, and if you like it, great, if not, then you can always upgrade. I just picked up an Audigy 2 for $50 on sale for a build, so if you are in no hurry, you can always wait till a sale comes along.

[Yuanji]

like other people said, it depends on your speakers. on my crappy 2 small sony vaio speakers, i can't hear anything bad about the onboard sound. when i hook up my ipod headphones to it, i can hear static, and the sounds are very harsh. if you have a pretty decent speaker sys, go for the sound card.

[jidsp]

thanx for the replies guys. i think im gonna go for the soundcard and speaker upgrade. any suggestions as to which card and what speakers to get? i dont need top of the line. just something good for music and gaming. a lot of bass would help too. thanx

[kram 2.0]

Depends on your budget. The Creative SB Audigy 24-bit sound card line are very good as well as the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (same one that Dell have in their PCs a while back).

kram

[glc]

I would really recommend you try the onboard sound before springing for a card. You may be pleasantly surprised, and I'd be willing to bet that advanced onboard system will sound as good as, if not better than, a Santa Cruz. You can buy a card at any time.

[wolfie]

i would bet that most people couldnt tell the difference from onboard sound and a add on sound card.

and a add on sound card will put a strain on the cpu. the audigys are the worst for that.

[HAL9000]

Originally Posted by glc I would really recommend you try the onboard sound before springing for a card. You may be pleasantly surprised, and I'd be willing to bet that advanced onboard system will sound as good as, if not better than, a Santa Cruz. You can buy a card at any time.

I agree... I had a customer last year come in and give his big speech before I could say a word on exactly what parts he wanted and that he wouldn't accept any different... I said fine... then he got to the sound card and said that he wanted the SB Live and nothing else... as he was saying this.. he pointed to our demo system that was playing my MP3's thru a set of Altech's and said I want it to sound like that... not that crappy BS onboard sound..... I just looked at him and said... Sir... that is onboard sound. He ended up going with onboard sound and is quite happy with it.