I have no difficulty hearing the difference between the onboard audio on my P8P67 Deluxe and my X-Fi. The onboard is ok. It is just that whole aspects of the sound spectrum is gone or sound flat compared to the X-Fi. If you cant afford an addon card, you will do ok with the onboard. Especially if you dont have very good speakers to begin with. If you can afford it and have good speakers, then it certainly is worth it. I use the X-Fi as playback device and the onboard for recording, it is good enough for that.