If you have really nice speakers and play EAX 5.0 enabled games, there is a difference. In BF2 I noticed some extra sounds with the highest sound settings vs standard sound. However that is with Logitech Z-5500 5.1 surround. I'm not sure if the difference will be noticeable with lesser speakers, and another thing to keep in mind is that the difference is pretty small, probably not worth $100 unless you are looking for the absolute best.