Is it still worth using a soundcard for gaming?

[Craig234]

With the current motherboards, is it better to go with an old SoundBlaster like the Titanium for sound, or are the new motherboards now pretty much just as good for gaming?

 

[OlyAR15]

Onboard sound is fine for games.

 

[daveybrat]

My personal motherboard has decent onboard Realtek audio but i don't use it.

For my needs, i've really liked my Asus Xonar DG card that i've been using for a while now.

Mostly because of the fact that i only use my headset for sound and the AMP boost that the Xonar gives makes movies and games MUCH louder than the onboard Realtek.

Sound quality is also sharper and i have more control with the Asus Xonar Audio Center software.

 

[lehtv]

The only reason I can think of to use a sound card for gaming is if you want headphone surround virtualization that actually sounds remotely good. USB headsets and integrated audio that do 7.1 virtualization don't come anywhere near the quality of Dolby Headphone (on Asus Xonar cards), not to mention SBX Pro (of Creative SB Z) which is I hear is even better.

 

[JeffMD]

This question, always asked, and today the only answer is answered by the question "How good are your speakers?"

Sound cards lost the ability to accelerate anything 10 years ago, so these days getting a new sound card revolves around if you need more functionality (spdif ports) or better dac/amp for sound quality and power.

If you are sticking with a pair of powered pc speakers below $150 then on board should be fine. After that it can largely depend on what type of connection you will use. I have a $300 yamaha receiver with 2 great sony shelf speakers and because the yamaha has some excellent dac converters I make sure the audio arrives to it digitally. Originally I used the HDMI connection but due to moving to a >1080p display I had to switch to its optical line in and for that I needed to buy a xonar card. So if you are looking at a speaker setup that offers a spdif connection, make sure you use it.

If you are going to rely on a good pair of headphones you will probably want to upgrade because the amp in the mobo is probably not that great. There is an affordable xonar card that offers excellent perks for high end headphone users.

 

[Craig234]

Interesting. About dolby - every time I've used headphones with a switch to turn on dolby type effects, the sound has gotten super 'spacey' and I hate it.

Like right now, I'm using affordable but nice Plantronics with a box for Dolby. Hypercloud X II headphones are arriving today ($74 sale on Amazon)...

 

[maddogchen]

Wouldn't the headset you are using have its own USB sound card so that your old soundblaster and the motherboard sound card are both bypassed? I don't think you need your old soundblaster

 

[XavierMace]

It also depends on your setup. I'm just doing audio over HDMI on both of my desktops to Denon receivers.

 

[dpodblood]

Depends completely on what you're using for speakers or headphones. I use a receiver and energy speakers on my setup, and also have a good pair of studio headphones. With my setup I can easily hear the difference between the onboard sound, and my ASUS DG card. If you're just using Logitech speakers, or a typical "gamer" headset you're not going to notice much of a difference.

 

[biostud]

Only if you have a hifi grade setup.