Is it worth getting a souncard?

[TroyEade]

Hi,

Will I get any performance increase if I get a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer to go with a P5W DH MB? More importantly will I notice any performance increase?

Cheers,

Troy

 

[Captante]

You'll get higher sustained frame-rates in any newer game that pushes your system, wether you'll notice them or not depends on the games you play & how fast your system is.

What you'll notice for certain is better quality sound & much more effective surround-effects, especially with headphones on.

 

[Bobthelost]

Negligable increase in fps, don't do it for that reason.

 

[cubeless]

but big increase in sound quality... i was suprised how much better xfi was vs. dfi lanparty nf4 board...

 

[Lemon law]

Unlike on motherboard video, on board sound will need very little ram from main memory to drive it. Cerainly a better sound card is likely to produce better sound quality or increased capacity for the discriminating listener, but something unmentioned--it takes an expansion slot or a usb port in system that may need those resources for something else. So its a user and system specific question with no one size fitting all.

 

[Leros]

If you have decent speakers then you will notice improved sound quality. If you have crappy speakers, then it doesn't matter as a better sound card cannot make crappy speakers sound better.

 

[Sforsyth]

I had to get a cheap PCI sound card because in BF2 and CSS there was abit of stutering after I installed the PCI card it went away, so I say get a sound card !

 

[TBSN]

Even when listening to music, when no hardware acceleration is needed, there will be an increase in sound quality. A good sound card has a much better Digital-Analogue Converter (DAC) and better components. In games the sound will be much better b/c you will be able to use the latest versions of EAX and it will take less system resources to process the in-game sound. If you're a gamer or you like music, get a soundcard. I don't care what features on-board sound chips boast because in the end it really only matters if you have good components and pre-amp to drive the signal....

 

[TheRyuu]

When it comes back in stock:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188

 

[maluckey]

Before spending big bucks remember that Vista, at the moment, does not support anything but Open AL for gaming. So for gaming, I'd not worry about the latest and greatest.

Things could change, but stick with what you have until you can't stand it would be my personal choice.

 

[TroyEade]

Thanks everyone for your answers, much appreciated.

I think I will wait before ordering a soundcard, the main reason was for gaming.

For music I use my hifi system which will outperform a PC system.

Cheers and hope you have/had a happy xmas

Troy