Need help choosing a new soundcard!

[nsweet]

I am currently looking to purchase a new sound card for my gaming / HTPC setup in my basement. Currently it has an onboard "Realtec HD" built in to the motherboard for audio.

The computer I am running this on is used for a lot of music playing, some movie watching, and a bit of gaming.

I just purchased Logitech Z-5500's to replace the aging 5.1 setup I had before, and while they where a massive improvement I have noticed a bit of noise at higher volumes that I do not hear in my living room setup, and figured this "noise" was due to my onboard audio. I have read this is a common issue with the cheaper onboard sound solutions motherboard manufacturers use.

So I figured since I just spent a bit of money on a decent 5.1 speaker setup that I should make it sound even better by pairing it with a nice higher end sound card. The Z-5500's sound very nice for the price, in some respects they actually sound pretty comparable to my much pricier setup in my living room, and if I could eliminate the noise at higher volume they would come very comparible sound wise to my $1000+ 5.1 setup in my living room.

This brings me to my current issue... which soundcard is the best for a HTPC / Gaming setup? And how would it be best hooked up?

I have heard all kinds of hype about EAX 5.0 and X-Fi, but have no idea how much of a difference either make on decent speakers. I have been looking at this card:

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion 70SB046A00003 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Which Newegg has on sale for $129.99 Shipped (After $50 MIR)

However I am reading a lot of people are having a lot of problems with this card's drivers.

Is there a better alternative that someone can suggest I consider?

My main goal is to have TRUE 5.1 surround in both games and movies, as well as making my MP3 collection sound as good as possible, without breaking the bank to do so (< $150 or so is my budget).

Also is TOSLINK the best option for hooking up the Z-5500's?

Thanks in advance for any advice that anyone might be able to give me!





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esquared
Anandtech Senior Moderator

 

[Sylvanas]

Have a look through this thread I made a while back. I am very pleased with the quality I am getting from my Onboard audio +Z5500's which to me sounds better than any previous sound cards I have had. But since you are specifically asking about a sound card I would say look at the Asus Xonar DX2 PCI-E which arguably appears to be the best you can get for your money these days. IMO Creative are a POS for many reasons that will not be mentioned in this thread but in general their drivers and support sucks so I'd look to the Asus or perhaps the Auzentech X-Plosion.

 

[NXIL]

Some recent sound card reviews:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/asus_xonar_d2x

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/asus_xonar_d2

http://www.maximumpc.com/artic...zentech_xfi_prelude_71

Check out the first card in this lineup, reviews say the drivers are good--something I cannot say about Creative's drivers in many instances.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16829271001

HTH

NXIL

 

[shingletingle]

Why did you create 3 threads asking the exact same thing? Explain yourself.