The main reason for making my own thread on this is that most of the other threads I've read specify some form of Vista as the intended OS, or are so old that I'm not sure if I should listen to them. I don't know that it matters, but I figured I'd get the general opinions of the AT crowd.
Putting together a new, upper quality system (q9450/9550 based) and am gathering intel for the build. I have no real feelings on onboard sound versus sound card, so long as the end result works for me.
I will be running either WinXP pro (undecided 32 or 64, but unless 64 driver support has grown a lot I'll stick with 32), or an as of yet undecided Linux flavor...or maybe both.
I do game; fps, flight sims, mmos, rts...well hell, just about everything.
My system is my full entertainment center as well (tv, movies, music, radio, etc)
I frequently do both of the above at once (gaming while watching tv or listening to music)
Because of that I'm torn among wanting great music quality (mostly listen to classical, heavy metal, new age) with 2.1, good theater experience with at least 5.1, and good gaming performance (if you're not playing shooters by positional sound, you're not playing very well) with 4.1 at least.
I am EXTREMELY sensitive to static, buzzing, pop/click and have fairly good ears for my age. I like loud as much as the next person, but CLEAN is way more important.
In addition to suggestions of onboard vs card (and which card), I'm also open to speaker suggestions since I'll be upgrading my OLLLLLD VideoLogic DigiTheater DTS system.
Who's got what I need?
Putting together a new, upper quality system (q9450/9550 based) and am gathering intel for the build. I have no real feelings on onboard sound versus sound card, so long as the end result works for me.
I will be running either WinXP pro (undecided 32 or 64, but unless 64 driver support has grown a lot I'll stick with 32), or an as of yet undecided Linux flavor...or maybe both.
I do game; fps, flight sims, mmos, rts...well hell, just about everything.
My system is my full entertainment center as well (tv, movies, music, radio, etc)
I frequently do both of the above at once (gaming while watching tv or listening to music)
Because of that I'm torn among wanting great music quality (mostly listen to classical, heavy metal, new age) with 2.1, good theater experience with at least 5.1, and good gaming performance (if you're not playing shooters by positional sound, you're not playing very well) with 4.1 at least.
I am EXTREMELY sensitive to static, buzzing, pop/click and have fairly good ears for my age. I like loud as much as the next person, but CLEAN is way more important.
In addition to suggestions of onboard vs card (and which card), I'm also open to speaker suggestions since I'll be upgrading my OLLLLLD VideoLogic DigiTheater DTS system.
Who's got what I need?
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