SoundBlaster Live 5.1 vs. SoundBlaster Audgy II

[hemansd]

Does a better sound card have any impact on gaming performace?? like better frame rate??

 

[jdogg707]

you will maybe see a 1-2% increase if that with a good PCI sound card over an onboard solution (Besides the Soundstorm). I would go with the Audigy for better drivers and sound quality.

 

[Auric]

Audigy uses a similar core to the Live!, just faster, so it can do more but that won't necessarily equate to a significant increase in frame rates. I would get one primarily for the increased quality but possibly features too, if needed.

As far as Audigy versus on-board software audio handled by the CPU, the difference in performance can be significant, increasingly with the slower the CPU of course.