Whats the purpose/benefit of a high priced sound card?

[Gerr]

For a gamer with a basic set of 5.1 computer speakers, what benefit, if any, would a high priced sound card give me over the integrated sound on most current motherboards?

I do play a log of games, Crysis, CoD4, World in Conflict, Supreme Commander, Company of Heros, etc.

I don't play music or videos through my system.

I do not have a TV or TV signal connected to my system.

I do not have my main entertainment system connected to my system.

My speakers are a basic 5.1 analog set.


What benefit would a $200 sound card, or even a $100 one, give me over the built-in sound on my motherboard, currently an Asus P5K-E?

 

[Billb2]

Even a $15 SB live-24bit would sound better.

 

[Solarium]

even over realtek ALC888 onboard?

 

[Gerr]

OK, then what's the benefit of a $15 SB live vs a $200 X-Fi?

I actually have a $30 SB Audigy(sp?) SE in my system, so have a step up from the onboard audio, but my main question is still the same, what benefit would those high priced sound cards give me over my low priced one?

 

[postmortemIA]

EAX support (positional 3D audio), more hardware voices. However, lately games are being released without EAX support, but with some software 3D audio which is of course sounding worse than full EAX 4.0/5.0.

 

[DarkRogue]

For basic gaming there is NO benefit to having another sound card over onboard, besides EAX effects which I think some games are moving away from because it's a Creative Labs-only thing.

High priced sound cards are more tailored to audiophiles, or people who do a lot of audio recording/audio work, etc.

As for a $15 SB Live vs $200 X-Fi, the X-Fi is a better chip, and possibly uses better DACs, but I'm unsure on that.

I ran the RightMark Audio Analyzer on my SB Audigy vs my Onboard Realtek ALC889A (And even did it again with an external AudioFire to eliminate some variables) and the numbers said they were about even, and the onboard actually was slightly better than the Audigy. I suppose I should post it since quite a few people have been asking this lately.

 

[Cuular]

The main thing is that the non-onboard cards usually use less CPU cycles so you may gain a frame or 2 a second on games.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Gerr

I don't play music or videos through my system.

I do not have a TV or TV signal connected to my system.

I do not have my main entertainment system connected to my system.

If so, then the only purpose of an expensive sound card is to stimulate the economy.:thumbsup:

 

[imported_Zeke]

Wow thats a little scary, guess I'd better stick with my realtek.

 

[ViRGE]

There's really no reason to be looking at the "$200" X-Fi, if you're going for the X-Fi then all you really need is the XtremeGamer. The higher end X-Fis simply come with breakout boxes, and in the case of the Elite Pro slightly better DACs that even audiophiles would have trouble noticing.

As for the benefits, it's mostly been covered. More voices, lower CPU usage, improved audio quality, etc. As a headphones user I find that the 3D audio positioning on the X-Fi is unmatched by anything else out there, but this isn't as much of an improvement with a 5.1 setup.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

Originally posted by: Gerr

I don't play music or videos through my system.

I do not have a TV or TV signal connected to my system.

I do not have my main entertainment system connected to my system.

If so, then the only purpose of an expensive sound card is to stimulate the economy.:thumbsup:

How odd that, "I do play a log of games, Crysis, CoD4, World in Conflict, Supreme Commander, Company of Heros, etc." wasn't on your pro-onboard list.

 

[bigsnyder]

If you are using cheap PC speakers, then the X-Fi is definitely overkill. Folks running high end speaker setups (still using analog) probably will have an easier time telling the difference.

 

[Fieryphoenix]

The potential benefits of higher end soundcards are sound quality and game performance. You are not guaranteed either just from having an expensive card.

As mentioned above, when it comes to X-Fi, except for the lowest end models which are actually Audigy cards in disguise, the only thing you get for your extra money is additional break out hardware.

With good speakers, or if you're recording sound, the higher quality can be useful.

You can get much better game performance at times with the right sound card hardware/OS/game combination. My experience overall is not so much that you have higher FPS, but rather that FPS becomes more steady... fewer slowdowns and a smoother feel. With the advent of Vista, however, this is all mucked up.

 

[GhandiInstinct]

But the $200 audigy you get a 1/4inch jack and a remote with some nice controllers. If you're plugging in digital pianos or electric guitars I'd go for the $200 audigy.

 

[Blain]

A CL card isn't the only brand that accepts midi inputs.

 

[trOver]

HT Omega ftw