Why get a sound card?

[Crank]

This may be a silly question, but if you don't want stuff like Dolby 5.1 sound, more than two speakers, etc, why buy a sound card.
Do they improve the actual sounds of games over the regular old 16 bit on-board stuff that comes on MOBO's these days?
I'm asking because I see lots of people that are happy with their soundcard purchases, but it's usually because they can do hardware MP3 decoding and stuff.
If they do actually improve the sound, what card would you suggest for me. My system is:
PII/400, 512MB, GF2Pro 64MB, Win98/SE, and the Boston BA635 mini sub-sat system.
Thanks.

 

[Bojax]

Depend's on the mobo sound. My Iwill KK266 has great sound. I was using a montego II. i've went back to the onboard sound. It is great.

 

[SCUBA]

i love my good old SB 16 bit that i bought back in 1997 altough i like my SB live 5.1
i would never say that ill ever need any thing bettter than that ISA 16 bit sound card
BTW if i had ISA sluts on my new mother board i wouldnt even think of upgrading

 

[MSNY]

It's like anything, some people want the best, some want what works and other don't care one way or another. Those that have hi quality sound equiptment NOT hooked up to a computer would most likely demand the best sound they could for there computer. It's one hobby crossing over to another. I have a Sony dolby digital 5.1 Home AmpiTheater System for DVD and I would NEVER watch movies at home without it now, I'm spoiled.

Some people swear they can't hear rhe difference btw that old SB16 and the latest Creative cards.
For me I can tell the difference, it's just plain better quality. If I put a audio CDROM in a cheapo player then my DVD I guarantee you you will hear things on the tracks that were missing.

A good quality sound card can make a big difference !

 

[erikiksaz]

i'd say it depends on what you do. if you're into the high end speakers and headphones, an audiophile sound card would do you good. if not, any gaming sound card should work fine.

 

[erikiksaz]

woops, screwed up html.

 

[ObiDon]

I thought this post was going to be about USB speakers. I wonder what ever happened to that good old idea...

 

[erikiksaz]

oh bloody hell, my sig isnt working. sorry guys, gotta fix this.

 

[nortexoid]

i have multiple things plugged into my sound card...

headphones, mini-stereo, and 2.1 speaker set-up...thus, i need 3 analog outs..

also, i love A3D for gaming, and EAX is better than nothing...old cards and most onboard sound don't offer 3d positional algorithms....also, some want digital out, etc...

they've many uses beyond basic onboard sound or sound cards.

 

[Crank]

Hmm.. I hear what you guys are saying, and I'm really in to home stereo's, so sound quality is something I can definitely appreciate.
However, since the source (your computer) outputs such crappy sound anyway (compared to even a mid-fi home stereo) it never seemed worth it to me to spend extra money on stuff like crazy speakers, etc. The Boston's I have sound great for playing MP3's and all the FPS games I like.
But some people seem to liken the difference a sound card makes to a system to the difference a video card makes - I just upgraded my Voodoo 3000 to a GeForce2 Pro, and that made a huge difference.
Will a sound card add the same sort of performance/richness to sound that a video card adds to overall system performance?
I only use my computer for gaming (no movie watching from DVD or anything). Will the explosions in CS and T2 really make me enjoy the game more?
Oh, and as for support for these 3D sound systems...are they worth it if you're only going to use 2 speakers like I am? Normal stereo separation *should* be able to provide perfect left/right cues...
Thanks!

 

[MGMorden]

Well if you're into gaming a "real" soundcard will often support more 3d sound API's. They also usually do a LOT more processing of the sound onboard, so that your cpu doesn't have to work on it. If a $50 souncard utilizes the cpu 3%, and the onboard utilizes 25%, then that $50 is well spent to me.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

And at the rate onboard sound is maturing, we might not need soundcards to get Dolby Digital sound quality. I'm lookin' forward to the first batch of mobo's sporting the nForce chipset.