worth it to get a sound card?

[gammaray]

Hi,

i got this motherboard: Asus M3A78

should i spend any money to get a sound card?

all i do is casual gaming and listen to mp3 occasionally.

 

[EGGO]

Looks like it'll suit you well.

If you wanted to use, say, high-end headphones or speakers, then you may want to look into using a soundcard or using other equipment.

 

[gammaray]

any recommendations? cos i know nada about sound card.

 

[EGGO]

Things like that will depend on your needs. For example, do you require a MIDI connection? Optical In/Out connection? Coaxial connection? (the later two can help you if you want to put it into a Digital Analog Converter (DAC) unless you find one that would connect to a USB). Do you require one that'll provide for a 7.1 sound system?

So I can't really point you toward a direction. But those questions will help in getting yourself a little more knowledge about it. It sounds like you don't need one for sound recording or high fidelity listening, so you can get a gaming one. You can also look at http://www.soundblaster.com/products/gaming/

 

[gammaray]

i don't wanna pay more than 50$ anything good ?

 

[EGGO]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...name=%2425%20-%20%2450

 

[gammaray]

so, which one? since i said i know nada.

 

[EGGO]

Research. I know nothing of your needs from a sound card. Music tastes or audio system. If you know nothing, your onboard really should be good enough.

 

[shingletingle]

Originally posted by: gammaray
so, which one? since i said i know nada.

You could try doing some of your own research instead of begging people to spoon-feed it to you.

 

[Lemon law]

In MHO, if you want super high sound quality, buy a sound system from the hi-fi industry, it will meet your needs far longer. As for me, I have no such needs, on mother board sound more than meets my needs, but I can't impose my standards on others, if it trips your trigger and you want more, go ahead, spend your money, just don't do it to keep up with the Jone's.

 

[gammaray]

Originally posted by: shingletingle

Originally posted by: gammaray
so, which one? since i said i know nada.

You could try doing some of your own research instead of begging people to spoon-feed it to you.

Err, the point of asking someone else is to not waste precious time doing this research geez. Someone who knows sound cards pretty well can answer me pretty quickly.

That's the point of sharing knowledge on a forum right?

 

[Dorkenstein]

So since shingle didn't give you a direct magic-bullet answer he knows nothing about sound cards. Ok.

Anyway if you do only casual gaming and only listen to lossy music files I would definitely recommend you stay with onboard sound. Some people who demand even more from their sound devices, myself included, stick with onboard. I have Realtek Azalia HD and it works just great. Sure there are things it can't do, but for now it works without a hitch. If you think in the future you want surround sound, home theater, what have you, your needs will change.

 

[Maximilian]

If you spend less than $50 you will probably end up with a sound card worse than what the onboard sound can offer. If you must have a soundcard look into the ASUS Xonar D range, think theres the DX and a cheaper version of it, they are excellent cards.

Bottom line, you probably dont need a sound card, not many people do these days as onboard audio is of such high quality.

 

[herm0016]

for cheaper soundcards look at the turtle beach line. they use very good components and are high quality. imho they are the best value in soundcards.

 

[HeXploiT]

If you want to save some cpu cycles get any hardware soundcard. Even the soundblaster live cards are still excellent quality and cost but a few bucks.

 

[gammaray]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
If you spend less than $50 you will probably end up with a sound card worse than what the onboard sound can offer. If you must have a soundcard look into the ASUS Xonar D range, think theres the DX and a cheaper version of it, they are excellent cards.

Bottom line, you probably dont need a sound card, not many people do these days as onboard audio is of such high quality.

Thanks, will stick with on board audio.