I have an Epox mainboard with onboard sound. Althought the onboard sound worked well, I bought a Creative Labs Audigy Platium sound card. Yes there is a big difference between a good sound card VS onboard sound. I am using Logitec Z5500 SS speakers and the sound is so much cleaner. Very good bass reponse, midrange and high freq reponse's. Playing Call of Duty ( my fav) makes the floor shake, not to mention music and DVD's.