[XP] Sound card.

[Gamer65]

My friend reccomended this gfx card for intese bf2 sound. I am soon going to upgrade to 5.1 (eventually).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102188

Will I actually HEAR a big difference between this and my 5.1 supporting intergrated mobo? Is it worth the $100+?

[rbc1100]

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.

[Train]

A lot of that is based on your hearing. The new on board sounds much better to me than any Creative product to me. Now http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/ have some real nice sounding products.

[Steve R Jones]

Alot probably depends on your speakers.

[bistro]

I am a proponent of Creative Audigy sound cards, but have no qualms recommending Turtle Beach....they are excellent. But I ditto the above statements...a lot depends on the quality of the speakers. Cheap speakers = cheap sound no matter how good your sound card may be. Don't sell yourself short by investing in an expensive sound card while keeping those chirpy, 4-inch Made-In-A-Hong-Kong-Noodle-Shop speakers. Budget for the card AND new speakers.

[judge john]

sry to ‘butt in’ but i could do with a bit of advice on the same thing. i have some Logitech Z-2300 speakers;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...096943-5818827
and after spending so much on 2.1 sound i didn't really want to spend any more on a sound card. as they are THX®-certified the recommended sound card costs about £40! currently i am using the on board sound from my new mobo and Asus certainly make it seem impressive,
‘Theatre-Level Audio
A person who truly knows good entertainment appreciates good acoustic presence. AI Life Series motherboards offer theatre-level 7.1 surround sound and audio spec higher than that of DVD. Enjoy true home theatre experience with Dolby Digital Live (Dolby Home Theatre), appreciate the quality of sound, and indulge your sense of hearing.’

but i am clever enough to know that it isn't as good as a decent sound card. so how good is my on board sound card? and will it be recommended to spend so much on a sound card for 2.1 speakers? they already sound fantastic, particularly the base.

[SuperSparks]

The problem with any onboard sound is that however good the sound chip (and they are pretty good these days), a motherboard is a very electrically noisy environment and the signal to noise ratio will always be a lot worse than a separate sound card.

The SoundBlaster X-Fi series is in a whole different league to pervious generations, I have one and the sound quality is just awesome For gaming consider the X-Fi Fatal1ty or the Elite Pro - they have 64MB of RAM onboard and are designed to take some of the load off the CPU to give improved frame rates.

[Gamer65]

Supersparks... Looking for something decent in the $100-150 range, if possible. Should I get this, or a logitech g5? Or do you guys reccomend getting ANYTHING (not neccessairly a sound card, if possible under $150) that isn't listed in my specs? Besides fans ;P

EDIT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102190

Or how about that for my sound card?

[SuperSparks]

The platinum version is exactly the same sound card as the one that you linked to in your first post, but with the addition of the front drive bay. Personally I find the drive bay very uiseful, but only you can decide whether it's worth the extra money.

Looking at your specs, a decent sound card is the only thing missing.

[rbc1100]

Cheap speakers = cheap sound no matter how good your sound card may be

I totally agree. Speakers are the end result of all the other sound components. These Z5500's sound really good for the money I put out, and if they sounded 1/2 as good as the Polks on my main sound system. I'd be a happy camper.

[Gamer65]

Yeah. As I am moving into an apartment soon, I won't be needing too loud speakers (If you get my drift). I was thinking something on these lines would fit my need

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836116137

Would that have good sounds? Right now I'm using Logitech X230's. Will this sound equivalent, or better?

EDIT: And also, if I were to plug things in, as you may see, my case has a 'door' before the drives, and you have to open it to access them. I'm guessing I would have to leave this permanetly open?

[judge john]

well IMO i think cheap 5.1 set up's are rubbish. if you are not going to spend a decent amount on them then don't buy 5.1. it would be much better to get some decent 2.1 for that money.
and on the door thing, as i see it you would not have to keep it open all the time unless you wanted to use the remote. this is because all the speaker cables should plug into the PCI card and not the drive bay. but i assume a door would stop the remote signal.

[Steve R Jones]

I would spend more money on the speakers than the sound card....

Why not get new speakers first and then see/hear if you "need" a better sound card.

[Gamer65]

I would spend more money on the speakers than the sound card....

Why not get new speakers first and then see/hear if you "need" a better sound card.

Ok, steve. I'm BASCICALLY going to take your advice. I'm going to get these speaks...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836121120

and upgrade a little later. I've spent a bit on the system, and the mobo has 5.1 support, so hey, I'll wait a little and save for the XFI.