Oh, I forgot to add "anyone that matters". And trust me, when it comes to computer advice/technical knowledge, neither you nor Rob matter.

I'd rather not put out $30 for just another piece of hardware that could fail on me and would net me no real perfomance boost. I'm fine with onboard sound, but if you like it with a card, good for you. I'm not an audiophile, and my sound's not broken, so I'll stick with onboard.

You have no idea what you're talking about.


Coincidentally, I bet you have $50 logitech speakers.

1. Soundcard could fail. Small chance, bit of a stupid point.
2. No real performance boost. Seriously. Are my games going to run faster, Windows going to load quicker? Just sound better.

And no I didn't, I have cheap $15 walmart speakers. Maybe I'll look into a sound card if it sounds as wonderful as you both claim.

Yes, your games can run faster with a better soundcard depending on the circumstances.

Not only that a good pair of headphones and a good sound card give you a MARKED advantage over other players in tactical shooters.

A decent soundblaster isn't even that much. Even the Audigy 2 value would be good.

Onboard sound sucks almost as much as onboard video.

OK, mind elaborating on what would make the game run faster?

And I've got cheap Radioshack headphones, and I'm not going to use my Shure E2c's for regular computer stuff becasue I can't hear anyone with them in. Sound, so long as there's no cracking, popping, or any deficiency with the sound, doesn't matter to me that much.

My onboard sound seems adequate for what I need it for. But then again...I also said 20fps was playable before I got my new computer.

My ASUS onboard audio is great. Used to run a SBLive card, but couldn't connect the front jacks on my new case, so I don't use it anymore.

I have $50 logitech speakers--they were also marked as the greatest 2.1 gaming speakers by anandtech iirc. Are they good for audiophiles and other assorted jackasses? No. Do they work well and definitely well enough for me? Yes.


Your games CAN run faster with a better soundcard--if you enable EAX and such. But at most you're talking a few frames, for a hundred or so dollars worth of investment.

Also, it doesn't matter how good your soundcard is really, as long as it's capable of positional 3D, and your headphones, while true it's better to have a good pair of Stereo headphones to play with, it's not neccessary to beat everyone and neither is it THAT much of a help. Take it from someone who's used e2c's, some of the best gaming "headphones" (IEM's rather) on the market.

You're just blowing these things way out of proportion. Onboard audio has gotten a lot better, and is definitely lightyears ahead of onboard video.

[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]I have $50 logitech speakers--they were also marked as the greatest 2.1 gaming speakers by anandtech iirc. Are they good for audiophiles and other assorted jackasses? No. Do they work well and definitely well enough for me? Yes.

[/quote]

Thats nice, but I bet those were marked down.



I don't think I blew anything out of proportion. I've used onboard sound on and off on every computer I have.

Having even a lame soundblaster is better than onboard sound.

No. Logitech Z3e's. Look them up. http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getoffers.php?keyword=Lenovo%2022P8850&search=logitech%20z3e <--and they're only expensive because you can't find them anymore, really.


No, you've bought every computer you've ever had. You use Intel only, and considering most gamers here have AMD boards, the differences between the two are monumental.

Onboard isn't as bad as you say it is, just if you're too weak/lazy to build your own computer. True, there are some bad chipsets out there, but onboard does not automatically equal suck. You are wrong my friend.

I have not bought every computer I've ever had.

Only the last two.

Anything else, I built. And I've built computers with friends, and for friends.

Anything I've ever encountered in an onboard sound has sucked more *** than your mother on friday night.

So you base your experience on onboard audio of old (which did indeed suck) and your new, purchased onboard audio (which does suck)? Oh, man, let me BOW to your much greater insight. I had no idea!

I think you get the point. And instead of making some lame *** attempt at a "YOUR MOM LOL" joke, I'll just say you're still wrong.

Dude, expensive soundcards are a joke. I see no advantage to spending upwards to 200 dollars for SLIGHTLY enhanced sound. Computer audio isn't anything to marvel at in the first place. Nothing beats good live acoustics, and it feels futile to me to really care about my sound card. The quality of the sound FILE is slightly more important. A good OGG is far more important that a good soundcard.

I've always gone with the cheapest sound card possible, and usually on board. I can't complain.

Eh, not quite true. Digital media can be the highest quality available, with ease. And soundcards DO matter, as does your audio equipment. But not as much as audiophiles and their ilk let on.

I will say that onboard audio sucks simply because it uses processor time which lowers your FPS in games (albeit maybe not by much, but every little bit counts). While I don't think a $200 sound card is worth anything to most people, those most people will still notice the difference between onboard sound quality and a good $50 sound card. Not like anyone daily checks the "happenings" in the onboard sound card market, but the last good onboard sound I remember was on the nForce2 boards. Since then I don't think anything has topped that. Some boards still use the AC97 chipset.

Here's a good sound card on the Egg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829111002

While not the best, it's the same card I use due to space constrictions with SLI. Before that I was using onboard sound after losing the space to use my Audigy 2 ZS. It was a dark dark time, using that onboard sound.