sound card essential
- Thread starter koOp
- Start date
elmarcorulz
VIP Member
If the motherboard has intergrated sound, then no, you dont need onekoOp said:
WeatherMan
Active Member
Most people buy sound cards because they usually output higher quality audio than normal onboard sound chips.
Starman*
New Member
The onboard audio is fine for most people. You only get a significant benefit with a sound card if your audio system is capable of reproducing it.
I recently got a sound card solely for reducing load on cpu. When you play mp3s it tends to slow down other activities (even though it's still quite a small % of cpu). More of a problem with older slower pcs. I also run progs from the '90s in Win95 mode which seem more susceptible to being upset.
I have a tv card and adding the sound card meant the tv mute no longer mutes the sound. I have to use the sound card's mixer. Also a bunch more running processes. Some minor disadvantages of adding a sound card if you really don't need the extra quality.
You may have interests that require a specialized sound card. On my very old pc I have a Roland MPU401 that I use solely for midi (unbelievable tone compared to just about anything you can get today).
Trizoy quote: "Its like upgrading the motherboards battery". Wow, where can I get one of those? Will my pc run faster?
Starman*
I recently got a sound card solely for reducing load on cpu. When you play mp3s it tends to slow down other activities (even though it's still quite a small % of cpu). More of a problem with older slower pcs. I also run progs from the '90s in Win95 mode which seem more susceptible to being upset.
I have a tv card and adding the sound card meant the tv mute no longer mutes the sound. I have to use the sound card's mixer. Also a bunch more running processes. Some minor disadvantages of adding a sound card if you really don't need the extra quality.
You may have interests that require a specialized sound card. On my very old pc I have a Roland MPU401 that I use solely for midi (unbelievable tone compared to just about anything you can get today).
Trizoy quote: "Its like upgrading the motherboards battery". Wow, where can I get one of those? Will my pc run faster?
Starman*
thirdleft152
New Member
Trizoy said:
the average person may not need it. however an audio card will take some load off the pc. not to mention if you have the speakers that allow the card to work to its potential.
EliteEmerz
New Member
i went from Nforce onboard sound to an audigy 2 for my Creative S750 speakers and the quality improvement was amazing. You do need one if you want potentially more options and better sound, but dont really need one if you just want to listen to music and have basic capabilitys for games with simple 2.1 speakers. If you really want a sound card, dont spend like 40 on a crappy 5.1 card from officemax, id suggest saving up almost 300 and blowing it on a fatal1ty or something