Recommend A Better Sound Card?

[jonathanx54]

Before I buy this Motherboard....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128377 I want to know if I should go ahead and buy a better sound card.

What does everyone think?

 

[Kosh]

depends on what u need it for?gaming,music,movies?or all of the above.if music is a consideration if its coded mp3 onboard vs external may not make a noticeable difference.gaming you need an xfi chip,and use analog out for best results.we need way more information to give a proper answer.

 

[jonathanx54]

I'm making a gaming rig with these parts....

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276567&Sku=ULT-LSP750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128377
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4588101&CatId=4431
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3869717&CatId=3361
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5034920&CatId=3669#dualmonitors
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2203982&CatId=139
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116678

That's all the info I can provide, lol. So do I need a sound card and if so, what kind?

 

[Kosh]

read what i asked i said nothing about what parts.

WHAT is the audio of the pc gonna be used for?

Gaming?

Music?

Movies?

or do you plan to do all of those on your pc?

with the parts you listed especially the video card.im going to assume gaming is high on the list.this,or this will rock for games.

is it absolutely needed no,but it will make the game sounds more realistic.

 

[jonathanx54]

Mainly for gaming, but a little bit of movies/music too. Yeah, i'm looking for realistic sound so I may go with the.....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102019&cm_re=xfi-_-29-102-019-_-Product since it's pci express x1.

Could you recommend a speaker system as well?

 

[Slacker7]

Before purchasing that Creative card do some research on their driver support and 64 bit operating systems. There were some serious issues with their driver support last year and their refusal to correct it. The outcry was all ovr the 'net.

 

[ScOuT]

I'm making a gaming rig with these parts....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116678

I would really consider not buying the Ultimate version of Vista and just stay with the Home Premium or wait until Windows 7 is available in it's OEM version. I have been running Ultimate 64bit and Home Premium 64bit sinse the day they were released. There are a few small extra apps and language packs that Ultimate has...that's it. Do you plan on changing the language of Vista every few days? If not...stick with the Home Premium


As far as a sound card...that's a tough choice. I was looking at the pictures of the motherboard you have chosen. I think it would be best to run a sound card in the bottom white PCI slot. That way it will be at the very bottom of the motherboard when it is in the case. That will also open airflow around the graphics card area. Have you thought about getting a PCI card?

Check out this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

With these speakers...a couple for you to look at

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836116041

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121006

 

[jonathanx54]

I was thinking that a pci express would be better than pci. I don't know whether to go with a pci or pci express. What you think?

 

[linkin]

either will be fine, as long as they take some load off the CPU.

 

[jonathanx54]

so there really isn't much difference between the pci cards and the pci express ones?

 

[jonathanx54]

I'm having trouble deciding what set of speakers I want. I'm looking for something no more than $150 USD, (give or take a few dollars).

So far I've narrowed it down between....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836116041 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3304945&CatId=2894

What do you think between these two or do you reccomend any others?
I liked the Creative Inspire that you mentioned, but I dunno what I should get.

 

[KrisM]

more thoughts

Been watching this for a bit.

The Realtek 889 will give you more than enough discrete-ness. Use it until you get expensive speakers ($600 and up).

The Logitech G51 would probably be an enjoyable set for you. I enjoyed their less expensive X-540 for a number of years until I just recently stumbled into a 10 year old Altec Lansing ADA885 set (SPDIF in).

I personally don't like Creative - my opinion.

If you want to watch movies, you need a player with a Dolby decoder - you will pay extra for that licensing, but that will give you true 5.1 . There's very little true 7.1 media out there.

My interests for this system are HDTV w 5.1(Autumnwave OnAir USB HDTV), Blu-Ray with DTS(Lite-On player)(Corel WinDVD9 Plus - which I don't recommend - get a separate blu-ray player component-$200), and what I would call simple games: NWN etc. Also have Hannspree 28" monitor that is HDMI/HDCP, and 9800GTX card of I forget which brand, also HDCP. I also feed a standalone upscale DVD player to the Hannspree via HDMI but had to cut pin/wire 13 to kill the jump to next chapter signals from the monitor.

My past hi-fi experience includes Krells and Snells and a McCormack. I unfortunately have expensive ears.

 

[jonathanx54]

I think I'm going with these....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829156010&Tpk=Auzentech%20X-Fi%20Forte%207.1
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3304945&CatId=2894
If I picked a bad sound card let me know, but I think this would be a great set up. Right?

I want the sound experience to be so real that I can hear bullets flying by my head, hear enemies creeping up on me in the dark, and etc.

I might just be paranoid, but it would be AWESOME!!!