Would a sound card help?

[rich_kildow]

Would a sound card would be worth it because it would free up some processing power off the CPU/MOBO? I have the system in my sig, and mainly use if for gaming, music and school work, maybe an occasional movie. My speakers are good 4.1's, and I'm in no way an audiophile, just don't want anything with less quality than the onboard on my MOBO.

[Shyguy]

a dedicated hardware sound card is almost always better than on board crapo stuff...

I just upgraded from onboard SB Live! 24-bit 7.1 to an OEM Audigy 4 card for $40 new.... search Pricegrabber for them, the OEM versions of Audigy 4 are extremely cheap & are just as good as Audigy 2's if not better...

Ive noticed a TREMENDOUS difference after installing it... Dolby Digital sounds the way it should (I use a 500watt 5.1 Home Theater for my speaker set up), as well as the other DSP settings, deeper bass better Highs, all around better, games notice it as a hardware card, & not software, like my onboard stuff, even though its supposed to be "hardware"... :rolleyes:

but when it comes to freeing up extra CPU cycles especially when gaming, every little bit helps...