New sound card

[wheaties1187]

hey guys, i'm considering getting a new sound card, so i was wondering if anybody would recommend a card that they have.

right now i have a REALLY old soundblaster card that i got off a scrap pc and have just been moving it from system to system as i upgrade. but i think i want to upgrade now. i was thinking about an audigy 2 or something. anyways, any suggestions as to what to look for would help.

system specs:
asus a8n-sli deluxe
amd athlon64 3700+ san diego @ 2.62ghz
bfgtech 7800gt/oc
corsair xms ddr400 (2x512)
40 & 120 gig seagate hdd's

so i think the next piece of the puzzle is sound. my speakers are decent, and i usually game with headphones. thanx again! :wave:

 

[zephead]

the mobo you listed has a great integrated soundcard, is there any particular reason you want to purchase an additional card? you could probably save some cash and use the integrated card, it should be just as good for most playback purposes (gaming and general)...

 

[wheaties1187]

i was under the impression that using the onboard sound puts the burden on the cpu rather than an independent card handling the sound. im not sure that i even need an upgrade over this soundblaster, but it seems like most people say they notice a difference when using high end soundcards. i guess i dont really need to worry about the cpu handling it either, but im a performance ***** and i like getting every last frame out of my rig.

i guess i should change my question to is an old soundblaster better than new onboard sound (in terms of sound quality and cpu usage). would a new card even be worth it?

by the way i was just trying to come up with some ideas for my xmas list when i decided to go with a soundcard. im very happy with the current system performance wise, so ive been looking at a case, sound card, or other stuff like that.

 

[PC_Nerd]

Get a Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS

 

[iss]

Given that you have an Nforce board you should stick with the Audigy2 series ( like the Audigy2 ZS) DO NOT go for the new XF-i series as they have serious compaitability issues with Nforce chipsets.

 

[zephead]

yes, it is true that an integrated soundcard will use a bit of cpu time. but it is a neglible difference in most cases.

and i can attest to the quality and performance of audigy cards - you'll get your money's worth.

in my opinion, such a card would be wasted with cheap 2-channel stereo speakers, i reccomend you invest in a powerful surround sound set. but this is coming from a musician who likes to blast all his music.