Sound: Onboard vs Dedicated

Hey again guys... I just got my system and was wondering if I should stick this Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro that I've had lying around for over a year into my system? Would it be better then the onboard sound? I've heard that cards speed things up because it takes duties off the CPU; however I'm sorta Iffy about how much of a performance boost I will get. Anyone got an estimate? Such as when gaming; am I going to see like +5 FPS here? Or would it be more like +.5? The onboard sound my mobo is Realtek 5.1.

I know it’s a pretty dumb question like... well durr the onboard will be better just use it... I like to save electricity tough... and if the performance increase isn’t really worth it then I don’t feel like taking the time/energy (however small…=P) to put it in…

There's some benchmarks here which use the Audigy 2 ZS & a Realtek;

http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q4/soundblaster-x-fi/index.x?pg=6

http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q4/soundblaster-x-fi/index.x?pg=7

Basically, whatever about frame rate, CPU utilization will be notably better.

Beyond performance though, what about playback quality? The Creative cards can't really be beaten for gaming support while audio quality would also be better than an onboard codec.

Great info! Tons of info... more then I could use! Looks like a good idea to put it in... I will put it into my system when i get the chance... Thanks for the help.