I have onboard sound with a great set of Harmon Kardon Speakers. I was thinking of getting a sound card but was wondering if it was worth it? Ot to make it really worth it do you have to spend a ton on 5.1 or 6.1 card?
Well what type of onboard sound do you have? if it is the good ol AC97, then yes, you will hear a difference. If you have a current gen board with Intel HD onboard, then the difference might not be so obvious. Either way, it is a very personal thing. Some people think it is night and day, others could not tell.
As far as the price charts go, Creatives new X-Fi series is very very nice (i finally got a chance to hear it) But that is the very high end of the consumer sound card market, and will cost you a pretty penny. But you do not really have to sell a kidney to get a decent sound.
I am a total fan boy of Creative, not saying that other brands (like chaintech) are bad, but i can not direct you about them, as i have only owned one.
It is the version before these and I love them. I looked and my sound is the 97 so I might have to upgrade thanks for the suggestions, I will end up getting one of those.
oh its only 2.1 speakers... well the creative audigy 2 ZS are good soundcards u will definitely notice improvements especially on nice speakers like urs :grinthumb
on board audio is usually garbage unless you have some hd 5.1 going on. the upgrade to an add-in card will be a good investment. The soundblaster route is the way to go. their newest line, x-fi, is an inexpensive, high-quality way to go. you can always go to the previous generation audigy cards, but they are actually more expensive. x-fi is probably your best bet.