USB sound card replacement for regular sound card?

My first post so please be patient with me. My PC is a Dell Dimension 8200, (vintage 2002) Pentium 4, 512 cache, 2GB memory, 120GB HD.

I upgraded my OS from Win XP Pro to Win 7 Ultimate in Nov 2010 and my soundcard completely stopped working as being incompatible with Win 7. There are no updating drivers as it is old technology according to the manufacturer (Voyetra Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP). Went downtown and bought a replacement and when I tried to install it I found that the connectors didn’t match. The salesman said that Dell uses proprietary connectors therefore I must use a Dell card. Dell doesn’t have any for my outdated system.

So my question is: Will a USB soundcard, (such as the Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro or equal) actually solve my problem, i.e., do everything a regular soundcard does? It just sounds too good to be true!

Many thanks for any assistance you can provide.
 
Did you motherboard come with on-board audio and you added the Turtle Beach sound card or did that sound card come with the PC. Your PC can use a PCI card, not a PCI-express card.
 
USB Soundcard Replacement for Regular Soundcard?

My PC came with the Turtle Beach (Part No. 38FRH) soundcard already installed. You indicated that I could use a PCI soundcard. Don't these cards plug into the slots inside the PC case? I bought a Win 7 compatible soundcard as a replacement and when I tried to plug it in I found that the PC connectors (two) wouldn't fit. When I returned the card, the salesman said I needed a Dell card since Dell PC's use proprietary connectors. This is the reason that I thought that a USB connection soundcard might be the answer by going around the PC connector problem. Assuming, of course, that a USB soundcard does what a normal soundcard does. Am I off-base?
 
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