# Sound Card Worth It?



## LooN3y

is this sound card worth buying? or should i just get a cheaper one. im spending around 3400 on a build and tyring to cut costs.

im planning to buy  50-60 dollar speakers and headphone+mic


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## Shane

On board HD sound is quite good these days,But wont compare to a dedicated sound card even lower end ones.

If your looking for a cheap,But cheerful card look into the Xonar series from Asus (DX,D1 D2..or if you want cheaper DS.

Moved to appropriate forum section.


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## LooN3y

Nevakonaza said:


> On board HD sound is quite good these days,But wont compare to a dedicated sound card even lower end ones.
> 
> If your looking for a cheap,But cheerful card look into the Xonar series from Asus (DX,D1 D2..or if you want cheaper DS.
> 
> Moved to appropriate forum section.





sorry didnt know, also i forgot to post the link of the sound card lol.



heres the sound card, its a Asus Xonar series like u mentioned and it has 7.1 channels:


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132019



what kind of speakers should i get? should i get speakers that match the 7.1 channels?

sorry I'm a noob at this, i just need to soak it in.


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## StrangleHold

Yeah, that would be alittle better then onboard, lol. Humor intended.


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## LooN3y

StrangleHold said:


> Yeah, that would be alittle better then onboard, lol. Humor intended.





huh?


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## StrangleHold

LooN3y said:


> huh?


 
Yes, its a good sound card, alot better then onboard.


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## Jamebonds1

LooN3y said:


> sorry didnt know, also i forgot to post the link of the sound card lol.
> 
> 
> 
> heres the sound card, its a Asus Xonar series like u mentioned and it has 7.1 channels:
> 
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132019
> 
> 
> 
> what kind of speakers should i get? should i get speakers that match the 7.1 channels?
> 
> sorry I'm a noob at this, i just need to soak it in.



Creative and Logistech is good speaker.  Logistech have powerful 5.1 speaker and it cost 80 dollar in store. 

If you're look for high quality speaker, you would be better off by buying home theater system 1000 watt that have fiber optical.  If you want 7.1 speaker, i has go for Onkyo 7.1 receiver.  It cost 300-400 dollar, it can be found at amazon.com.  

It might be off topic but i want to say it.  My motherboard have Dolby Home Theater, so I'm not really need a sound card because it is nice sound and smooth.  Plus it is good for home theater system with fiber optical.


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## LooN3y

Jamebonds1 said:


> Creative and Logistech is good speaker.  Logistech have powerful 5.1 speaker and it cost 80 dollar in store.
> 
> If you're look for high quality speaker, you would be better off by buying home theater system 1000 watt that have fiber optical.  If you want 7.1 speaker, i has go for Onkyo 7.1 receiver.  It cost 300-400 dollar, it can be found at amazon.com.
> 
> It might be off topic but i want to say it.  My motherboard have Dolby Home Theater, so I'm not really need a sound card because it is nice sound and smooth.  Plus it is good for home theater system with fiber optical.






I'm thinking about getting this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102012

because its about 150 dollars cheaper.


i mean my computers gonna be pretty crazy, but i want to cut costs.


is a sounds card that costs $220 dollars imperative? if i got this cheaper one would it really sound like crap?

i mean i don't plan to buy 7.1 speakers, prob 5.1 80 dollar speakers at most which the guy before said.


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## Jamebonds1

LooN3y said:


> I'm thinking about getting this one
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102012
> 
> because its about 150 dollars cheaper.
> 
> 
> i mean my computers gonna be pretty crazy, but i want to cut costs.
> 
> 
> is a sounds card that costs $220 dollars imperative? if i got this cheaper one would it really sound like crap?
> 
> i mean i don't plan to buy 7.1 speakers, prob 5.1 80 dollar speakers at most which the guy before said.



It is not good sound card because it is PCI.


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## Okedokey

Jamebonds1 said:


> It is not good sound card because it is PCI.



Wow really?  So the Creative Soundblaster Platinum Pro card is a bad sound card?  It was PCI and is still dam fine.

The PCIe interface is purely a convention change.  PCI and PCIe will have indetectable differences.


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## Jamebonds1

bigfellla said:


> Wow really?  So the Creative Soundblaster Platinum Pro card is a bad sound card?  It was PCI and is still dam fine.
> 
> The PCIe interface is purely a convention change.  PCI and PCIe will have indetectable differences.



If you trying to watch blu ray movie, it would come out like DVD sound quality.  It would be better if he getting PCIe card.  I didn't talk about PCIe, i talk about old PCI.  

PCIe is fastest than PCI.


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## Okedokey

Jamebonds1 said:


> If you trying to watch blu ray movie, it would come out like DVD sound quality.  It would be better if he getting PCIe card.  I didn't talk about PCIe, i talk about old PCI.
> 
> PCIe is fastest than PCI.



Rubbish.  I would be very suprised if any sound card saturates PCI bandwidth.  Apart from power, there is no advantage technically for PCIe over PCI for sound cards.  In fact most audophiles prefer PCI due to the lower noise attributed to the seperate power source.


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## FuryRosewood

^Truth.


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## Jamebonds1

Take look at it why PCIe is better than old PCI.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conventional_PCI


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## Okedokey

How about you provide actual specific reasons to support your claim that PCI bandwidth will limit a consumer grade sound card for a computer?  There isn't any.  So don't give us the wiki links mate, select the info that supports your claim.  Oh thats right, there isnt any.  My PCI Soundblaster Platinum Pro could take any sound interface digital or otherwise.  Your claims are complete nonsense.


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## Jamebonds1

bigfellla said:


> How about you provide actual specific reasons to support your claim that PCI bandwidth will limit a consumer grade sound card for a computer?  There isn't any.  So don't give us the wiki links mate, select the info that supports your claim.  Oh thats right, there isnt any.  My PCI Soundblaster Platinum Pro could take any sound interface digital or otherwise.  Your claims are complete nonsense.



I don't know what is your deal but I'm not going to argue with you.


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## Okedokey

Jamebonds1 said:


> I don't know what is your deal but I'm not going to argue with you.



Thats fine mate, this is a forum.  Thats what we do here, debate issues etc.  The claim that PCIe has some sort of benefit to listening quality in sound cards is simply incorrect.  No deal.


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## Jamebonds1

bigfellla said:


> Thats fine mate, this is a forum.  Thats what we do here, debate issues etc.  The claim that PCIe has some sort of benefit to listening quality in sound cards is simply incorrect.  No deal.



If sound card PCI is better quality than sound card PCIe.  Where is the link?


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## Okedokey

Jamebonds1 said:


> If sound card PCI is better quality than sound card PCIe.  Where is the link?



When did I say its better?  I said its sometimes prefered by audio gurus because of the noise issue, but this is purely anecdotal.  Your claim that PCIe has technical benefits is simply wrong.  End of story.


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## Jamebonds1

bigfellla said:


> When did I say its better?  I said its sometimes prefered by audio gurus because of the noise issue, but this is purely anecdotal.  Your claim that PCIe has technical benefits is simply wrong.  End of story.



Nonsense.  I just asked for the link so that i know you're right or not.


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## LooN3y

but PCI-E and PCI are both good type of sound cards regardless?


i mean much better than the onboard card, and better than the ancient ones that i've seen since i was a kid


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