5.1 for £50 ish

[daveyg]

I want to update my very old Cambridge Soundworks 4.1 system, I have a budget of about £50, i.e a few quid here and there don't matter for the right product.

I've seen the Creative T6060 and the Logitech X-530. Both look pretty good and are in budget.

I like the fact that the logitech has the controls built into the right speaker as the trailing creative ones get on my nerves, but I think the Creative looks better and I am also worried about the length of audio cables from the right speaker to reach my PC on the left.

What do you reccomend? Either of these or something else? I'm not bothered about flashy extras like breakout boxes, remotes, etc just good compact speakers that are desk or wall mountable.

I'm currently using the HD onboard sound of my Gigabyte DS4 (ALC883) as my Audigy 1 died when my old mobo gave way forcing the rebuild. I plan to probably get a new soundcard later in the year, but not for now.

Also if I was to double my budget to £100 will this make much difference to quality, taking into account a lack of dedicated soundcard at the moment. (recommendations for those as well is you wish!)

Ta,

Davey G
E6600, GB DS4, 2GB@533, 7900GT Golden Sample, 250gb SATA, Enermax Liberty 500W, LG4166, Dell 2007WFP

 

[daveyg]

Thanks for the response guys.

From what you are saying I really need to push my budget to £120 to make 5.1 worthwhile, or go with 2.1, a step down from my 4.1 at the mo, although they are probably very poor in todays terms.

I only use my PC for gaming, not movies, so I really need to decide if 2.1 will do, although if I'm honest the rear of my 4.1 in games has never been outstanding.

So 2 more questions I guess:

Will £100 speakers benefit from a dedicated soundcard?

Would you reccommend 5.1 or 2.1 for use only with gaming?

Discuss!