i've heard that the onboard sound card crackles a fair bit
Heard from cheap bottom of the line motherboard?
That Gigabyte motherboard has lot better than usual "marketing checklist/bulletpoint engineering" integrated sound card features, including good binaural simulation for headphones.
And you didn't mention budget.
Lot's of spread in there.
Not that most headsets (especially gaming ones) are even remotely worth their price tag.
Reason why there are so many gaming brands is huge profit margins:
Just take cheap China junk, add bling bling colours/look and some BS name and you can add extra zero before decimal point of price sticker.
Hence lot higher quality headphones from actual audio makers+separate microphone can be gotten for less than more expensive gaming junks.
(QPAD has exception there)
Besides doubt any gaming headset USB dongles have even cheap ass sound card level components.
Sennheisers £230 GSXes have lower quality parts than average integrated Realtek and £30 sound cards.
That's how gaming products are made.