Need advice on sound card

Gydion

Gydion

Gydion

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Joined
7 Nov 2011
Posts
20
Currently I am using the Razer Carcharias (link below) for my headset after my Creative Fatal1ty headset broke after many years of overuse, I'm mainly using it for gaming.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-007-RA

My current system spec that I bought from overclockers is an i5 with a 6950 2gb graphics card, I did not specifically buy a sound card, would I receive a noticeable difference if I buy one to get the most out of my gaming experience?

Much appreciated in advance for your responses.
 
What motherboard do you have with your setup? Some of them come with onboard sound which is starting to close the gap with some lower end soundcards. As a general rule of thumb though, a sound card such as the Asus Xonar DGX will make a noticeable difference to sound quality and everything above increasing on this. I would stay away from the low end Creative though.
 
thanks for your reply - I currently connect it through the top of my shinobi case through AUX connection, using basic sound card I'm assuming on my motherboard, apologies for my lack of knowledge as I've never ventured into sound cards ever before.
 
if its the normal 3mm jacks your using then yes a card will improve things as listed above a dgx would work great
 
Yes no doubt a decent sound card will make the world of difference. If you still want to use the front audio jacks on your case make sure you get one which has an audio connector on the top of the card. I think most of them utilise the Intel HD audio connector nowadays.
 
Gydion said:
Thanks for the responses, my current motherboard is:

Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

With this case:

BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case - Black

Would it be straight forward to put in this sound card as you have suggested?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-015-AS
Click to expand...

Hello Gydion,

Yes the card will fit into one of your 3 PCI-E x1 slots on the motherboard.

As a good rule of thumb it is normally good practice to remove any other audio drivers and disable onboard audio in the BIOS.

Then go ahead and install the card in one of the slots and plug the front audio connector from your case into the top audio header on the card (I think your case supports both AC'97 and HDA). Once you have installed the latest drivers you should be able to install your speakers in the back (if you have any).

The Asus Xonar DGX supports front audio panel headphone detection so if you plug in your RAzer headset it will automatically default to them instead of the speakrs, then once you unplug revert back to the speakers.

You should notice a rather large improvement in audio quality and hear details you probably didn't before.

Hope this helps,

Jamie
 
The problem with using the front audio ports instead of the ones on the back of the card, aside from being more susceptible to interference and usually being of a lower quality is that it will bypass the headphone amp on the DG which is arguable the feature which makes the card so good. I would always recommend plugging a headset into the back of your PC.
 
The amp on the DG can be used with front audio connection as well. Same applies to the Essence.

It varies depending on the case, as to whether or not any interference can be heard. Some can be so bad, that it's unusable. Others can be not noticeable at all. Using the connections directly on the card though, is always best is possible.
 
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