which soundcard/setup

[233]

Ok guys after a bit of hardware clearing I have happened across a couple of soundcards and was wondering what would be best in terms of quality/performance for my rig


would i be better using

Onboard Realtek AC97


Soundblaster Live

Soundblaster 64


help a noob out here guys

 

[Greenlizard0]

It used to be the case that a dedicated sound card was a must-have since onboard sound was rubbish. That's roughly still the case. Onboard sound has improved a hell of a lot, but still won't beat the quality of a good sound card and speaker/headphone setup. However since that can really add to the price of a system some people choose to go onboard for financial reasons and due to the fact that it's now not THAT bad.

I would say however that since the sound card you're suggesting is that old, you might actually be better going for the onboard sound lol. Get a cheap X-Fi tbh, the cheapest model on OcUK (which is now out of stock) is likie £28. You'll notice the improvement over the Realtek.