Worth getting a sound card?

[SlyReaper]

Basically, I use the onboard sound hardware that came integrated with my motherboard. My question is: would I actually notice an improvement in sound quality if I installed a dedicated sound card? Perhaps it would improve the overall performance of the system, since the CPU would no longer have to do the maths involved in generating sound?

I don't have any speakers, just headphones.

 

[SlyReaper]

if you have a decent set of headphones then most definitely. more so than a set of pc speakers, the difference in sound quality should be immediately apparent.


asus xonar dx pci-e. the best card you will get for your money

Nice. OCUK only seem to have it available as pre-order. Do we know when they'll be available?

My headphones are actually quite cheap, will I still notice a difference?