Is a sound card worth it?

[Fierae]

Saw another article the other day, a very good and informative article, stating that basically sound cards were useless and you may as well just use built in.

Just wish I could find the damn thing.

[Static]

Good day folks,

Just wanted to update you guys on this. First of all, I'm very disappointed with ASUS's customer support. Not only I've been denied an RMA, I've been told to make sure that I'm using the correct driver version of Realtek, which I provided back on my first email already, and if there's no issue with the driver version, I should do a clean Windows install. Well, thanks but no thanks. I'm not willing to do a clean Windows install and waste time while knowing it's either an issue with the motherboard, or their Realtek drivers.

Earlier this morning, I went and grabbed the Sound Blaster Z. I don't know about Logan, but I actually noticed a difference in sound, and I'm very satisfied with my purchase. Either way, this sound card is moving to a new PC by the next month since I'm planning to make a new build; A build that doesn't involve a motherboard with any featured on-board sound. I only started building my own computers since socket 1366 with the help of great people here such as Tetrisgoat, deltrus, Xuvial and some others, but I keep learning my mistakes with every build I make. I'm pretty sure that my next build will be much better overall.

[Deleted]

Saw another article the other day, a very good and informative article, stating that basically sound cards were useless and you may as well just use built in.

Just wish I could find the damn thing.

The toms hardware article posted earlier? They were testing sound quality in particular, but there are tons of other reasons to switch to a DAC over integrated.

[garethellis]

It depends on your needs. A sound card may not be necessary for casual use. A volume booster Chrome extension can be an alternative solution for increasing the sound output beyond the maximum level of your computer's sound card. However, be cautious when using these extensions.

[Naoto]

Mate, how did you manage to necro a near 10 year old thread? I'm impressed!

[czarek]

necro posting

[pcgmer]

I still use my Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS on my Win 7 and Win 10 partition, the Win 10 partition accepts the software and drivers from Win 7 just fine.

The difference is noticeable, and especially the extra controls of how you want to tune your audio.

Yes, this is a 20 year old card and yes, it sounds and has more options than even the most modern onboard.
You can try it for yourself, look up the drivers online, one of the original developers from Creative actually adapted them for Win 7/10.