Sound Card

Lee H

Hi

Is a sound card important, as opose to onboard sound

If a mobo has onboard 5.1 is it insane to then put in a 5.1 sound card??

If the difference is indistinguishable to the ear then why bother??

Lee

JDMurray

The integrated (on-board) sound card relies on the CPU for much of its sound processing. By using a sound card with its own processor, you are easing the load on your CPU, and you will get cleaner sound when the CPU is under a high load. (This is also the same difference between using integrated video and a video card.) It also comes down to what kinds of software you will be running on the system (playing MP3's or playing heavy-duty games), if you have a bus slot free to use for a sound card, and if you want to spend the money to buy a good sound card.

ally_uk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southbridge_(computing)

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