I need a new Soundcard...

[Xerosch]

...and am absolutely overwhelmed as I have absolutely no idea which one to buy.

I bought a new PC in 09/2009 with an on-board soundcard but want to swap. My PC is mainly designed for playing games and still runs on Windows XP. I'm willing to spend up to 100 Euro/130 Dollars.

Can you give me some recommondations?

 

[Laughing Man]

Yes most motherboards come with on board 8 channel hd audio these days but that doesn't mean that it is still any good. I've owned a Creative Xi-fi gamer and I currently own an Asus Xonar DS and both of these easily produce vastly better sound quality than any of the onboard sound systems on any of the four motherboards I have owned and that includes my high end Asus Maximus 3 which comes with it's own sound card.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-006-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=

that's the one I use and it works very very nicely in Windows 7.

 

[Xerosch]

Guys, I just want a soundcard because the on-board one is fucked up. It doesn't do anything anymore, no matter if I use my recovery DVD or install new drivers from the manufacturer's or comparable sites. I've tried everything, believe me. So I figured it's time to get a decent new one.

 

[Laughing Man]

How exactly have you determined separate cards to sound "vastly better" than integrated sound cards, pray tell?

The better question would be, given that I have owned and used both and YOU HAVEN'T how have YOU determined that onboard sound is good enough to stand up to a dedicated sound card?

Five minutes in a game like BF2 is more than enough to show the difference between even mid range to high end (if such a thing exists) onboard sound and a dedicated sound card.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

Guys, I just want a soundcard because the on-board one is fucked up. It doesn't do anything anymore, no matter if I use my recovery DVD or install new drivers from the manufacturer's or comparable sites. I've tried everything, believe me. So I figured it's time to get a decent new one.

In that case... I recommend eBay. I don't know anyone that sells normal sound cards.

Calumon: Digi-Modify! Sound card activate!

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Go online or to a professional computer business.

 

[Contextualizer]

How exactly have you determined separate cards to sound "vastly better" than integrated sound cards, pray tell?

The better question would be, given that I have owned and used both and YOU HAVEN'T how have YOU determined that onboard sound is good enough to stand up to a dedicated sound card?

Five minutes in a game like BF2 is more than enough to show the difference between even mid range to high end (if such a thing exists) onboard sound and a dedicated sound card.

I guess you've never heard of an ABX test.

 

[Laughing Man]

I guess you've never heard of an ABX test.

You mean the test that is used to test audio data compression quality, no I have never heard of that.

It's a personal thing, having used both a dedicated sound card, in my opinion, does produce noticeably better sound quality and more importantly far less unwanted noise. Now if someone who has also used both methods says that they can't notice a difference then fine but sitting there and saying their is no difference whilst having never even had a chance to use both methods is plain out and out stupid.

 

[Ciarang]

I'd suggest anything by Creative [http://uk.store.creative.com/products/welcome.aspx?catid=1]. Just pick the one that works with your system and budget.

[small]The cards are scattered around the site, that's the one with the most on.[/small]