cheap sound card...

What do you want to use it for? Gaming, music, movies? What speakers/headphones you going to be using it with?
 
umm i was gonna use it with headphones and for gaming. so some weight would be lifted off your cpu..

i see your from willimantic... plainville here
 
compslckr said:
how about the soundblaster live 7.1?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=29-102-176&depa=1


the above question about the rest of your audio setup is important, what other equiptment do you have?

if you are buying a $30 sound card it probably wont sound much different than your onboard audio.
Click to expand...

My brother's onboard sound started acting funny, so I picked this one up for him. He claims it's a lot better than it ever was.
 
The Chaintech Av-710 seems well regarded on the Head-Fi forums for having good sound quality on the cheap. However, many say the line out is inadequate for powering headphones (of course, if you don't have a decent set of headphones anyway then this is a moot point).

Not sure about the SB Live! 7.1, but if it's anything like my older Live cards, then the sound quality will probably be lacking (to put it lightly).
 
If you just want to play games, and don't consider yourself an audiophuck , sorry, that's supposed to be *snooty accent* audiophile , you don't need anything special. Even the Audigy 2 with EAX 4.0 and EAX HD, while certainly cool, is not really necessary. I am actually using a Sound Blaster PCI 128 in one rig, a Sound Blaster Live! in another, and an Audigy 2 ZS in another; you know what? They really don't sound all that different! Go get a SB Live! on EBay for $15, or even a SB PCI 128 for $5. When you've got $70 to blow on whatever, go get yo-self an Audigy 2. Don't, under any circumstances get a card with the VIA chip if you are only interested in gaming. The VIA Envy solutions have great quality for listening to music (or so I hear), but are not for games.
 
walmart has the soundblaster live for 25$

ok i think i need one...

when im playing CS:S... when the game crashes the sound loops then crashes... could that be the cpu not processing the sound?
 
that sounds more like an unstable driver / overheating problem to me. computers have had integrated sound since the P2 days, and todays CPUs are by far powerful enough to handle basic sound without taking much of a hit performance wise. i would be supprised if you noticed any difference in performance by adding a sound card.
 
ya my CPU runs hotter since i switched cases...maybe cuz the case is crap...i just bought a new one... gonna make sure that things has no opening except for the back slots



as for the sound card ,for real???...good thing i didnt open it yet, should i return it and get the extra like 20 or so dollars and get an audigy
 
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