Confused: Do I need a new sound card?

[Boyo]

I am building a new rig and getting all my parts together. I listen to lots of music and I play COD4 and MW2. My Mobo that I am going to use is the Asus P6T Deluxe Version 2. Will the sound from that be acceptable or should I purchase a new sound card? If so I am looking for something under $100.00. Any help appreciated.

 

[ashmelev75]

I use the same motherboard and I can tell that the on-board analog audio is quite noisy. It picks EMI from anything - hard drivers, video card, mouse, anything, plus it has issues with a large number of sound channels played at once.
What OS you're going to use? Do you want PCI or PCIe audio?

 

[noxlord]

Are you using headphones a lot, or desktop speakers ? Do you have a receiver ? What kind of audio gear do you have ?

 

[Boyo]

I am only going to be using one PCIe video card, Radeon 5870, so either one will fit my system. Not sure what slot I will use for the sound card. I plan on using Win 7 64-bit as my OS.

I use both 2 speakers for my rig and HD 280 Pro headphones to play games. I don't have a receiver and my speakers are just OK. Left over from a Dell 5 years ago, but they sound fine with the separate bass.

 

[Aznboy1993]

Then you really won't be needing a dedicated soundcard. If you want one I'd recommend the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer or the Asus Xonar DX.

 

[ashmedai]

Decent headphones, might get some use out of a well-chosen card.

 

[Boyo]

sounds great. thanks for the help.