| Do You Need a Sound Card? | | | | Surround Sound |
| If you want to buy a sound card, you should ask | | | | An important factor in choosing your sound card is the |
| yourself whether you really need one. The | | | | sound standards that it supports. Most high-end sound |
| motherboards of today come equipped with great | | | | cards support what is called EAX and 5.1 surround |
| on-board sound. Some motherboards even have | | | | sound. This means you can hook up to 5 speakers to |
| support for 5.1 surround sound and come with a range | | | | your sound card for a great 3D sound experience. |
| of audio optical ports. So if you plan on using your | | | | Some cards even support the newer 7.1 surround |
| computer to listen to music, play games, or any other | | | | sound. |
| basic things to do with sound, you should definitely | | | | Special Features |
| consider staying with on-board sound. | | | | If you need some particular type of feature on your |
| On the other hand, there are two good reasons why | | | | sound card, make sure you take this into account. |
| you would want to buy a sound card: | | | | Music producers will have the most needs, such as |
| Producing: If you're producing music you'll need a high | | | | multi-channel support, MIDI support, good signal to noise |
| quality sound card for the very best sound quality. | | | | ratio, and plenty of connectivity options if needed. |
| Your sound card will probably need some extra ports | | | | Gamers won't need to be so picky with their sound |
| connections that on-board sound doesn't provide. | | | | card, surround sound is probably their largest concern. |
| Gaming: If you want the very best gaming experience | | | | Finally, if you're buying a high-end sound card, make |
| possible, that means having the very best sound. So | | | | sure your computer will be able to take advantage of |
| you'll want a sound card to do this. You can probably | | | | it. There's no point having a great sound card if your |
| pick up a decent sound card for gaming at 100 bucks | | | | CPU can't handle it. This is an important point to |
| or less. | | | | consider before going out and buying your sound card. |