How good is my onboard sound?

M

ml1209

New Member
I have a Gateway GT5034 and am using onboard sound now. I'd like to get really good fidelity and am thinking about a sound card upgrade, but would like to make sure my purchase is worth it.

Currently I have attached a set of Creative Labs Inspire 2.1 model 2400 (discontinued), and they sound pretty good to my untrained ears. Ultimately, I would like to get a really good 2.1 or 5.1 system.

My question is, how good is my onboard sound? From PC Wizard it is ALC655 Realtek 97Audio, with 6 channels.

Would a $25 Audigy card from Newegg.com be that much better?
 
Are you planning to upgrade to Vista anytime soon or already running the new version of Windows? The only current drivers available for the Audigy line are the same beta drivers released for the RC1 beta version of Vista! Creative so far has not released any updated drivers for the Audigy line so far. Pay a little more for a newer model like the X-FI series. The Realtek A'97 can too easily see dropoffs when gaming and running any intensive multimedia apps.
 
Okay, thanks for the scoop on the drivers. I read something like that on the Newegg user reviews. I'm still running the Windows XP MC edition that came with the machine. I don't plan to upgrade to Vista on THIS machine; I'm thinking about buying a new desktop which will inevitably come with Vista.

I don't want to spend too much for a sound card. Anything over $100 is more than I'm willing to spend on a sound card - I'd rather focus on graphics cards as I'm into CAD and graphics (not gaming).

Thanks for your response.
 
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