Two questions Inbuilt Soundcard vs Seperate and Speakers good quality

[Jon Boy]

Ok ... I have a 5.1 soundcard built into my mother board "PK5-E/WiFi-ap" My friend had a 2 month old sound car hanging around which he said I could have for £10. Well thinking about it, I have a 5.1 sound card built in and also don't have a surround sound system. This card is "Republic of Gamers X-Fi SupremeFX" sound card (its the soundcard that comes with that mobo).

I have heard putting a standalone sound card in (if that makes sense) can actually increase the computers performance slightly due to something to do with the power consumption. Will it also improve my audio quality for my stereo speakers? If not would it make a difference if I get a decent 5.1 set of speakers?. Which leads me onto the next point.

I will soon be in the market for a decent 5.1 sound system. I went round my girlfriends house and was blown away by how good decent speakers sound. I was amazed by her dads speaker quadraphonic speaker set up. I know its old but they were such good quality.

Anyway I need advice, I'm not going to pay top dollar for speakers. But I want the best quality speakers I can get. You might call me stupid and never seen this on here but I'm going to draw a graph to explain what I want.



As you probably know as price increases generally the quality/speed increases of any device also increases. There comes a point where spending more money buys more performance but not a huge amount (A) I would want speakers above this point but not the best for stupid money. So I would be looking for a 5.1 system which was between A and B if it makes any sense at all.

 

[Jon Boy]

No one yet?

Well I was thinking maybe these?
Logitech G51 5.1
Or
Jamo A102 5.1

Would the second be overkill for a bedroom. I just want sharp crisp sound !

 

[Zatharus]

I have heard putting a standalone sound card in (if that makes sense) can actually increase the computers performance slightly due to something to do with the power consumption.

Having dedicated audio processing/mixing hardware compared to software processing/mixing can improve your computer performance in certain situations (like gaming). This has to do with the offloading of the mixing and effects processing from the CPU to the sound hardware, not power consumption. Most on-board audio systems do the job well enough that a separate sound card will not improve your performance much. Adding a sound card can get you additional features though - depending on what the card offers of course.

Will it also improve my audio quality for my stereo speakers?

Not necessarily.

If not would it make a difference if I get a decent 5.1 set of speakers?.

Since your motherboard will support surround out as well, most likely the only noticeable and quantifiable difference for you will be the surround sound itself.

On that note, I have heard that the Logitech G51 speakers are decent for their price. I am not familiar with the Jamo set. Perhaps someone else here can weigh in on them.

While it may be generally true that the more expensive a speaker or speaker system is, the better the product, this is not always the case. There are some speaker systems out there that you will pay handsomely for while a less expensive unit will give you the same performance and perceived quality.

 

[Jon Boy]

Thanks ... well I have wasted my money . Well atleast I have a card if I change mobo. And they say on the website

SupremeFX X-Fi solution delivers crisp audio and incredibly realistic in-game sound effects. Official EAX sound effects from EAX 1.0 to EAX HD4.0 allow gamers to enjoy total immersion in supported games. X-Fi CMSS3D’s groundbreaking positional audio gives gamers a distinct in-game advantage, while Crystalizer enhances overall audio quality dramatically.

Im guessing that's all just hype and bs that means nothing lol. Well it might mean something but nothing noticeable. Just like the "Sli Ready Ram", well that means nothing but you get my point.

On that note, I have heard that the Logitech G51 speakers are decent for their price. I am not familiar with the Jamo set. Perhaps someone else here can weigh in on them.

While it may be generally true that the more expensive a speaker or speaker system is, the better the product, this is not always the case. There are some speaker systems out there that you will pay handsomely for while a less expensive unit will give you the same performance and perceived quality.

I was looking at a Bose 5.1 system, it was a bargain at £900 for their mid range system lol!

 

[Zatharus]

Thanks ... well I have wasted my money . Well atleast I have a card if I change mobo. And they say on the website
Im guessing that's all just hype and bs that means nothing lol. Well it might mean something but nothing noticeable. Just like the "Sli Ready Ram", well that means nothing but you get my point.

No worries. I wouldn't say you wasted your money. The card should work just fine for you.... Provided you are aware that the "sound card" referred to in the link you posted and in the paragraph you quoted from ASUS is for the onboard audio of that motherboard, not an add-in card.

Like I was getting at before, you can get extra features (such as EAX4.0 processing) with add-in cards that most onboard audio systems will not provide. If that matters to you, get the add-in card with those capabilities. In this case, the motherboard already has the Creative X-Fi chip on board.

I was looking at a Bose 5.1 system, it was a bargain at £900 for their mid range system lol!

Yes...Bose is one of those speaker manufacturers that I was referring to that are too high-priced for their perceived quality.

 

[Jon Boy]

Hmm well im not sure whats going on now. Its like thes sound card I have in my hand doesn't exist lol. I know is there and isn't inbuilt im holding it. But it comes with the mobo. I think it is just a rebranded version of one of their other cards. Which one I don't know so having a problem getting drivers. I will start a new thread for this I think ... linky ... as everything I have asked as been covered here. Thanks

 

[Zatharus]

No problem. Well, many ASUS boards come with a modified PCIe card that will only fit in their backwards PCIe 1x slot. It sounds like you have one of those.

I'll check out the new thread.