PDA

View Full Version : [SOLVED] Sound card or speakers? Where's the bottleneck?



MaxIBoy
November 7th, 2008, 10:07 PM
I've still got the stock speakers that came with an old prefab. My chipset (on a Gigabyte motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128090)) has very nice audio hardware, but it's not discrete.

If I were to desire an upgrade for better quality (for listening to music,) which should I upgrade? My speakers, or my sound card?

(By the way, I've got an extra Audigy SE lying around, but I'm not sure that would be an improvement.)

gn2
November 7th, 2008, 10:47 PM
Definitely speakers. Creative T20's (http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/++/More+Great+Deals/Creative/GigaWorks+T20/637058) are surprisingly good for the money.

Audigy SE should be plug & play and is a pretty good card.

spoons
November 7th, 2008, 10:48 PM
The codec you have is a HD Audio codec, which isn't too bad. Those cheap speakers you have are the limiting factor, even if you got a dedicated card the speakers would mean it won't sound any better.

MaxIBoy
November 9th, 2008, 09:21 AM
Right, so I get new speakers and install the Audigy SE.

Time to patch my computer through to my dad's midlife crisis speaker setup. *evil laugh*


BY the way, after some googling, the Audigy would be better for gaming as well. I had no idea a Realtek sound chipset could actually impact performance, but apparently it can.


I don't need those eight channels anyway, that speaker setup I was talking about is only 5.1 channels.

shadowdude1794
November 9th, 2008, 09:27 AM
Go for new speakers. If you have the money... get the Z-5500 from Logitech, they are amazing.

MaxIBoy
November 10th, 2008, 03:52 AM
Let me explain more clearly: I've already got the speakers, but they're of the entertainment system variety. I'd need an adapter to hook them up. I just wanted to know if I'd need a new sound card to be able to enjoy them.