Asus Xonar DSX vs MSI z370 Mobo On-board Audio

[Tydes]

Hi,

I'm looking at buying a new rig that has a MSI Z370 GAMING M5 ATX motherboard. The on-board audio is Realtek 7.1 and under the features list it says, "Audio Boost 4: Isolated audio with a high quality audio processor & Nahimic 2+ for the most immersive gaming experience." (I have no idea what that means).

On my current rig I use the Asus Xonar DSX sound card, and I just bought Steelseries Arctis 5 headphones.

What I am wondering is whether the DSX (being a bit older) would out perform the motherboards on-board audio or if the on-board would be better at this point.

My main audio concerns are related to gaming: FPS, MOBA, and MMO, but especially FPS. I do also do a decent amount of video watching (YouTube/Netflix) and listen to a wide variety of music.

Basically this boils down to the fact that I'm not an audiophile but I do want to use the best of what I got. If there's already information out there addressing this that I didn't come across in my own research I would appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Thanks!

 

[Eximo]

Well, ASUS cards typically have C-Media audio processors. But premium motherboard audio has been getting better and better.

I have found that there is usually less chance of interference with a discrete card, but that was some years back.

That motherboard has a Realtek ALC1220, which is certainly above the basic cards.

You can try them both out and see. I have my old Xonar DX sitting. It was certainly necessary to avoid microphone interference on my old ASUS Rampage III.

I am currently using the ALC1220 on my Z270 board and I haven't found fault with it.