Connecting PC to Onkyo

[markyap73]

Hello.....hope everyone is well and gearing up for Christmas?
Just a wee question, one that I've seen spoken about a few years ago on here but.....

I want to stop using the onboard sound on my Sabertooth Z77 and buy a okish sound card (around the £100-£150) mark. I'm hoping to hook the sound card into my Onkyo TX-NR525 and use visual from the GTX980 into a Samsung UE32J550. I'm after the best sound possible for gaming or listening to music from the PC. I've seen people say that sound using a dedicated sound card is better then using on board. I haven't got a clue if 1) best way on how to do this. 2) Am I doing the wrong thing? 3) Is there a better option?
Thanks

 

[americanaudiophile]

For music if you use the optical audio out of your mobo to the receiver for audio you will not hear any improvement with a soundcard. If you used the analog out of a soundcard it would be an improvement when used with an analog only stereo system but in the Onkyo receiver the audio would be re-converted back to digital anyway.
For gaming I can't say.