Is it a good idea to have a Sound Card for gaming?

[Vinyl_Is_King]

Recently, I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos about sound cards and the difference between sound cards and on-board audio, and I'm really NOT satisfied with all the mixed information I've heard nor have I come to any conclusion.

So I'll be blunt, hoping for a good answer. Should I get a Sound Card for gaming and listening to music/watching movies? For games I'd assume I'd hear peoples footsteps, plausibly, for FPS's.

At this time, I've been reading about this 5.1 Surround Sound, Sound Card.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00EO6X4XG...TF8&colid=299B26KWT8QUR&coliid=I1OUM1BQNTOC6D

 

[Kurdain1]

I've always liked Creative products but will you be using speakers or headphones?

I ask because I have been very satisfied with an older set of wireless USB headphones that doesn't require any sort of sound card.

IMHO with the processing power of today's computers I don't know if there'd really be a performance or quality difference between a sound card and on board audio.
Perhaps an audiophile can chime in on that?

Now back in 1999 I upgraded from on board sound to a sound card and it sped up my entire system, apparently my sound was the bottleneck. Never had that happen since however. ah...Everquest....those were the days. 😛

 

[rvilkman]

There is a very very minor performance improvement from using a good sound card for gaming since it offloads some of the sound processing to the DSP on the sound card.

The usual case for getting a sound card though is if you have an expensive set of high impedance headphones and the built in audio does not have a headphone amplifier to properly drive the headphones.

 

[why_wolf]

It really depends on what setup you have headphones/speakers. If you just have generic headphones adding a sound card will do nothing. You need to match quality with quality. Of course even then the onboard sound on a lot of motherboards is already pretty good.

In my personal opinion a dedicated sound card is pointless unless you are trying to create a perfect sound system with surround sound speakers. So maybe if your job involves creating music. If you are just using headphones to play games just stick with the onboard.

 

[Vinyl_Is_King]

Most of my computer life I've used standard headphones (earphones that go into my ears), and that's how I got my sound, those earphones would either be plugged into desktop speakers or directly into the headphone jack on the machine.

However, if I were to get a 'gaming' headset AND that sound card or even a different sound card, I could get much better sound. Correct?

 

[Vinyl_Is_King]

What I've been thinking is to buy that sound card I mentioned and then get an extension cord to which I'd plug my headset into. Mind you, I'd probably need to buy a better headset for gaming seeing as a $50 one probably is of cheap quality.

Sound about right?