Is my on-board audio better than this sound card?

[Joey249]

So im building my first PC, the mother board I chose has from what I see on threads great audio, but is this sound card better? Would their be much difference for mainly gaming but also watching movies/series.

It is within my budget, but if theres not much of a difference theres not really any point in getting it.

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus VII Hero
Sound Card: Soundblaster Z SB1500

2.0 Speakers im currently using: Creative GigaWorks T20
Headset that im thinking of buying: Logitech G430

Thanks for any feedback, ill be ordering soon so any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

 

[ssddx]

even good onboard audio is generally only equal to low or mid grade soundcards. a high end soundcard is going to be much better. the z falls into the mid grade category which makes it questionable as an upgrade unless either A) you are having issues with your onboard sound such as static, crackling or distortion or B) your onboard does not have the features you need.

given that you only have the t20 and g430 i would say that you do not need any special soundcard if your onboard is working fine for you.

if you were using some more expensive and better speakers/headphones then yes there might be an improvment but with the hardware you have now (as i said earlier unless you are noticing issues) there will not be an improvement worth the price of the upgrade.

 

[thee_prisoner]

The Soundblaster Z for gaming and movies will be an upgrade due to the software included. ASUS has notoriously bad sound drivers.

The difference between your onboard sound chip is that with the "Z" you will get Dolby Digital, DTS connect(ASUS mobo has only DTS connect)and SBX which is a very good surround software in itself. Plus you get a pretty good mic included with some nice software for the microphone. I clip mine on my collar and I like it much better than a headset mic.

SSDDX makes a good point though, as usual, for the speakers and headphones you're using now, there's no reason to upgrade except IMHO is that the Creative software is better.

Happy listening, the Prisoner...