even its a bit older but its the top hit so here more details.
do you need it for that headset you just bought , well i dont know them so cant tell for shure but most likely not.
however understand this
all sound from pc needs a DAC (digital to analog converter) and htis dac needs good analog parts like filters and caps (on mainbaords youll find crap)
also a standard onboard soundcard is basically a software emulation with little bit of chip, and designed for low impedance very low power output.
its just enough for cheapo headsets and cheapo active speakers on a basic level.
now is a dedicaded soundcard an upgrade - well always yes if you can utilize it (with good audio equipment)
however regular in the pc world known soundcards like soundblaster or xonars are simply put overpriced (still better then onboard sound) - simpyl speaking from an audio output
not even going into more features list.
however the audiopart goes much deeper and frankly, if you consider a 200+ soundcard then dont.
were now in such an overpriced aerea that you can get entry level stuff from pro aduio stuff that would really make a difference.
soundcards from focusright/roland/camaha whatnot, if you wanna stream a real xlr microphone, xlr monitors and studio headphones are already in the relative compareable pricerange.
the soundboard you can even buy an older one on ebay, most of them are top notch quality. if it runs after unboying it should hold many more years (until you kill it yourself by poor choices that is.
what you want and need depends on your use case.
anything more then output - yes you need a good soundboard
anyhting better then low impendance headphones - yes defently
anyhting higher end at the other end
or you have simply to much statics
also as a rule of thumb, you want XRL not RCA connectors to your speakers or other target equipment
you want beefy big caps and filters on your soundcard with high impendance and high power output and ofc a very good DAC
you want distance from noise sources so usb/thunderboltor firewire cards. forget shielded pice cards, just dont...
you want a real name with expierience behind it, naaa not soundblaster but something like camaha, roland,or or or... many good names out there.
so soundblasters and friends are usually someone in the middle, between the absolute minimum (onboard) and pro stuff but sadly overpriced compared to performance and features (only RCA and 3.5mm outpout somethimes at least 5 1/4.
soundcards are not dead, its just most people dont care really about audio output.
as long something comes out its enough, but in reality there worlds in between
only issue is consumer grade stuff got way to expensive. something like asus sound essence stx is good, but for 200$ easy outperformed and outfeatured by
focusright on almost the smae price
here a short checklist / differences in audioequipment
-higher impendance better
-bigger connectors always better
-high bitrate only important for recording as headroom for your dynamic range, its basically loudness, everything above 16bit kills you anyway but is useful in mixing and recording
before buying something over 150$ consumer grade stuff take a look in a pro hifi shop
-most features like 7.1 are borderline to useless and often just buzzwords. if your source material dont support it its useless.
better go for good stereo or 2.1
-if you see "pc speakers" run away
-gaming headsets are medicore and overpriced to performance ratio
-same goes for all consumer headphones (beats and bose are the worst)
-3.5mm connected headphones are toys, same goes for speakers.
iif you wanna hear some podcasts and sometimes a tv show over cheapo pc speakers use onbaord sound.
if you wanna real good audio listening, even gaming and stuff go for dedi sound cards but then consider to go all the way to pro equipment