Sound Card

[Aontaigh]

I purchased a new motherboard, the Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0. While buying it I noticed the Asus Xonar DG 5.1 for €28. Would it be worth purchasing for the sound quality compared to the onboard and the tiny amount of "load" taken off the CPU.

[mr moose]

should be no noticeable load taken from the cpu, however the important thing to know is are you using headphones (and what are they?) or speakers?

[Osmium]

No. And I promise a ton of other users are about to post the same thing.

[cjeffcoatjr]

Sound cards do not affect how the sound is weighed on the CPU. Nor do they do pretty much anything. So no. Dont get it. 

[Aontaigh]

Edit: Xonar DS 7.1

[amintha1992]

no mater what other say. this can improve you sound quality(depending on the speakers or the headphones/headsets you are using)

 

you will have much more control with the asus software and also get virtual surround 5.1(which i use a lot to watch movies with my headset)

 

so yes this can be useful for you

[mr moose]

Guy's we still don't know what headphones (if any) he has,  so any advice  is kinda silly. 

[Aontaigh]

I haven't purchased headphones yet. I am purchasing this soundcard when I purchase my upgraded motherboard & new thermal paste so they all come together. I will then look into headsets over the next few days.

[mr moose]

I haven't purchased headphones yet. I am purchasing this soundcard when I purchase my upgraded motherboard & new thermal paste so they all come together. I will then look into headsets over the next few days.

The most important part of any audio setup is the transducers at the end, in other words buy your headphones or speakers first, then match your sound solution to them.

 

Not the other way around.

 

EDIT: an example of why would be if you bought the xonar card now, then you would be limiting your choice of headphones to 80ohm+ in order to maintain FR.  If you buy a dac now then you are limiting yourself to non usb headphones etc.   Not that I recommend usb headphones very often but you get the point.