Quick question about sound cards

[Cookybiscuit]

Trying to get a surround speaker setup to work, motherboard doesn't have the necessary outputs. First off, would a cheapo soundcard be the best option? Also, does installing a sound card disable the onboard audio completely? Like, I couldn't just plug headphones in to my motherboard when I wanted to use them.

 

Thanks.

[ImBleu]

Sound cards could be compared to GPUs. If you plug in a GPU you generally disable the Integrated iGPU on the CPU (assuming it has a iGPU). Likewise goes with soundcards and the onboard audio. The onboard audio is just an Integrated low-level sound card. If the Soundcard has the needed outputs, it'd work.

[Guest]

Installing a sound card wont disable your mobo sound card, unless you decide to do so in the BIOS. You could plug your headphones into your mobo but you will have to select that sound card as active in windows then.