To Sound Card or Not To Sound Card

[DioOmicida]

I've recently purchased an entirely new rig to update my first and only rig I've built that was several years old and way out dated. Over the past month I've been buying up parts and installing them in as they come and I'm extremely satisfied.
 

My old rig was something like:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H Micro ATX AM3/AM2+/AM2 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 5670 512MB Video Card
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply 

 

My new rig:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For $229.99)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (Purchased For $25.79)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (Purchased For $139.99)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (Purchased For $56.99)
Storage: Sandisk Z400s 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $39.99)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive [reuse]
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  (Purchased For $320.99)
Case: Deepcool TESSERACT SW Red ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $39.99)
Power Supply: XFX Core Edition 850W 80+ Bronze ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $89.99) [overkill, I know]
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $19.95)
Keyboard: AZIO MGK1 Wired Gaming Keyboard  (Purchased For $0.00) [used a rebate card]
Other: Rosewill RCAB-11050 - 18" Flat Red SATA III Cable  (Purchased For $1.99)
Other: LOGISYS CLK12RD Cold Cathode (Purchased For $8.99)
Total: $974.65

 

My monitor is fine and so is my mouse for now. I thought about adding a sound card next.
However, I know nothing about sound cards or where to even begin.
May people say they aren't even that great to have but anyone who has one says that those people don't know the difference. Sound cards? DACs? Pros and Cons? Any advice would help.

[mrgooglegeek]

dont bother with one on this board, ASUS audio on boards like this is quite good

[Rune]

Built in sound quality for most boards these days is fine unless you are trying to drive a pair of $800 headphones.

[Moonzy]

im using the B150 pro gaming from asus, no gripes with the audio quality

 

im using speakers and sometimes my headphone (senheiser momentum on-ear)

nothing too heavy to drive

[Bananasplit_00]

on board is fine, i have a creative sound blaster audigy 2 zs platinum ex and i did notice a difference in quality from the on board on my ASRock Z97 Anneversairy board but i wouldent do it if you cant do it for free like i did