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Soundblaster Recon (PCIE) or onboard sound (Strix Z270E)

jonathan_ward82
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Go to solution Solved by theklax,

At that price point (the speakers), I should think it'll be impossible to notice a difference in audio fidelity.

 

With that said, separate (from the mobo) audio sources can be useful if your mobo has poor shielding and your speakers are picking up electrostatic noise. This isn't normally a problem with very modern mobo's because they've come leaps and bounds (even in the last few years) in terms of shielding tech.

 

As the previous posts have said, test it using the onboard first, and add the sound card if necessary.

Posted

Hi everyone,

 

Apologies if this is a noob question, or one that's been answered before.  I'm building my first PC soon and as I don't have an endless supply of money I'm going to cannibalize some of my old components from my current pre-built PC.  My question is this: My new motherboard is a Strix Z270E.  My existing PC has a Sound Blaster Recon 3D (http://uk.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-recon3d-pcie) which is probably rather dated by now.  Does anyone have any advice on whether I should bother adding it to the new build or is the onboard better?  I'm no audiophile but I do like my games to sound good.  I have Logitech Z506 5.1 speakers and I like the fact that at the moment I can hear when my enemies are behind me :-)

 

I realise I could probably do better with an external DAC but alas I need to keep in budget, maybe one day...

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try it out and see

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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Test it out with and without, and go with whichever one you like more.  Sound is mostly subjective.

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  • Solution

At that price point (the speakers), I should think it'll be impossible to notice a difference in audio fidelity.

 

With that said, separate (from the mobo) audio sources can be useful if your mobo has poor shielding and your speakers are picking up electrostatic noise. This isn't normally a problem with very modern mobo's because they've come leaps and bounds (even in the last few years) in terms of shielding tech.

 

As the previous posts have said, test it using the onboard first, and add the sound card if necessary.

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most audio solutions for on-board audio are "powered" by Realtek chipsets, and Realtek audio chipsets are utter shit

 

it doesn't hurt to test it out

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Thanks everyone.  I was being lazy and hoped somebody would know off the top of their heads to save me messing about with cables and stuff (my computer will be in a slightly awkward place).  

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  • 6 months later...
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Well, I'm sure nobody will read this but if anyone is curious, after much delay I built my new PC, opting for the Maximus IX Code rather than the Z270E and the result was that even with my cheap speakers the old soundcard produced dramatically better sound than the onboard.  To be honest I'm quite surprised at how different the sound is.

 

Thanks all.

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