Old Sound Card Vs. New Motherboard

[JayMiller8080]

I just completed my first build a few days ago and it just occurred to me that I have a sound card that was put into an old HP my family had bought. I thought about putting it in my computer, but is there a chance that the on board sound for my brand new motherboard is better than the older sound card from that computer? I really don't know how any of that works, so any help/explanation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Ste]

What sound card is it?

Listen to the on board for a few days then decide.

 

[JayMiller8080]

Feeling a little under the weather today, but when I feel like I can move I'll check to see what sound card it is and get back to you. Thanks.

 

[Oreo]

Onboard being better than an old sound card ? The chances of that are roughly 5%.

That said, the difference isn't so descernible anymore. Things have moved on, onboard is okay now. That said, so have sound cards - the top ones can sound very good with the right speakers.

 

[EricB]

an onboard card can do thing like 7.1 but their sound quality isn't as go as a dedicated sound that uses no cpu power.

 

[JayMiller8080]

Okay well I finally checked it out and the sound card and motherboard I am comparing is as follows:

Motherboard- EVGA x58 SLI LE
Sound Card- Sound Blaster Live! 6.1

Would the on board sound be better than this sound card, or would it be better quality if I used the Sound Blaster Live card?

Thanks!

 

[EricB]

you should not even be asking this question if you got a 6.1 sound card.

an onboard card can do thing like 7.1 but their sound quality isn't as good as a dedicated sound that also uses no cpu power.

 

[Ste]

Do what I said, Listen to the on board sound for a few days first.

 

[JayMiller8080]

Yeah I've been playing Crysis for the last few days through these home theater speakers my parents had from the 90's that I'm running through an amplifier and they sound fantastic. Have a sub in there as well. I think tomorrow I'll give it another listen with the on board sound, then go ahead and try it out with the sound card and see if there is any major difference.

Is there anything I need to know, besides installing the drivers, that I would need to do for my sound card to actually work? Do I need to change/enable anything in my audio options? I know the audio options can get a little tricky sometimes.

 

[Ste]

Uninstall the on board drivers through device manager before installing the old card.