I have been using onboard soundcards for 2-3 years and I find them fine. I am not a complete audiophile and still get great sound quality. I'm not sure how they would truly sound from a speaker system as I do not own speakers at all. I listen to all my music through astro a40's and I believe the sound quality is top notch. Unless he wants crystal clear HD amazing sound that he will be using quality speakers with then I agree getting a soundcard, but for gaming with a headset, as long as its a quality headset like tritton's or astros he is fine.