My Audigy SE made a huge difference compared to my onboard sound I think. I installed the realtek HD audio that came on my board thinking it would be better than my like 2 year old card I purchased at Wal-mark for 30 bucks. I did not like the way it sounded when i built my computer back in December so I put back in this Audigy SE and i was almost shocked...
EDIT: Default for 3Dmark06 is 1280x1024 actually.