sound card for gaming?

can you guys recomend a good cheap sound card for gaming

 

If you can find it, Philips Dynamic Edge is a great card. Also, any of Hercules budget cards are a solid pick (eg. Fortissimo II, Fortissimo III)---if you can find them. Best Buy sells the Dynamic Edge.

 

i called my local bestbuy this afternoon and they dont have the dynamic edge. but they do have a creative labs sound blaster 16 for 19$. is this card good enough? i just dont like my processor taking a hit from the onboard sound while gaming

 

DON'T GET A SB 16. If you don't want your CPU taking a hit while gaming, avoid this fossil at all costs. Look at an Audigy 2 instead.

 

Let's take it step by step.
How much are you willing to pay for your sound card ?

 

For the price $19 is alot for a simple card like the SB16. You might as well just stick with your onboard sound for that.

 

i have 50$, i think im gonna get a Turtle Beach 6-Channel PCI Sound Card, Model "Santa Cruz" -OEM or
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy ES PCI Sound Card, Model "SB0162" -OEM
what do you guys think i should go for?

 

I've not used the Santa Cruz myself, but it's got a very solid reputation. I don't really care for Creative. Their software tends to be bloated and their support isn't really something I'm too confident in. I don't know how much you shop online, but the Santa Cruz runs $36 @ Newegg. The Audigy ES runs $42.

 

The Santa Cruz is great for recording, MIDI and plain old audiophilia. However, it's not very good for gaming. For gaming, a Phillips Dynamic Edge or an Audigy would be a better choice.

Like B, I also hate Creative. I hate their customer service, I hate their lack of innovation, I hate their tech support, and I *really* hate their software. But Live/Audigy cards utilize the EMU10k1 chipset, which are currently the best for hardware accellerated gaming audio. Phillips DE is a much better card than the Audigy in many respects, and it's even EAX & A3D compatible. However, its processor just can't touch the EMU10k1 for acoustic multi-effect processing.

The bottom line is that you can go with a card that won't perform as well in games, or one that will support a monopolistic company who doesn't give a crap about you. Which is the lesser evil?

-AT

 

thanks for the replies.
but it hink im gonna skip getting a sound card for now. cause im probably gonna get another stick of micron 512mb next week so i can use dual channel

 

More RAM never hurts :good: