Is A Sound Card Absolutely Needed ?

[Jdz 0]

Hi,I've been without a sound card for quiet awhile (I think forever ) but just curious if they're really needed for gaming, I only use a headset. Though sometimes my Counter-Strike Source game will freeze up would a game freeze up due to 'too much sound' and because I have no sound card it can't render all the noise at once. Okay maybe I'm blabbering on a bit, to be honest I have no clue about the hardware aspect of computers.But do you need a sound card now days?

Edited December 21, 2005 by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG (see edit history)

[MarkBla 0]

Nop, i think you allready have one on board, else you can't listen with your headset. A pci soundcard isn't needed, it only makes the quality better, and it has more funcitons (like tvout, etc)As long if you don't need this, you dont need a pci soundcard :huh:Mark

[PureHeart 0]

Do you mean a NEW soundcard. If so, I think you don't need. The quality's not very different. If you want a new sound card with 5.1 sound output. You'll need to buy new speaker system also.Unless you are a death-fan of games, you should stay with your current soundcard.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

a soundcard is only needed if you don't have a sound chip in your motherboard.xboxrulz

[lisim 0]

u have a sound card it is on board. if you didnt you will never have sound sept ur pc beep.ur game is crashign for other reasons such as ram video or cpu or heat or power tell us ur pc specs and we will try to help u fix ur prob ( sound isnt it)

[Jdz 0]

u have a sound card it is on board. if you  didnt you will never have sound sept ur pc beep.

 

ur game is crashign for other reasons such as ram video or cpu or heat or power

 

tell us ur pc specs and we will try to help u fix ur prob ( sound isnt it)

1064333584[/snapback]

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Service Pack 2

Intel Celeron 4A, 2433 MHz (6 x 406)

512mb of Ram

80gb Hardrive

Radeon 9200 (Planning on upgrading to a 6600GT soon)

 

I think that's it.

 

[the empty calorie 0]

Sound card with TV-out....no, you're probably thinking of Creative's old DXR2 decoder, or a video card. As far as gaming goes, I woldn't worry so much about soundcards, as practically every motherboard comes with onboard sound, and practically every sound card since the SB16 is capable of 44100kHz PCM playback, which is how the sound on most games these days is played, so don't expect it to sound different. The main ups about an outboard sound card, is that it uses it's own dedicated processor (in most cases), so that takes a small load off the main processor. Another difference is 5.1 output, but even many onboard sound chips support 5.1 playback (personally, 5.1 can toss my salad, I think stereo sounds better). Another, and probably the most profound difference, is in MIDI. This is where it can make a night and day difference, depending on the card. MIDI isn't used too much anymore it seems, other than for music production. Another upside, is that most soundcards include a MIDI/joystick port, which for gaming, will probably give you more benefit than any of the other features. Just rememeber to disable your onboard sound before installing your card. An ens1371 and intel ICH2 sound trying to run at the same time can make both of your cards undetectable. (personal experience)Hope that helped.

[lisim 0]

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Service Pack 2

Intel Celeron 4A, 2433 MHz (6 x 406)

512mb of Ram

80gb Hardrive

Radeon 9200 (Planning on upgrading to a 6600GT soon)

 

I think that's it.

 

1064333610[/snapback]

well that should run cs:s i have had it runnign on a on my second box ezy uhh maybe try a fresh install of game * delete ur gdf files in ur steamapps folder and re downlaod other wise maybe try gfx card drivers or a fresh windows install

[jipman 0]

To be honest, I think it's the ATI Radeon 9200 that's getting you your freezes, it's quite an old type of graphics card and you can't really expect to have it run CS:Source smoothly can you? You should get that 6600GT as soon as possibleAnyway, you don't actually need a soundcard in a computer, it will run perfectly fine without it. Playing games is also very possible without sound, I play Call of Duty all the time without the gamesound and with music which is really comfortable btw. So playing without sound won't affect your gaming too .

[lisim 0]

if it is the case of the gfx card then bring the res and gfx settigns down i have seen cards worse then any 9000 series run cs:s its just a matter of quality and performance

[Jdz 0]

It does run smoothly generally. Just when it comes to 'heated action' the FPS drops down dramaticly. I'll probabaly wait till' January some time for the price to drop a bit, cause the 6600GT still costs a fair bit.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Jdz, you're right now talking about video, I thought that this was a topic on sound card. I agree with the empty calorie since yes, on board audio and a sound card shouldn't make a huge difference except for the MIDI features that a sound card may supply.So, therefore, all you need is really a great graphics card and a standard onboard sound chip.xboxrulz

[juventino79 0]

Hi,

 

I've been without a sound card for quiet awhile (I think forever  ) but just curious if they're really needed for gaming, I only use a headset. Though sometimes my Counter-Strike Source game will freeze up would a game freeze up due to 'too much sound' and because I have no sound card it can't render all the noise at once. Okay maybe I'm blabbering on a bit, to be honest I have no clue about the hardware aspect of computers.

 

But do you need a sound card now days?

1064333484[/snapback]

I think the question is, how big a gamer are you? Do you play everyday? What kind of speakers do you have? I say if you have good speaker with 5.1 sound possible you should invest 50-100$ and buy one. You will get much better sound. However i would first invest in some good speakers. All the card does is emulate sound for your speakers. If your speakers are crap it wont matter what kind of sound card you have. I have creative Cambridge speakers, pretty old but i paid them over 200$ Sounds amazing. I think it would be just as good with on board sound if you have money to spend buy both if you dont invest on speakers first but beware what you buy and make sure you on board audio can handle them.

[iGuest 3]

I don't have a sound card and when I open COD it says 166 bad file format sound files!-reply by Bobby

[skoricd 0]

a sound card is only nessissary if yu wish to have sound, if you are a gamer is is recomended depending on what game you play as it is required to hear some commands but for general email ect you don't need it but it is nice