Sound card recommendations

[Englander]

I've been pondering the idea of a sound card for a while now. The latest development is the constant whine I get when running Folding@Home (maxes out GPU load) and it is starting to irritate me. Obviously, I could just stop folding but there are other benefits of a sound card like greater sound clarity and higher FPS in games. As a bit of background, I listen to music on my PC and game regularly.

My friend pointed me in the direction of the Creative X-fi Xtreme Audio card (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Creat...PCI-Express-x1) and I was wondering what the other choices are for sound cards in the sub £40 zone. My speakers are in the form of cheap and cheerful ep-630 earphones and I am limited to a PCI-e 1x slot (that is the really short slot).

So, what are my choices? Is it worth it?

My motherboard is the ASUS P5NT-Deluxe, if it matters.

Thanks,
Michael

[Fishpan]

I recommend getting the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatality Pro edition - it has served me well. (; good luck

[dfour]

You will be lucky to find one that fits the pci-e slot for your budget. Best bet is to try the second hand market.

[Englander]

You will be lucky to find one that fits the pci-e slot for your budget. Best bet is to try the second hand market.

Would up to £50 make a difference?

[AD-15]

Be careful what you buy mate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_B...i#X-Fi_line-up

Those X-fi "xtreme audio" cards are not based on real X-fi chips. They're just sneakily marketed as X-fi.

I would reccomend the Titanium, which goes for about £60 I think off Scan.

[Fishpan]

There are two version of the xtreme audio - the pci and the pci-e. The latter seems to use a revised chipset (CA0110) versus the former's (CA0106). The revised soundcard is better in the respect that behaves more like a true X-Fi would but still lacks the features of one. Under 40 quid you could go for this and it'd suit you if you are only going to use headphones.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Asus Xonar does have better sound quality for playing music from what I have read than the competing Creative solutions.

I would look at getting a Xonar DX for around £50:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146350

Here are some reviews:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...ss-soundcard/1

Also, make sure you add another item to the basket to make the total at least £49.99 so you can get free postage!!

[Englander]

The Asus Xonar does have better sound quality for playing music from what I have read than the competing Creative solutions.

I would look at getting a Xonar DX for around £50:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146350

Here are some reviews:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...ss-soundcard/1

Also, make sure you add another item to the basket to make the total at least £49.99 so you can get free postage!!

After reading that review, I'm seriously tempted to go for the Xonar DX. In many ways, it's just as good as the DX2 (its upgrade) whilst being half the price. It's also a tenner cheaper than the Titanium, so unless anyone can tempt me otherwise, it looks like I'll be ordering the Xonar DX in the next day or two.