OK, I fully admit I'm a novice with multimedia, overclocking and the latest greatest gaming "rigs" and so on, but I work in IT so I have a reasonable idea.
I recently bought a Dell 8400 (3GHz Intel 630) without onboard sound so I need to buy a card for it. I went a bit mad on the graphics - ATI x850xl platinum so seems logical to get decent sound to go with it, right?
Also, I have a Boston Accoustics 5.1 Surround (I think! Its got a large Bass box, 2 front and 2 rear surround) speaker system - admittedly 3 years old but produces excellent quality sound to my ears anyway.
So the question is this...
Given you can spend anything from £5 to £300+ on a sound card. What should I get and how much difference will it really make? It seems to me the main choices in my budget lets say up to £60 are:
Sound Blaster 7.1 Digital or equiv
Audigy 2 Value
Full Audigy 2.
Is spending more on graphics really worth it ? Should I be considering dumping the BA kit and upgrading the surround system?
Any and all advice welcomed!
Thanks,
Mark.