Well although almost all motherboards have integrated audio, that doesn't mean that there's no market for soundcards. Most serious gamers and audiophiles I know use Creative X-Fi cards as opposed to the integrated sound found on their motherboard. Although the integrated audio isn't terrible, the quality just can't be compared to a real soundcard like a Creative X-Fi.
The same thing goes for video, there are a fair number of low end motherboards which have integrated graphics, but it is not comparable to even the extremely low-end video cards. I just don't think video will be integrated into the motherboard with high quality anytime soon (5 years max :P)
most serious gamers use headphones... i dont know why you need an X-FI for "sound quality". Thats a dumb argument... creative is a bunch of overpriced over marketed crap... they *will* be obsolete.
Of course most serious gamers use headphones, I personally own $100 headphones just for gaming, (not that I'm proud to say they cost $100 :P), but if you've ever compared a set of high-end headphones, maybe the Sennheiser HD-280Pro for example, with integrated motherboard sound and with a Creative X-Fi or any somewhat high-end soundcard you WILL notice a difference, usually a considerably large difference in quality at that.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JDizzle @ Sep 19th 2007 4:23PM
Well although almost all motherboards have integrated audio, that doesn't mean that there's no market for soundcards. Most serious gamers and audiophiles I know use Creative X-Fi cards as opposed to the integrated sound found on their motherboard. Although the integrated audio isn't terrible, the quality just can't be compared to a real soundcard like a Creative X-Fi.
The same thing goes for video, there are a fair number of low end motherboards which have integrated graphics, but it is not comparable to even the extremely low-end video cards. I just don't think video will be integrated into the motherboard with high quality anytime soon (5 years max :P)
Ray-- @ Sep 19th 2007 4:32PM
most serious gamers use headphones... i dont know why you need an X-FI for "sound quality". Thats a dumb argument... creative is a bunch of overpriced over marketed crap... they *will* be obsolete.
JDizzle @ Sep 19th 2007 4:42PM
Of course most serious gamers use headphones, I personally own $100 headphones just for gaming, (not that I'm proud to say they cost $100 :P), but if you've ever compared a set of high-end headphones, maybe the Sennheiser HD-280Pro for example, with integrated motherboard sound and with a Creative X-Fi or any somewhat high-end soundcard you WILL notice a difference, usually a considerably large difference in quality at that.