Q: hello i have realtek hd audio onboard in my motherboard 5.1. i just wanted to know if this graphics card at http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1244080268.1218925527@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdadeeljkmfficflgceggdhhmdfhm.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=056691&category_oid=#productInformationSection is better then my onboard realtek hd 5.1 audio So is that pci 5.1 sound card better then my onboard realtek hd audio or not please comment thanks
A: Amazing what you can pick up for a tenner isn't it. I don't see that it would offer any gain in sound quality or performance (acceleration), but it does offer a full set of connectors. You didn't say much about your Realtek, but some motherboards don't have all the front/sub speaker connectors available without an optional bracket connector (or you have to choose the function of certain jacks, so you can't use surround sound and a line-in socket at the same time, for instance) and the same applies if you need a legacy style joystick/midi port which is right there on the PC Line. Other that that, I'm not sure I'd tie up a PCI slot with such a budget card. Realtek/AC97 systems are well evolved and work just fine.