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This may be a weird question, but are sound cards relevant anymore for PC game playing? Is sound being handled via the HDMI connection through the graphics card now? I'm confused here. I've been looking at new computers and the sound card seems to be an item that's not being marketed aggressively anymore.

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tunnelcat wrote:This may be a weird question, but are sound cards relevant anymore for PC game playing? Is sound being handled via the HDMI connection through the graphics card now? I'm confused here. I've been looking at new computers and the sound card seems to be an item that's not being marketed aggressively anymore.

Yes and No

I recently bought a Dell Laptop with a HDMI port. I have 2 sound devices showing up in the device manager.

One is an IDT high definition codec for the realtec device I plug my headphones in.

The other is an ATI high definition sound device connect to the HDMI port.

Selectable of course when needed.

I personally don't think people worry about sound anymore in PCs unless they are building an HTPC or high end audio PC so most of the time the onboard sound is enough.

In the history of soundcards. Creative made some really crap cards in the early 2000s and was also responsible for killing off an amazing technology (A3D) by suing Aureal over a stupid midi chip. After that it seemed things just died down. I hated everything Creative after that.

Man I remember loading up Unreal Tournament with it set to 3d sound and actually hearing things all around me as if it wasn't just coming out of two little speakers. But that all seemed to die with Aureal.

You’re probably always going to need a chipset to process sound to keep the burden off the processer, I just see the future moving towards more integrated sound so the output can be more easily outputted thru the HDMI port.

Actually most if not practically all sound cards/chipsets these days don't do any of the processing, its all done in software with the driver. Hardware offload in audio isn't really needed these days because the CPU is hundreds or thousands of times faster than what is needed to handle the job.

Well I’m not even close to being an expert, so just what is the chipset in my media box (modern computer) doing.

If you want noise free sound (basically) go with a Add-In sound card, Or look for a Motherboard that uses daughter-board sound card

Depends on what you need/want. For my gaming rig, I have a Creative soundcard, since the on-board sound doesn't have some of the functionality I was looking for. For my HTPC, though, I use the HDMI audio in the ATI card.

FYI, if you're using a 3xxx/4xxx/5xxx series ATI card without an HDMI jack, you can still get the HDMI audio via ATI's proprietary DVI->HDMI adapters. Unfortunately, generic DVI->HDMI adapters won't do so (I can attest to this from experience).

Thanks guys. The other problem is going to be finding a good monitor that has an HDMI input with 2 built-in speakers AND has a higher resolution than the 1900 X 1080 of a Hi-Def TV if we decide to go with the integrated sound. We still might get a sound card anyway. Choices, choices.

you can still use your old speakers with on-board sound.

Yeah, that's a bit of an ask. I have a Samsung T260 which does the 1920x1200 bit and the HDMI in bit, but no onboard speakers. It has a 3.5mm stereo audio jack which I use to feed the actual speakers.

tunnelcat wrote:Thanks guys. The other problem is going to be finding a good monitor that has an HDMI input with 2 built-in speakers AND has a higher resolution than the 1900 X 1080 of a Hi-Def TV if we decide to go with the integrated sound. We still might get a sound card anyway. Choices, choices.

I'm gonna go with others here. My 2c is this: if you're going for integrated speakers & monitor, buy an HD tv. I'm also particular to DVI over HDMI... at least make sure that your HDMI out supports carrying the sound, as well. My motherboard has an HDMI out, but no sound support for it... only video.

Also, if you're gaming, a separate GPU is a good idea. Onboard video usually offloads some of the video processing onto the CPU (as does the sound). For the video, that's a decent chunk of processor time. For sound, no big deal.

Here's what I'd do: Find a computer with a good GPU, don't worry about DVI or HDMI. Make sure it's got dedicated sound output ports. Find a good monitor with the screen characteristics that you like. Find a good pair of speakers that you like, plug them directly into your computer. Profit.

In other words: I'd do separate sound and video solutions. The only time I'd integrate them, over an HDMI cable, would be when you're plugging into a TV. Even then, you can separate them if you like... just beware of picture lag on the tv.

BTW, I use a sound card, along with my onboard sound. I have control over where each program's sound goes, so I send my DVR to one, and my PC sounds to the other, with two separate sets of speakers.

tunnelcat wrote:Thanks guys. The other problem is going to be finding a good monitor that has an HDMI input with 2 built-in speakers AND has a higher resolution than the 1900 X 1080 of a Hi-Def TV if we decide to go with the integrated sound. We still might get a sound card anyway. Choices, choices.

HERE YA GO!

(it's a starting place)


oooOOo.. This looks kinda cool! I think I just found a new monitor!

OR!

If you're willing to spend a bit more (about $300)

You could go for the ASUS VK266H This looks incredible. Check out the page then look around online for prices.

snoopy wrote:In other words: I'd do separate sound and video solutions. The only time I'd integrate them, over an HDMI cable, would be when you're plugging into a TV.

For my home-theater rig, it's HDMI to my TV, which then outputs (via optical) to my receiver/speaker system.

One nice thing about this is I don't have to mess with the receiver just for watching general stuff (PVR'd TV, NetFlix, etc.).

But then for Blu-Ray movies and such, I'll turn on the receiver/speakers, of course.