Curse

Messiah O F Light · Jan 24, 2007, 03:30 AM // 03:30

so yep its me again. this time it's not about RAM, its about soundcards. i think ive got a pretty decent pc and with the upgraded RAM ill be good to go, except the one thing that bothers me is that i have this great 5.1 creative speaker set up but apparently my sound card can't use all 5 speakers, the most 3. so i was looking for a good cheap sound card and i found one for $30 at circuit city called the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE. is this a significant upgrade to the one i got with the pc? by the way, the one i have now is called a Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device. i'm not sure if what this is, or if it even is a sound card. so my question is, will this new card be able to play all 5 speakers plus woofer? two, will the sound quality still be good? and 3, can a noob like me install it (is it as easy as installing RAM) or will i have to get a friend to?

thanks!

Tachyon · Jan 24, 2007, 04:16 AM // 04:16

That Audigy SE is an ok card, but it's getting dated now. For roughly the same price you could plump for this one. You probably won't use the full 7.1 channels, but for the price it's the best bang for buck soundcard you'll find.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102003

As for installing it, it's just as easy as the RAM. Just place it into an empty PCI slot, screw a single screw into the backplate, restart the PC and install the drivers. That's all there is to it.

eggrolls · Jan 24, 2007, 08:14 AM // 08:14

The Audigy SE is a good improvement over onboard sound. I have one, and I can hear the difference is my cheapy $20 Logitech speakers.

Btw, if Circuit City is selling for $29.99, you might as well get it there. Newegg charges shipping and tax (depending on state). Price would differ by less than a dollar. Buying locally would make any returns/exchanges a snap.

MegaMouse · Jan 24, 2007, 04:05 PM // 16:05

The Audigy SE is a very sound upgrade and should work well for you. I used the original when they first came out and loved it.

Mega Mouse

BFG · Jan 25, 2007, 12:32 AM // 00:32

I have used solely Audigy cards in all of my personal machines that I have built and would recommend them without hesitation. I have a similar card to the SE and use only 2.1 sound by preference and it performs like a champ. I tend to shy away from the bloatware that is on the install CDs though (although some of it is fun to play with) and install with raw drivers from the Creative site.

Messiah O F Light · Jan 25, 2007, 01:16 AM // 01:16

awesome, thanks for the help guys