Second-hand sound card... yay or nay?

[gogoblender 3,072]

You won't believe this. Just down the street a few blocks away, not more than a five minute walk, this really cool little computer store has just opened up. And man, you should SEE the prices. The best thing is that the owners rock. One of them is Asian, and the other South Indian. Hard workers, very friendly, and incredibly helpful. Lately we've been buying all the little add-ons for our computers from this place. They always welcome us, and always point us to great stuff, very often cheaper than what we had originally planned to buy.

 

The latest offering from this little Compu Cave, has been the offer of a second hand sound card for 20 bux. I'm pretty sure, that if I was offered a purchase of a video card, knowing how worked over those things get, I'd be a little wary...but a sound card? This one's got 6.1 sound, but I'm not sure what make it is.

 

You guys think it's a good deal? lol, funnily enough, even though sound has always been so important to me, just my 2.1's over the last five years has been more than enough. And though I think I've blown the high level of volumes on them, the board sound card it came with always was enough to make me happy with my movies and my gaming.

 

I'm just wondering how much of a real "boost" a better sound card is.

 

Will it really make a dif?

 

 

gogo

[stubbie 21]

I use a separate sound card for two reasons.

 

One is to take a small bit of stress off the cpu that on board sound uses.

 

Two is I find the extra outlets on an audio card more convenient for connecting up my speakers and microphone.

 

I doubt that using a card on a 2.1 speaker system will give you any noticeable quality improvement but I may be wrong as I have a 5.1 system.

It is the drivers for the card that will allow things such as equalizer settings, bass boost and EAX support that will show the difference.

 

I think a secondhand audio card would be okay so long as it came with some sort of warranty. Like you said gogo I'd too be wary of a video card but sound cards are different.

If you plug it in and it works then it should be sweet.

 

But you really need to know what brand name it is. This can help with diagnosing any problems with future conflicts you might experience when running games.

Plus you will need to know for the drivers.

It will also allow you to do some online browsing to check if the $20 is a good deal

 

stubbs

[Genenut 8]

I've had on the board sound and separate sound card set ups over the years.

 

I can say without a doubt I've had far fewer config problems with games and such with a separate sound card that the on board sound.

 

As to how much better it sounds, that really in the long run depends on your speakers. good sound with crappy speakers will result in crappy sound, so -so sound and good speakers will always sound better.

 

I would say go for it with the sound card but also maybe get new speakers unless you have really good ones now. With the way things are going your computer can be your tv and more so sound and the speakers to make it are becoming more important..

[Lord of the North 10]

Well I do know that you can tell the difference in sound depending on the speakers. I just did a small upgrade myself of sorts, I had been using ear buds but have found an inexpensive pair of wireless head phones ($18.99) and I have noticed a big difference. First is when I lean back they don't come unplugged form my computer, second is the range, I can walk all the way to the other end of the house and still get good sound. Now I can cook dinner or get a drink and still hear what's going on in a game or listen to music.

[EvilMale 7]

I would be weary of a 2nd hand sound card as I tend not to buy them after a bad dealing. But I can say 1 thing anything on board tends to really lack in quality and luster of that of separate cards. If you do buy 2nd hand make sure its has some sort of warranty. That way your covered. And general rule of thumb is sound cards are fairly inexpensive from all the pricing I have done lately. But be sure to buy before school sales start as prices will go up till around mid September. And again will go up around Christmas time.

[Yarasa 0]

$20 for a second hand sound card is not extremely good if it is a generic brand.

 

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/sound-ca...2/sortby=priceA

 

You better learn the model number and I will let you know how much it might worth. If it is CREATIVE brand 6+1, the price is good.

[gogoblender 3,072]

Guys the feedback on this is great..thank you! Okay Yarasa, the guy told me he would let me plug the card in at his store, to see how it works...would I be able to find out the card make then, by clicking on properties? After what stubbie said about taking stress off the cpu...it seems like a good idea...and hey, it's just 20 bux ^^

 

Gene, I hear you about being able to appreciate anything from a better sound card. My speakers are crackly now, lol too much loud game playing, and I'm thinking it's probably time to finally upgrade. The good thing is that there's amazing deals on multi speaker sound systems, and I'm thinking I could get something decent for under 200 bux

 

Yarasa, do you think a generic is okay for a sound card? Would the name creative on a card really make a big dif..or would a generic do just as good?

 

 

gogo

[Yaga 1]

Did this sound card have a model name?

Edited July 20, 2008 by Yaga

[gogoblender 3,072]

When I went in, he just waved it around at me...and I didn't get a chance to see it up close. Tomorrow, I'll go back in again and get all the info I can see on the card, and see how it works on the store machine. Will report back with specs

 

 

gogo

[fRACTAL 0]

Yarasa, do you think a generic is okay for a sound card? Would the name creative on a card really make a big dif..or would a generic do just as good?

 

Meh isn't Yarasa, but yes I think it would, Creative are the best and Auzentech are good too I've heard.

Generic = No

They just aren't as good, full stop

~Doom

[Timotheus 416]

Auzentech have THE big card atm, the X-Fi Prelude. Support from Auzentech is a lot better than Creative's as well, so my list is Auzentech>Creative>generic

Generic don't really improve your sound much, and with new motherboards, onboard might even kick generic in the behind.

Good luck with the card gogo, be sure to post some other specs etc.

But taking some workload off your CPU... Are you kidding me lol you've got a monster!

Edited July 21, 2008 by Timotheus

[fRACTAL 0]

Auzentech have THE big card atm, the X-Fi Prelude. Support from Auzentech is a lot better than Creative's as well, so my list is Auzentech>Creative>generic

Generic don't really improve your sound much, and with new motherboards, onboard might even kick generic in the behind.

Good luck with the card gogo, be sure to post some other specs etc.

But taking some workload off your CPU... Are you kidding me lol you've got a monster!

Hmm I thought that the big creative with the console and remote was best, was I wrong?

Although the irony of the X-Fi Prelude is that it is built with Creative technology

~Doom