Sound Card

Creative sound blaster. For years it has been the main actor in the sound card market. Responsible for most if not all the evolutions of those last 15years it is the main choice for anyone wanting a dedicated sound card for gaming and video. It exist other option of course but if you want to buy a sound card buying creative is the safest. The only possible exception is for audiophiles. For them M-audio make very good sound card that will rival or beat sound blaster in that market.

Some sound card comes with trays with different connectors or with remote. For gamers a good sound card allow for a little better game speed as all the sound effect will be rendered by the sound card and not by the CPU.

For home theater you will have to choose between stereo, 5.1 or 7.1 depending on the hardware you want to use.

• Family/office computer: none
• all around gaming computer: none
• media center: see if the sound quality is good. If it is not you can find good sound card 5.1 or 7.1 for $30
• gaming computer: middle end creative sound card should be coupled with a good speaker kit.