My sound has died on my MOBO. First it was the mic now sound. I do not plan doing anything fancy. I do hope it wll last longer than the one on my MOBO (less than 6 months).
Dedicated sound cards tend not to go wrong very often, but before I recommend one, I'll warn you, a failure of an integrated device such as sound, network, graphics, USB or S-ATA is often the tip of the iceberg. A large number of networks where the onboard networking or sound goes down fail completely within a few months, especially nForce chipset boards, and boards manufactured by ECS or Asus. What motherboard do you have?
if your motherboard seems to be fine and its just the sound card thats not working, i would recommend this card. it has phenomenal sound for its price. definitely not the best, but the next step up from integrated sound. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102012 you might be able to find cheaper prices at retail stores or amazon.
Agreed, that is the card I would recommend, regardless. You will very rarely 'spot' anything wrong with a board until the next onboard component fails. Almost all Gigabyte S-series boards are very solid though, so you may not experience any other issues.
sammorris, it was your pick, GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R P35 775 R. I have always had to replace MOBO sound so I am not very dissapointed as long as that is the extent of the problems. The SATA ports are a must. NewEgg is only a tiny bit more than the cheapest. I had already shopped for that card.
That's the exact same motherboard I owned for a while (and now a friend has) and had no issues with. You shouldn't experience any further issues.
I can say it is the nicest MOBO I have owned. I could 'feel' the quality with some of the nice little features like that the SATA connections snap when they are properly connected. That is a big deal when connecting to the MOBO. I had to use a flashlight and some long nosed needle nose pliers to go through all the cables. Next time, I will connect them all before I put it in the case then connect the cables when I needed to. I am feeling my age. PCs are getting like cars. There is no room to move. I am glad I was talked into a better PC than I wanted to buy. I am so used to dealing with cheap ones I can appreciate the extra quality any time I open the box. I guess that is pretty geeky.
Not at all, it's far easier to work on something that was built properly than something you're going to snap unless you really concentrate.
No it is not the ease of use, it is the pleasure of handling something well made. The geeky part is knowing that it is well made to the point of enjoying it. Many of us enjoy putting a sports car through its paces. For some reason that is not geeky. I don't know why.
