Agreed Eviscerator.
Last time I bought any PC hardware (5+ years ago) the onboard sound quality was about on par with my 10 year old Sound Blaster, that is to say that the quality seemed to be at a point where $300 to improve it would be a waste.
depends on what your using really. I tried to use the onboard sound on my motherboard when i switched to it. (
eVGA Z77 Stinger) and the sound on my
Sennheiser HD515 sounded (to me) really average (compared when i used them last on my other PC)
I picked up a external sound card (
Xonar U7) and it was like night and day with the quality of sound for me. It is honestly one of the better things i have done for my setup. but having a good sound card is only part of the story, what your using to listen to it on play a big factor as well.
if you don't hear or care for the quality of sound then yes you don't have to worry about it. If you try it (with some decent setups being in the ball park of 400 for headset and DAC) and don't like it then sell it on for someone would want to have a go.
as for the sound blaster for the last 5 years the realtek sound cards have come a long way with on board sound i would not be supprised with that but again it would depend what you used to listen with.
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