In reading through some of the recent posts on the thread, it caused me to review my own preferences for designing a budget system. Aside from the "big" item discusions (i.e. motherboard, processor and hard drives) it got me thinking of what is "needed" verses what is "worth it" in a relatively budget conscious system.
So my questions is regarding Video Cards and Sound Cards. As these two items are arguably the most "noticeable" devices for the complete "multimedia" experience, let me pose two questions:
1) Are separate sound cards needed?
My personal feeling is no. Most of the AC97 Codec modules that are integrated in most quality boards now is sufficient for average game play, MP3 listening and recording, and most anything that a computer outputs. Even compared to the NForce 2 boards, I don't see much justification from the audio output alone. I have heard some state that some of the newer cards (i.e SB Audigy, Voyetra, etc) are a "must have". My personal experience (output options aside) is that they all produce about the same quality of sound. IF it came to my choices, I would invest the money in a decent pair of speakers, and save the money on the cards. If I had particular midi mixing needs, or special input/output requirements (multiple sources, or jack specifics) then I would without hesitation recommend a higher end card capable of handling these requirements (and would have to put more decision in going with a Surround Sound option), but otherwise, what benefits would the "average" home user gain from these cards? Any thoughts?
2) Which video card? Again, this is a subjective topic, and unlike sound cards, there is a difference in system reource allocation and apparent differences between on-board video, and decent video cards. Again, keeping the moderate budget requiremtns in mind, where one would not justify the expense of the latest $400 video card, what would be a "respectable" all around video card recomendation, and why? I have not researched gaming video cards in about a year, so I am out of the loop on recomendations, yet I hear many people are still getting good performance out of the GF4 4200's - even before overclocking, and getting exceptional performance once overclocked. However, for the moderate home user, in the $150 - $200 range, what are your recomendations and why? For those that feel the $300+ cards are a necessity, please explain why? My feeling is how much detail in the moss covered rocks of Quake, Doom or Halflife does on really need to see? In short, what is the upper limit of "decent performance" without breaking the bank, or where spending more on upgrading other system resources would yeild better performance gains for the money?
So my questions is regarding Video Cards and Sound Cards. As these two items are arguably the most "noticeable" devices for the complete "multimedia" experience, let me pose two questions:
1) Are separate sound cards needed?
My personal feeling is no. Most of the AC97 Codec modules that are integrated in most quality boards now is sufficient for average game play, MP3 listening and recording, and most anything that a computer outputs. Even compared to the NForce 2 boards, I don't see much justification from the audio output alone. I have heard some state that some of the newer cards (i.e SB Audigy, Voyetra, etc) are a "must have". My personal experience (output options aside) is that they all produce about the same quality of sound. IF it came to my choices, I would invest the money in a decent pair of speakers, and save the money on the cards. If I had particular midi mixing needs, or special input/output requirements (multiple sources, or jack specifics) then I would without hesitation recommend a higher end card capable of handling these requirements (and would have to put more decision in going with a Surround Sound option), but otherwise, what benefits would the "average" home user gain from these cards? Any thoughts?
2) Which video card? Again, this is a subjective topic, and unlike sound cards, there is a difference in system reource allocation and apparent differences between on-board video, and decent video cards. Again, keeping the moderate budget requiremtns in mind, where one would not justify the expense of the latest $400 video card, what would be a "respectable" all around video card recomendation, and why? I have not researched gaming video cards in about a year, so I am out of the loop on recomendations, yet I hear many people are still getting good performance out of the GF4 4200's - even before overclocking, and getting exceptional performance once overclocked. However, for the moderate home user, in the $150 - $200 range, what are your recomendations and why? For those that feel the $300+ cards are a necessity, please explain why? My feeling is how much detail in the moss covered rocks of Quake, Doom or Halflife does on really need to see? In short, what is the upper limit of "decent performance" without breaking the bank, or where spending more on upgrading other system resources would yeild better performance gains for the money?
