[Spoof]

Hi all,

This will be my first sound card purchase ever so go easy on me .
I have finally finished building my computer and it will be used in order of importance for outputting music through me logitech 5.1 surround set, then films, then gaming once I get out of lazy mode and reapir my graphics card.
As I mainly concerned about audio which of these cards would you recommend me purchasing. I have done a lot of research and many different reviews have now left me totally confused for best option so have put a couple of cards below that I have looked at for my budget of £50. Grateful on any comments or recommendations. Some have newer audio chips than other, better SNR etc, more outputs.
The cards I need must be PCI slot however.

Asus Xonar D1 <-- good snr
Asus Xonar DG <-- slight les snr but headphone amp
Auzentech X-Plosion 7.1 <--chip is older, less SNR but has a lot of outputs on card
X-fi Titanium sound blaster <-- not too familiar with creative cards any advice well taken for this brand. Seems to have it own x-fi brand chips.

Any advice on above or list of alternatives with pro/con will be well taken. Budget of £50 can be stretched as I would rather buy one I know will last me a few system generations though that will probably be hindred by fact I am needing PCI not PCIe but you know...

[sparky10]

Hi
I have used both Creative and Asus sounds cards over the years and I guess that it is a matter of preference. Regarding the Asus cards, I have used their mid range sound cards and the reproduction is fine, I was not too keen on the software that went with it however, different layout from Creative, but with a bit more effert on my part I got the required results which were good. I have a Creative card at the moment ( Fataility Professional) and it is very good. My answer my be a bit subjective, it is like comparing graphics cards, Nvidia verses AMD if you get my drift. But basically the choice is yours, I have built several systems for others and have used the Creative X-Fi extreme audio (PCI) and these work well, can buy for less than £40 no problem at all, have used one myself in the past and was fine, hope that this may help you a bit?

[Spoof]

Hi sparky,
Thanks for getting back bud, youve cleared up a few Q's that were getting me frustrated searching for the right card. Whichever I go with I think I will not be disappointed with compared to the onboard sound.
I do like the look of the x-fi Titanium the standard one which seems to have good reviews. Around £60-70 but I think it comes only in pcie though which is shame.
will update once purchased.
welcome any other views / recomendation also.

[sparky10]

Hi Spoof, yes the X-FiTitanium comes only in the PCIe version, the Asus Xonar D1 that you have mentioned will give excellent results for the price which is around the £50 mark, don`t think that you will be sorry with that purchase, but take your time and have a good think about it. Good luck with the hunt!
Could always put a wanted ad on the forum and get a bargain?

[Spoof]

hi sparky,
went for the xonar d1 in the end

[sparky10]

Hi Spoof
Yes good choice, sure that you willbe happy with it