Poor sound, do I need a new sound card?

I'm having sound problems and it has been suggested to me that I need a new sound card. The sound on my computer has become real scratchy and distorted. My sound drivers are up to date, and I plugged a set of headphones into the computer and still heard the poor sound, so that eliminates bad speakers. I'm looking for suggestions on a sound card. My system actually has onboard sound, so i realize I will have to go into the Bios and disable the onboard sound after installing a sound card. I would like to get a halfway decent card, as we play a lot of games on this system and good sound seems important to me and my kids. Also, one of the games I play a lot is NASCAR Racing 2003, which has always seemed real particular about sound issues. To complicate matters further, my computer is a Gateway, which I have heard is also particular about things added to it that aren't from Gateway.
While I'm inside the computer, I also plan to add some RAM. I currently have two slots, with one occupied by a 256 stick. I plan to add a 512 stick into the other slot. It seems that the newer games are demanding more RAM, so I thought I would try to get ahead of the curve for a while. Hopefully this will improve gaming performance.
Happy Holidays and thanks in advance for any advice.

 

The onboard AC'97 sound should be OK for most things. My ears can't hear much difference between say a Creative PCI sound card and the onboard sound.
What OS are you using, XP?
I would first suggest you uninstall the AC'97 sound from the device manager and reboot and let windows reinstall it. Check for updates for the onboard sound from the motherboards website, or windows update if using W2K or XP.

Check that you are plugged into the right 3.5mm socket on the back of the PC. You should have maybe 3 sockets, the red one is for a Mic input and the green, blue and maybe black sockets are for powered, non powered and maybe a line input from say, a TV tuner. Check that you haven't messed up here. Also check that you are not over driving one of the faders in the volume control mixer applete, causing distortion. I would also check the sound settings in the control panel.
Any exclamation marks next to any sound devices in the device manager?

 

Well i FEEL a VERY BIG DIFFERENCE between my onboard sound and my Audigy ZS.

 

Hi Bucksone,

RAM (I'll steer clear of the soundcard quality debate , only to say it depends on the quality you want and how much you are prepared to pay...Creative have a good range, they are the market leaders).

Investigate what RAM you will need that should be compatible with your motherboard and the RAM that you have now.

There is a "memory comparitor" at www.crucial.com

Check through some of the past problems/recommendations about RAM in this forum.

Matt

 

That, speaker cables and the pros (if any) of leaving power amps and PC's always on, I have found are good things to steer clear of in discussions.

 

Well, I re-installed the sound drivers, even though I just did this a few months ago, and it seems to have solved the problem. I guess I must have done something in the intervening time to corrupt the drivers. Thanks to all for the help. I am still considering a sound card as an upgrade, as that NASCAR game doesn't like onboard sound.

 

Bucksone, thanks for letting us know that you have had some success.

Drivers are always a worry. From my experience (anyone can correct me and I would appreciate it), when you install hardware or programs that may "share" files with those that are used by, say, your soundcard, they can get replaced with other versions (newer or older), then the hardware does not work properly. Reinstalling the drivers may replace the important files, but there may be still others around that are "not quite" working right (thus your continuing problem with Nascars). The "updating" and "backdating" can occur every time you install related hardware/programs, so it is not neccessarily your fault that the drivers have been corrupted.

If you want to try to sort it out, try booting into Safe Mode and remove the sound drivers there (look in Add/remove programs before going to Device Manager). When you reboot Windows should try to reinstall the best ones, although these may may not actually be the CORRECT ones. You may have to guide Windows to them yourself or select the correct ones from the "list" (especially because Windows may not recognise drivers that were created after it's own creation).

Hope you get them...mmm... "fine tuned and ready for racing"

Matt
Light bulb?...try reinstalling Nascars to reconfigure it to the new/updated drivers.