Graphic Card and Sound Card

[The360Gamer]

I'm new to PC gaming, I need a graphic card and I think I need a sound card as well. I have a few questions that I need answered:

 

1. If I buy a graphic card with the minimum requirements for oblivion, will the game play slowly if I play with normal graphics?

 

2. Is a sound card needed to play oblivion? If so, what is a good one to get that is very inexpensive.

[bben46]

When looking at replacement graphics cards be sure to check your power supply to see if it will supply enough power for the new card. Many name brand off the shelf computers (Dell, HP etc) have weak power supplies that are barely powerful enough to run the original components they come with. If your Power supply is Less than 350Watts. You will probably need to upgrade that also. 400 to 450 Watts is marginal. 500 is usually acceptable. If you do get a new power supply, go with at least 550 Watts to allow for some overhead. The price difference is not that great between a 400 and a 550 Watt supply. Also, make sure you check the dimensions of the power supply. Again many of the brand name boxes use a non standard power supply that is hard to replace.

 

Game speed is dependent on a lot more than just the graphics card. RAM, I saw a large increase in game speed when I went from 2 to 3 G of ram. But not such a big increase from 3 to 4G. CPU - a slow CPU will still be slow no matter how fast your graphics is.

 

A sound card is not required - if you have sound built in. However, a sound card will actually speed up your game as the on board sound steals clock cycles from the CPU so the game will run slower.

An expensive sound card is not needed. A good card can be had for about US $20.

[The360Gamer]

When looking at replacement graphics cards be sure to check your power supply to see if it will supply enough power for the new card. Many name brand off the shelf computers (Dell, HP etc) have weak power supplies that are barely powerful enough to run the original components they come with. If your Power supply is Less than 350Watts. You will probably need to upgrade that also. 400 to 450 Watts is marginal. 500 is usually acceptable. If you do get a new power supply, go with at least 550 Watts to allow for some overhead. The price difference is not that great between a 400 and a 550 Watt supply. Also, make sure you check the dimensions of the power supply. Again many of the brand name boxes use a non standard power supply that is hard to replace.

 

Game speed is dependent on a lot more than just the graphics card. RAM, I saw a large increase in game speed when I went from 2 to 3 G of ram. But not such a big increase from 3 to 4G. CPU - a slow CPU will still be slow no matter how fast your graphics is.

 

A sound card is not required - if you have sound built in. However, a sound card will actually speed up your game as the on board sound steals clock cycles from the CPU so the game will run slower.

An expensive sound card is not needed. A good card can be had for about US $20.

Okay thanks, that helps me a LOT! I was planning on buying a sound card, but I already have sound built in, so I guess I don't need it. I am not very smart with computers, could you tell me a way to determine my power supply?

[bben46]

The wattage will be listed somewhere on the power supply box. You will probably have to open your computer case to see it. While you are looking, check the physical size also.

[Fonger]

A sound card is not required - if you have sound built in. However, a sound card will actually speed up your game as the on board sound steals clock cycles from the CPU so the game will run slower.

An expensive sound card is not needed. A good card can be had for about US $20.

been looking for some years now

 

never found a "good card" for under $75 that wasn't functionally equivalent to the onboard sound chipset in that these sound cards also robbed clock cycles from the CPU

 

So please supply links to sound cards that don't use the CPU just like an onboard sound chip.

[Erik005]

The asus xonar cards are very good.

 

Most are expensive but there is one that is just under €70 called the xonar DX/XD

 

I don't know how that preforms exactly but the asus software is always excellent.

 

I have been looking for a new soundcard because my creative soundblaster is pci and sits to close to my graphics card.