Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1

[Ness]

After screwing up 2 motherboards in the space of 3 days, I decided to rework my system. Moving to an AM2 motherboard and an Athlon 64 X2 cpu with the extra yet cheap fishing out of more cash for DDR2 Ram modules. Basically, how much better is the Audigy SE 7.1's sound quality compared with a "C-Media CM6501" onboard sound chip?
I'm sick of the crackling and the static I got from previous motherboards' onboard sound devices before I even managed to crank my speakers up to a quarter of their max volume. Will getting an Audigy SE 7. help solve this problem, and will it make a substantially noticeable difference in sound quality?

P.S. I can't afford anything better (not until september/october anyway), my system parts dove into funds i didn't want to use for bills or my PC, and now I'm pretty much screwed for my summer holiday finance.

 

[Smith]

Generally any dedicated sound card will be better than the onboard stuff.

will it make a substantially noticeable difference in sound quality?

Substantially? That's all a matter of opinion. There will be a difference, though, both in quality and performance.

 

[Ness]

OK, lemme rephrase the substantial difference part:
It is pretty damn cheap though tbh, and I could raise the funds to get over the next 3 days, but will it be worth the cash?

 

[Smith]

And I told you the answer, it's all a matter of opinion >_<. Generally people say that they prefer an audigy to their integrated sound, though.

 

[Ness]

Well, ok. One last thing, will a sound card increase my system performance at all in any way?

 

[Smith]

If the sound card offloads work from the CPU, then yea, it should. I'm not sure if the Audigy SE does, but if so, don't expect miraculous improvements. Maybe a couple of frames per second.

 

[Ness]

Little drops of water, form a mighty ocean ;]
Every fps counts for me, as I have a low end, yet decent system.

Thanks for the info