Motherboard sound or soundcard?

I have an asus p5b mobo with 8 channel sound capability. It has all the audio ports normally found on a audio card (i think). I put this computer togetherand chose this board. I'm now thinking 'why would asus make a board with the sound ports already there if the thing to do is buy a sound card'? I'm temporarily using two speakers and a sub. I want to get a 5 or 6 piece speaker system (suggestions?) I dont like the thought of having a double set of audio ports. Is it worth it or for the most part is the asus pb5 board ok for sound?

well honeslty it depends on your preference. Im not 2 sure how good onboard soundcards are but from past experiance, they arnt up to quality as a sound card from the store. Especially if you wana to hook up a bunch of nice speakers. It may look retarded to have 16 sound ports in the back but i would still get the sound card.

or

look in the asus manual and it should tell you the specs of the soundcard and then compare to retail cards...

As far as I know, Creative SoundBlaster cards have always been the industry leader in sound for the consumer.



But that is a good question that I've been wondering myself. I have a Fatal1ty board that comes with a bunch of audio plugs integrated to the motherboard. I dont think the marginal benefit of the slight increase in audio quality would warrant buying a new audio card.

asus onboard sound sucks...get a x-fi......