HD Audio from new mobos vs old standalone cards

[NewbieOneKenobi]

Or in my case, more precisely, the HD Audio from my new P5Q-E mobo vs my old Audigy ES (not SE; this is essentially a full version without goodies). What should be better for my gaming needs? My speakers are basically a good JVC stereo. With the HD Audio, I can go optical. With the Audigy, I can't. Audigy has hardware, but is old. HD Audio is a codec, but is new. It doesn't really suck, from what I've heard from people's laptops, although my musically inclined buddy claims my Audigy plays better than his desktop's HD Audio. So which one would you pick?

[Special7]

I'd probably go with on-board honestly.

[nd4spdbh2]

best way to see would be to try it out.... i have "HD audio" on my p5wdh and it sounds like CRAP compared to my old Audigy 2 Value, let alone my XFI xtrememusic.... I would probably go with the audigy TBH... you will have EAX support and it will offload the processing to the card as well as elminite EMI noise.

[>HyperlogiK<]

I'd go with the Audigy definitely, and search around for that modded driver package that creative tried to get rid of a while back.

[usp8riot]

I have on-board Realtek HD audio and an Audigy 2. I've tried both and the Audigy sounds a little livelier. Also, Audigy is a better choice for gaming.