EggXpert

Hey, all!  I am looking for an answer to this question:

Will I notice a difference between my onboard AC97 audio and my Creative XtremeGamer sound cards both over optical and standard mini-jack?

Given:

-The sound card is built into my system (shown in my sig). 

-The  current sound is routed from my Creative card to my Logitech z5500 via optical cable as well as to my Plantronics Gamecom via mini-jack.

I do watch BluRay movies as well as music and video games.  So, any ideas?

Thanks in advance! 

The nature of your connection to the z5500 means that for pre-rendered audio (music/movies), you are simply passing the digital signal as-is.  Your z5500 is decoding it, converting to analog, and amplifying it.  Means you should hear no difference. 

Games are different.  If you play EAX titles, and send DDL-encoded sound to Z5500, your game sound environment will be a whole lot more defined.  In games like Bioshock, EAX makes a pronounced difference. 

Yes, scorrpio is so right about that.

For movies and music, there will be no noticeable difference in onboard sound and a sound card using decent speakers, but for games, it's totally different and only true audiophiles can discern the difference. your onboard AC97 audio will slow u down, and u won't like it. well, with your Creative XtremeGamer sound cards, big difference will be made, particularly when you play some physics, graphically intensive games that not only taxes your graphics card but also your cpu. But no worries, with the basic X-Fi processor and 2MB of on-board memory cache, you will get all necessary gaming additives and enjoy an amazing gaming environment and audio creation. All in all, the sound quality of the XtremeGamer is just head and shoulders over anything on-board.