How good is the onboard Intel HD Audio?

[landozelig]

I just rebuilt a system that I initially built at the end of 2007. Was a great system (Quad Core Extereme) that still ran everything with no problems, but the power supply blew, which tripped the UPS, fried my motherboard, CPU, RAM and SSD drive. So I've basically built a whole new system.

I bought a new Ivy Bridge motherboard and CPU (DZ77RE-75K and i7-3770K). The motherboard has the Intel HD Audio (Realtek) on it. I have an Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 from my previous system, which I bought in 2007.

So my question is, how far has onboard sound come? Is a 5 year old Auzentech card still far superior to onboard audio? Thanks.

 

[fireberd]

I just built a new system with a Gigabyte motherboard and i7 3770 CPU. It has Realtek audio and for my PC audio purposes it works as well as the HT Omega Striker 7.1 I had in my old system or even the SoundBlaster Xfi that I had before that. It come with the SoundBlaster software enhancements to the audio (although I don't think I'll use them).

I am not an "audiophile" or gamer but I am a musician and have a recording studio (the new PC was built for to be my new recording studio system) so I do have a critical ear for audio. But, I have separate USB connected audio devices for recording, and do not use the PC's audio for that function.

My new system specs are listed in the "My System Specs".