Integrated sound card while getting much better… Do not have the options and clairity that a 3rd party card does.
When I have my X-Fi set as my default vs the Integrated you can deffinatly tell a difference in quality… and plus in a gaming situation it takes less load off of the processor… Not that that means much no a days but id rather pay 50 bucks for quality sound and more features
If you have a shitty set of speakers like some cheap 30 dollar logitechs or something im sure it wont be as noticeable… but when you have a nice setup you can tell