Would it be better for me to get a dedicated sound card to use a nice set of 2.1 sound speakers, just stick with my AC97 onboard sound?  I'm sure some of you peeps have heard the difference.  I don't want surround (have that in the tele room), I just listen to MP3 (low quality here eh) and play games.

Nothin wrong with the onboard for listening to music. You can use it for games too.

I wouldn't, but that's because I"m trying to squeeze every drop of performance I can get out of my pc.

D.