The last sound card i bought was the Sound Blaster Pro in 1990, and i remember when my friend and I hooked it up.. It was beyond amazing...  It brought gaming, at that time, to a "completely" nother level..  How are they these days and are they needed.  I was looking at the new sound blaster and EVGA NU Audio Card, 712-P1-AN01-KR.  
 
The generic sound that comes out of the MB seems fine to me.  So i dont know if a sound card is needed.. what does everyone think??

It really depends on what you are going to use with it, if you have $10 earbuds or 100 dollar speakers it won't make such a big difference but with much more high end headphones and speakers the difference becomes much more apparent.  I would always invest in headphones+amplifier/speakers first before upgrading sound card.

Built-in audio tends to be fairly decent these days. Unless you're using audiophile equipment I wouldn't recommend sound cards anymore... the driver support on my ASUS Xonar was the literal bare minimum they could get away with, and eventually the drivers caused too many problems. So I've used the onboard audio ever since.

I've been using external soundcards for awhile now, and find it easier to use, using a Sennhesier/epos GSX 1000, and I like it, there are also some options that have more robust connection options as well.
I've kind of moved away from liking internal sound cards awhile back.
also the GSX 1000 doesn't even have drivers or software to install, and is controlled whole by the screen on the device, so that's one less thing to worry about with compatablity and such (it's meant for headphones, so speaker connections are really just a stereo cable, but there are some with richer connection options.
 
I know some people have asked if EVGA will make an external sound card, and I'm wondering about that too, but for now, they don't.

Well, I don't hear the difference anymore (I'm too old)....I am fine with the onboard sound of the motherboards I buy....
 
I think it depends on your ear and what you're using it for...

thanks for all the info guys.  i am thinking of going with an external..

Like it's already being said it depends on what are you connecting to it - usually audio setup plays as bad/good as it's worse component.
Take a note that for the whole audio experience usually, feelings are a huge factor. Sense of possession higher-end device itself may give you a better reception effect, even if it sounds exactly the same on a cheaper component.
I agree that nowadays integrated sound cards are way better than in the past but if you want to drive high ohm, good quality headphones I belive myself that there is a noticable difference.
 
Overall external sound cards are a much better option because of all kind of interferences inside your pc.

Naw, unless you're using high-end audiophile equipment or work with music mixing and whatnot.... the onboard audio on most motherboards is great nowadays.

Interesting. I bought a sound card, but now I feel some regret. Oh well. :)

On top of my desk currently are two speakers, seven external desktop hard drives enclosed in their own cases, a Wifi router, a 30" monitor, an old Lenovo laptop which I boot up from time to time, a pair of headphones, and a cup of tea. No room for an external soundcard to be honest!
 
I got the speakers for a bit less than $100 (on sale) and the sub for about the same (also on sale). I could tell a difference between onboard sound card on my former motherboard and the EVGA soundcard. I didn't even bother to try the onboard audio with the newer motherboard because I already have the soundcard.
 
I'm happy with the setup, apart from one aspect. The only downside from my perspective is the dodgy drivers from EVGA. EVGA needs to invest more in their driver installers and software packages. They're pretty mediocre, just like the Precision X1 GPU software. The actual hardware seems fine.