Yes, price vs quality is usually the rule. I want it on-board coz i wouldnt have to deal with bloatware drivers every time i format. I could roughly predict the quality if the developers at least bothered to list comlete specs such as THD, frequency range and so on. 24 bit already sounds good (and thus comparable to creative). 97 dB signal-noise i can certainly live with; but thats all the info so far. So guess I'd have to go by recomendations.