I quess integrated "soundcards" have so far been bad. At least some of my friends have said that all AC-97 solutions are terrible even in most simple playback featurs.

Is the new Intel HD-Audio standard good? Has anyone really tested these new integrated solutions?

I'm looking for a new small comupter and was thinking if it could be finally possible to survive without an extra sound card by choosing a Intel HD-Audio mainboard. I'm most intersted in playback (44.1 khz, 48 khz) with SPDIF-output. But also little interested in recording (44.1 khz or 48 khz from line-in).

Thanks!

The sound core itself might be great, but it is likely that mobo manufacturers will screw the consept up by using too cheap amplifiers. Even ac-97 can sound good if the chip itself is of premium quality and it has good amplifier working with it.