An absolute necessity in today's PC world. There are tons of available cards out there, but I recommend the name brand again. I've tried some of the various cheaper clones and had my share of driver issues with them. Read the reviews, as there are a lot of sound cards out there with special features. Some cards pimp special sound algorithms that are supposed to enhance the sound. Some of these suck, but others really improve the sound. Some cards, like the upper-end Creative Labs cards, have extensions with all sorts of inputs and things that attach to the sound card and expand the capabilities.