Sure, you can send any sound to it, but it interrupts everything else that the computer is doing. That's why we have sound cards. The sound cards work with the computer to make sounds without interruption. When buying a system with a PCI sound card, look for a 64-voice or higher wavetable. Also, make sure the card offers DirectSound and DirectX support so that sound for games will work well under Windows.
Some manufacturers offer sound support built into the motherboard.
This is generally OK, since sound chips on new motherboards are usually decent quality chips, and can be disabled if you want to add your own. So, unless you are into multimedia production or need complex sound boards for another reason, go with onboard sound. You may not even want to give all your employees access to sound if they are tightly packed together or you find that enabling system sounds causes problems with some of the applications you use. Also, see our speaker recommendations. All rights reserved.