I spent a whole of $20 for a Asus Xonar DG sound card, 96 KHz, 24 bit 5.1 card to replace the horrid on board sound of a Compaq Presario I acquired when a customer upgraded to a newer machine because it had become too slow for him.  I replaced the video card which was horrid with something less antique, and then the audio had a ton of hiss so replaced that.  Added memory and it’s now quite a useful machine.

     The audio from this card is quite acceptable so if you’re looking for an inexpensive audio card that can still produce reasonably good sound, this may be an option.