Sound cards ushered PCs into the world of multimedia. Learn how sound cards work and understand the various features. (HowStuffWorks)

Though not required the sound card adds rich multimedia to your computer. How do these work and what is there to look out for?

When building your own dream PC, or even just one that you are able to afford, one item that sometimes gets overlooked is the sound card. We've become so accustomed to having our trusty SoundBlaster 16s and such that we don't always consider that better audio is available!