I'm planning to upgrade the audio on my PC (my mobo currently has integrated Realtek ALC892 which doesn't sound that good) and am wondering if I would be a better idea to get a sound card (PCIE or PCIEx1, since my board doesnt support regular PCI) or a DAC unit that connects to the digital (optical or coaxial) outputs on my motherboard.
My budget is around $50, and I use analog headphones. I'm also wondering if using the digital outs on the motherboard will produce bad quality even with a good DAC since my onboard audio chip is not very good quality.