Hi All,
About to pull the trigger on a new Dell XPS 8700 and could use some advice on the sound card. It comes with a WAVE MAXXAudio4 (integrated 7.1) and I'm not sure if it'll just be a waste of money working with Sonar X3? Any thoughts or experiences? Go with an external sound card perhaps?
Thanks,
Bob

You don't want to use an internal "sound card" for audio.  They are $5 bits of hardware made for low use w/ a lot of different formats (game, video etc.).  You are just about guaranteed to have conflicts and a very high latency (the difference in timing between hitting a key on a keyboard and playing a softsynth or hearing your guitar while playing to previous recorded tracks.  You need an external audio interface made for high performance at one format (whatever you are working at).  They start out at about $100.  Tascam, Focusrite and Roland have some popular low cost models.  Most use USB to connect w/ the computer, but they can use Firewire or PCI slots.  Or madi etc. for expensive pro set ups.
 
If you try to make a go w/ a sound card you'll be here (and elsewhere on the internet) more than doing music, trying to get your computer to make music.
 
@ 

Ditto. It really doesn't matter which soundcard is in a computer because you won't use it. 
Not often mentioned but my tests have shown that anything other than good ASIO drivers will result in your timing offset being out. And with on board MME mode WAY out.  
It truly is a waste of time to use anything other than an audio interface with GOOD ASIO drivers. 

I have an XPS8500 from 3 years ago. Same sound chip. The bigger issue is the driver. GET RID OF IT! It took me a couple of attempts (did not keep notes on the "how") to remove the MAXX driver and get Windows to install a default driver, which I haven't had any conflicts with (that I know of).
 
I never got the PreSonus driver for my AudioBox 44VSL to work (it blows up the iLok driver), so I switched to a Tascam audio i/f. Have not tried Focusrite, but have heard good things.
 
I also have yet to figure out the USB hardware on the XPS8500. I have 2 USB3 ports on the front, 2 USB2 ports on the top, 4 USB2 and 2 USB3 ports on the back. Great. But...how many hubs? Which ports are tied to which hub? Any publicly available Dell documentation on the subject? NO. It's a good machine. I've had to replace the power supply once (like I have on every PC I've owned over the years, it seems) and I added a second 8GB of RAM, but that's it. The only thing I miss is not having a second monitor.

I've got an 8700 and disabled the included soundcard. The above is all good advice. I have a Focusrite 18i6 interface that works fine by the way.

Guys,
Thanks for the advice...I'll forego the onboard sound card, save the money and put it toward something external.
Bob

You could probably save a bit (if you do not feel you need a new one), by buying second hand. Also depends on the amount of ins / out you need. Agree on the advice so far.
Best of luck.

Yep, 2 things would really help with advice - your budget and intended use (will 2 inputs/outputs do or do you want 24 of each (or anything in between))
Also do you need Midi IO?

Hi Bristol,
2 I/Os will do. And, yes, need Midi I/O. My last sound card was an old M-Audio audiophile 192, which worked OK. But I found the software to be really not user friendly - as I'm not what you'd call and audiophile. Budgeting probably around $150 for a sound card. So will take the advice.
 
Looking at an i7, 4.0 GHZ, 16 GB Ram...not sure about Windows 7 or 8. I'm guessing most will tell me 7 :-)

I would check (incl.earlier brands mentioned) such as Focusrite, Presonus, Tascam, etc. They are all good options.
Others may disagree, but I would go for Win7 (X64).