That’s a valuable clarification. You’re right. I just said what you referred to, today in another thread.

The built-in chips are designed to do one thing very well: play back audio. That would include mixing if mixing just means adjust track volumes.

So I would say if you are recording, you should use something better than a built-in RealTec chip running a generic ASIO emulating driver.

I would also say the CPU becomes more important than the sound card when using plugins including effects and software synths. Mixing with effects and virtual instruments can involve severe stress on a computer, but again, purely audio playback is the one thing any computer should handle well because that’s what the vendors are building them for.

BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.