Integrated Sound Cards Roundup @ InsideHW
 

In the beginning of era of integrated sound cards, they weren’t for any recommendation because of many troubles. Even though the sound quality on certain models was satisfactory, by purchasing quality speakers, you could notice difference in sound quality compared to quality nonintegrated sound cards. There were even some relatively “bad” models of C-media nonintegrated sound cards with better sound quality. Beside sound quality there were also some problems with too big noise, as also sound interruptions during reproduction of audio contents (if someone remembers well known “integrated” PC-Chips motherboards in their own time)…

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Mult...s-Roundup.html

Kinda like this review because it has so much potential. This isn't just comparing hardware, but trying to find out more about integrated sound cards. The explanation is a quite short, though.