[OICWUTUDIDTHAR]

I am going to be using using a toslink cable going from my desktop motherboard to an external DAC then to a headphone amp. Would the optical audio out transport on my motherboard be good or should I invest in a internal sound card with optical out?

 

[weez82]

your motherboard will be fine. No need to buy sound card for optical out

 

[frankty]

Which motherboard did you choose?  Does it do both coax and toslink S/PDIF? 
 
I'm looking for a a *CHEAP* motherboard as ALL I want it to do is feed my DAC via S/PDIF (preferably via COAX - even if I need to take a soldering iron to it) with NO RATE limit -- i.e. 96khz like all the MacBooks and Minis.  A real plus is that it will run one of the OS X releases floating around for non-Apple hardware.
 
Just want a simple appliance to do ONE simple job!
 
Thanks