Sound cards are another peripheral device that was once thought to be extravagant, but is now pretty much standard equipment on any new machine. A sound card is a device which enables the computer to handle sounds (duh!). It can handle sounds in two major ways. It can create sound effects entirely through programming, or it can record sounds through a standard microphone. Sound cards are attached to speakers which recreate the sound. Obviously, sound cards are a big boost to computer game players, but they are frequently being used for more serious pursuits as well. People can attach voice annotations to documents they have written, musicians can test and modify a composition with a computer, and people with visual disabilities can have screens of text read to them. The basic sound card is referred to as an 8-bit sound card, because it processes 8 bits of information at a time. You can now find 16-bit, and even 32-bit sound cards if you are willing to pay for them. As always, it depends on what you want your computer to do for you.