Is it worth the $$ for a new sound card

[Potoroo]

Depends on where you live and which warranty is voided by breaking the seal. I had one sealed PC where the supplier provided additional guarantee for the whole box for three years, on top of the individual warranty of the parts. If I had broken the seal, he could have assumed that I sneaked a defective part into the PC and then ask him to replace it. Anyway, the warranty on each of the individual parts was not touched by the seal. But that is often much shorter, depending on the supplier. The illegal thing would be to refuse the parts warranty if you break some seal on the case.

OZINOZ and I are in Australia, hence the reference to the ACCC and the Trade Pactices Act, and it is flat-out illegal to try to declare a warranty on a PC or any of its components void if someone other than the assembler opens it. It is not a grey area. A support agreement could conceivably become void but never a warranty. It doesn't matter what the assembler states. The law says otherwise.