USB vs 3.5mm jack?

[noobcake]

What is the difference, in quality, sound, and voice clarity between a USB and a 3.5mm jack for a microphone headset?

Also I'm looking to buy a new sound card because my Realtek HD integrated sound is really crappy.. came with my gigabyte motherboard.

Any suggestions in what I should be looking for when shopping for one?

[odannyboy000]

I'm not 100% sure sense I don't know your computer specs, but if you have a sound card installed it would be better to go with the jack rather than USB because USB wouldn't use your sound card sound, it would use the onboard sound.

[pentachris]

No, a USB mic headset would not use the sound card. I'm going to guess that the headset contains its own DAC? I'm not sure about quality, but clarity should be much better, getting the analog conversion off of the (electronically noisy) motherboard.