New Sound Card Worth it?

[Minicoop503]

I currently have some old creative sound card (dont know which model) that I salvaged from my dads computer, since my onboard sound doesnt work. Now, I want to get a new sound card. I saw that compusa has a creative xfi xtreme gamer on sale for $70 http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...2540&pfp=jun17, which I thought was a pretty good deal.

My question is, would this be worth it? Will I see/hear a big difference in sound quality of music and games and also an increase in game performance?

-Minicoop503

[=[MI5]=RJW]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

Ive just done tha sem as you yeah i can hear difference especially in 5.1 surround sound. Karkand now makes me wanna scream and run i can hear everyone getting shot and dying eg from train accident you can hear the shooting and dying at square very realistic and i find now more than ever im in the game actually playing it feels

[megawhompertoo]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

honestly, with nothing other than x-fi on the horizon, i would say yes it is probably worth it.

in fact, i just recently put my money where my mouth is:

http://www.totalbf2.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116712

upgrading from one of the best audigy 2 cards out there (2 zs) to a used/refurb (edit) x-fi extreme music and playing for a few minutes this afternoon--the sound is very, very, very, very good.

in lotro grass CRUNCHES directionally, instead of swooshing omnipresently. in BF2, the sound is much more...clattery (hi's and lo's ??? i guess) and directionally proportioned than the 2 zs which was more thud-thud-thud and more omnipresent.

I'm enjoying my used extreme music. only thing that you DO NOT WANT is the "Extreme Audio". that's a rebadged Live/Audigy SE.

If you're happy with your current rig, then upgrading sound is probably worth it. If you lag a lot, then there are other things worth considering.

[Minicoop503]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

Ok, well since you guys said the sound does actually sound a lot better, I'm probably going to go pick it up sometime tonight or tomorrow. I'll write back about how it sounds.

[=98=]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

honestly, with nothing other than x-fi on the horizon, i would say yes it is probably worth it.

Well, they are releasing the 1x PCI-E XFi cards, but they are coming out in a few months.

[megawhompertoo]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

Might think about upgrading your vid card if you have a soundcard that will run hardware mixing and eax 3.0. You can HEAR the SUBTLE differences that a used x-fi makes over a 2 zs, but you could *cough, cough* SEE the DRAMATIC difference another $70 worth of video card (on top your $120 one) would make. Dollar-for-dollar, we're a visual species, so I would always choose eye-candy/fps over a bump in audio quality.

'Course, it's up to you. I happened to catch my x-fi on ebay for $50+shipping and I'm very happy with current framerates and not looking to upgrade my oc'd pentium d 915 processor until quads (maybe e6600's) take another drop in price. x1950xt + x-fi plus cheap-a$$ processor + 2gb + p5b-e = gaming heaven for me, whenever I get a few minutes to kill.

your mileage on heaven may vary according to your vehicle. :)

Well, they are releasing the 1x PCI-E XFi cards, but they are coming out in a few months.

specs? increased voices? transistors number? do tell...

[Jakg]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

Well, they are releasing the 1x PCI-E XFi cards, but they are coming out in a few months.

...so? They don't sound ANY better and just sit closer to the GFX card making more interference

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

...so? They don't sound ANY better and just sit closer to the GFX card making more interference

No, and how do you know what they sound like? They aren't releasing any x-fi pcie cards, all the new ones will be using the new x-fi2 sound chip.

[Minicoop503]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

Well, I got went and got it. Sounds great! I'm thinking about EVENTUALLY upgrading my graphics card, but my sound card was really bad so I wanted to do that first, and plus I like good sound :). I'm going to try to save up over the summer for a new graphics card, maybe a 8800 gts or 1950?

I have to get a job! but I'm only 14

[System]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

Ive just done tha sem as you yeah i can hear difference especially in 5.1 surround sound. Karkand now makes me wanna scream and run i can hear everyone getting shot and dying eg from train accident you can hear the shooting and dying at square very realistic and i find now more than ever im in the game actually playing it feels

Are you serious? Thats crazy. I have a mad sound card and everything set like really high but I don't get the same stuff??

I think I would end up dieing more often though with all that extra sound... I'd be staring into the sky prancing around listening to guns shooting and suddenly one right behind me would go off lol.

[=98=]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

No, and how do you know what they sound like? They aren't releasing any x-fi pcie cards, all the new ones will be using the new x-fi2 sound chip.

http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-2659-view-Creative-sound-blaster-X--Fi-Xtreme-audio-PCI--e-finally-available.html

Oh, i was sure they were going to bring some out. This was a prototype. Maybe they cancelled them.

[Minicoop503]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

Hey,

For some reason, when I go to the audio settings, I can't select "ultra high" It detects my x-fi and everything, but I can't choose ultra high. Any ideas?

[=98=]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

You need to switch the card to "game mode", rather than "entertainment mode". Do this is the Creative Audio Console.

You can also get a tool called "X-Fi Mode switcher" which automatically swtiches mode when certain applications open. I use it a lot.

[Minicoop503]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

I had it in game mode when I tried to put in on ultra high

[=98=]

Re: New Sound Card Worth it?

Dunno... i know the XtremeAudio cant play on Ultra High, but if its an extreme gamer on game mode it should work. Make sure you got the latest drives installed.