Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

[DrunkenPirate]

Today Guru of 3D brings you a rather exclusive review, as you know Creative Labs announced their new SoundCard series based on the 51 million transistors counting X-Fi sound processor. Guru3D today brings you a sixteen page review on the SoundBlaster F-Xi Fatality FPS soundcard. Developed under codename Zenith this is the X-Fi sound processor. We finally are stepping away from that good ol' EMU10K audio processor that we all know and love from the Live! and Audigy series. Let's talk a little about the silicon arming all previous soundcards and their increased muscle power.

To me it is remarkable to see that large transistor count compared to let's say the SoundBlaster Live! series which quite honestly is a lovely product. The new X-Fi silicon has almost 26 times more transistors. The untouchable Audigy series had 4.6 Million transistors on that silicon, right now we're looking at 11 times less transistors compared to the new X-Fi audio processor.

The real deal however kicks in when you buy a Fatality of Elite Pro edition card. The X-Ram functionally appeals to me. At this moment in time we just can't see the pure benefit of it just yet. As with all new technology the software needs to be patched and made compatible with this new technology. I'm a believer though and I believe this can be a very strong selling point to the gaming audience.

You can read up on the article here:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/sound/246/

[Nitemare]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

So there's no performance increase in BF2...but deffinitely better sound.

[imported_bosx2]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

the sound increase from audigy2/4 to x-fi is very small and not worth the $$$ for BF2

[Snake101]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

the sound increase from audigy2/4 to x-fi is very small and not worth the $$$ for BF2

I wouldn't say that. The sound quality increase is actually very great and thats why X-FI has it's own setting in BF2...

[BurnTheWeed]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

The sound quality is much better going from a Audigy 1 to an Audigy 2 (my roommate with the 1 can't hear the artillery coming that I can with my 2). There are many other effects that are added with the newer cards. I imagine the sounds for the X-fi are even more immersive.

[imported_bosx2]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

I tested the x-fi myself and currently I have a audigy 2 zs, I can hear all the same things I heard with x-fi (birds, environment etc)

on quality side, for BF2 they added the option, because x-fi needs different handling on decoding! because if you have an x-fi with 64 mb ram, it needs to be properly supported to use these ram as buffer, there is no real difference between audigy 2/4 to x-fi quality wise!

[NoSoup4You]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

the sound increase from audigy2/4 to x-fi is very small and not worth the $$$ for BF2

Its about quality. Audigy2s are great cards, however with X-Fi in BF2 you can actually hear people talking on VoIP if you are near them (if you're the enemy). Read up on the technology of X-fi before you bash it. Its not just a new sound card, its a new sound technology that is going to bring gaming into a whole new world.

[Nitemare]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

I love you KingOfKhaos. Will you marry me?

[imported_bosx2]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

first of all I did not bash the x-fi at all, all I was saying was, that there is NO difference between an audigy 2/4 and x-fi card in BF2 (guru3d proofs that)! and so NOT worth the money if you plan to buy that card just for BF2

for the voip, its not implemented in BF2, because when I tested it, it was the same as before (by the way, its nothing new! Splinter cell already had that feature)

the card is great, if not awesome!!! I would buy it myself too, all the improvements and supports, its insane, but for the moment and for BF2, the card is not worth the money

[DrunkenPirate]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

first of all I did not bash the x-fi at all, all I was saying was, that there is NO difference between an audigy 2/4 and x-fi card in BF2 (guru3d proofs that)! and so NOT worth the money if you plan to buy that card just for BF2

for the voip, its not implemented in BF2, because when I tested it, it was the same as before (by the way, its nothing new! Splinter cell already had that feature)

the card is great, if not awesome!!! I would buy it myself too, all the improvements and supports, its insane, but for the moment and for BF2, the card is not worth the money

Agreed, no difference yet.
This is still very new technology and if you read the full review you will see that this card is built for the future, very little support is available for it right now and BF2 is the only game that has any settings for it at all.
Give it 6 months and we will start seeing results.

[Lith1um]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

I have an xfi card and an audigy 2zs.

There is a huge difference in the number of sounds being played at one time in xfi ultra mode. I can easily hear the difference, there is alot more happening on the sonic landscape.

Positional audio is improved, not to mention the more accurate bass management.

The only caviat is, relatively speaking, bf2 has medium quality sound samples.

The xfi slaughters an audigy in every respect, and for once creative really has a nice software package.

For me its the best of both worlds.

Gaming mode with eax 5.0 and cmss 3dheadphone.

Audio creation mode with "bit matched playback" enabled for pure unmodified music just the way it was mastered. No up/down sampling.

Entertainment mode, movies are incredible and music sounds so good I actualy prefer the cmss 3d enhanced audio over "bit matched playback" in most situations.

I was ready to slag creative, but they got it right this time.

[sddo]

Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Reviewed at Guru3D.com

Agreed, no difference yet.
This is still very new technology and if you read the full review you will see that this card is built for the future, very little support is available for it right now and BF2 is the only game that has any settings for it at all.
Give it 6 months and we will start seeing results.

you're right that it's a matter of support for the technology by the gaming industry, but i doubt game designers will take the time out to make special effects for a card that no one can afford. unless of course they hop in on some kinda deal like bf2 did with creative and they get some extra dough because of it.

-s