what would be a good sound card for me?

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MrFobber

New Member
Hello all,

I'm looking to buy a new sound card to go with my Logitech x540 5.1 speakers. What would you guys recommend? Im primary using the computer for music, movies and games. My price ranges are from 50 USD to 100 USD. Please give me some recommendations!

thanks for your help!
 
P

PC eye

banned
Which version of Windows are you running XP or Vista? The auto updater seen during the installation on either Creative model there along with the latest July 2007 update and optional updates at the Microsoft update site will download Vista drivers even for XP.

The difference in the two models is simply the software. The Gamer has three different modes being Gaming, Entertainment, and Creativity while the X.Audio seems to have one for XP with the sound mixer(Creativity) and the Entertainment seen in Vista(Volume, bass, and tremble controls). On a new build here I ran both on both versions of Windows
 
D

DirtyD86

banned
if you have vista i would stay away from any xfi product by creative... they are pathetic at releasing drivers. buying the fatality card was the biggest waste of money i have ever made
 
M

MrFobber

New Member
ic, thanks for all the feedbacks! I'm running on XP so hopefully I wont run into any problems. Anymore suggestions/ recommendations would be greatly appreciated! I still haven't make up my mind yet.

once again Thanks!
 
P

PC eye

banned
I'm currently running the Xtreme Gamer following the X.Audio model on both XP and Vista here. Once the drivers go on correctly in XP and the software portion is running good you do hear some excellent sound in games as well as multimedia.

It's that one item namely the auto updater that will see Vista drivers downloaded during the initial installation of the software(you can halt the updater there), the MS update site when using the custom option for optional hardware/software updates, and the July 2007 update seen at the Creative support site when selecting XP as the OS.

Since the driver situation has been corrected some great sound has been heard when running games like Fear, Prey, Half Life 2, and even some that are 5-6yrs. old now. The results here were on both XP and Vista alike.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
PC eye said:
The difference in the two models is simply the software.
Click to expand...

PC eye there not the same other than software, the gamer has full hardware acceleration and the audio does not and the gamer has better signal-to-noise ratio than the audio, really the audio is not a X-Fi but a beefed up Audigy SE
 
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PC eye

banned
I have to go by actual installed on system results when making that comparison since I've already seen how both perform on multmedia, gaming, and other things here. This includes results seen on both XP and Vista alike.
 
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PC eye

banned
Now where's the new model that sees a line in jack not just the mic input? Do you need the Platinum Fatality for that with the 5 1/4" panel?
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
What dont you understand? the Xtreme Gamer and Xtreme Audio is not the same card. The Xtreme audio does not have hardware acceleration, does not have 2mb of memory, they dont even have the same chip. The Gamer has a CA20K1 and the Audio has a CA0106. The Xtreme Audio is just a beefed up Audigy SE

The entry-level model of the X-Fi series, the Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio, does not actually have the EMU20K1 chip but is a re-branded Audigy SE, using the same family of chips (CA0106-WBTLF), and even the same drivers. Thus, not only is all of the X-Fi–related processing performed in software, but it also lacks basic hardware acceleration just the like SB Live! 24 bit, the Audigy SE and other budget Soundblaster models. The X-Fi Xtreme Audio does not use the same drivers as the rest of the X-Fi family, some games do not recognize it as being "X-Fi capable hardware", and the device's hardware profile resembles that of older Live! and Audigy cards. Furthermore, users have reported that it slows down some applications and games
 
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P

PC eye

banned
PC eye said:
Which version of Windows are you running XP or Vista? The auto updater seen during the installation on either Creative model there along with the latest July 2007 update and optional updates at the Microsoft update site will download Vista drivers even for XP.

The difference in the two models is simply the software. The Gamer has three different modes being Gaming, Entertainment, and Creativity while the X.Audio seems to have one for XP with the sound mixer(Creativity) and the Entertainment seen in Vista(Volume, bass, and tremble controls). On a new build here I ran both on both versions of Windows
Click to expand...

StrangleHold said:
What dont you understand?
Click to expand...

You missed the point I was making altogether there. Both cards look identical and the X-FI models lack the line in jack commonly seen on the older lineup of cards. The problems seen with both models is software related mainly due to the way Creative has their support site seeing a Vista update when selecting XP as the OS.
 
P

PC eye

banned
There's also the Xtreme Music model which is the go between the other two. The Fatality line like Fatality Platinum series is the real high end costly models with the 5 1/4" front panel as well as the card itself.

The smal 4pin socket on the top of all the other three models named is for that option. That allows the front panel for patching input and output sources there instead of directly into the card itself.
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
The Xtreme Music was replaced by the Xtreme Gamer but I guess you could still get them but the gamer would be a better choice.
 
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M

MrFobber

New Member
alright, thank you two so very much for the help. I just placed an order on xtreme gamer at newegg. im getting it for 93 dollars with a 30 dollar rebate... is that a good deal?
 
Hsv_Man

Hsv_Man

New Member
I have found the Creative Soundblaster 5.1 to be a great sound card for movies, music and games i picked one up for $50 at a nearby computer shop.
 
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