Creative X-Fi versus 74GB Raptor?

[setscrew]

I am contemplating upgrading my extisting system and have approximately $160ish to spend (if at all). I currently have a Spinpoint 80GB and a 7200.7 120GB each on a seperate ATA channel (mobo has two unused SATA ports). The sound issue is covered by a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.

Given that the X-Fi and the Raptor are approximately the same, I was wondering which yields the most benefit?

[Boltaction]

Look, this is going to turn into a huge argument but consider that the X-fi is overpriced, and does not carry its price as far as usability goes. Are you really into high quality sound, or only care about gaming? Do you have it hooked up to a home stereo or expensive (over $80) headphones?

The Santa Cruz sound card looks like it was made around 2001, am I right? You probably want to get a better soundcard then. The Chaintech AV-710 is a 7.1, 192khz sound card that is known for its high quality, with one bonus: There is a setting that let's you switch to "high quality" mode, and it disables 7.1 and only enables stereo. This stereo output uses a Digital to Analog converter that is only found in professional audio equipment, and is extremely high quality sound for home use. This will make your Mp3s sound better than some forced re-encoding as done by Creative X-fi crystallizer. In other words, do yourself a favor and get the chaintech.

It only costs $25 on newegg. Can you believe it?

That should leave some money for other things, like oh you know hygiene products, some new clothes, maybe a cheap date too.

[dandragonrage]

Tell us why you're considering each, and what you do with your comp.

[setscrew]

I roam the 'net, watch movies, & game on it.

Gaming is typically FPS (UT2004) and RPG (old school stuff plus ES IV Oblivion when out).

The sound issue came to me as the house I just finished wiring had the surround system installed today and I could not believe the clarity of the amplifier/speakers (thousands) . The tests they were running were crystal with no distortion. Now I realize that my little speakers (Klipsch 4.1) and whatever sound card I end up running cannot compete with a four figure sound system, but I was looking to tweak a little.

The Raptor is vaunted as being the fastest method to speed up your overall system, but I did not know how much time would be gained versus my current disk arrangement.

I do not know. I just get the upgrade fever occasionally and look for weak spots in my gaming box. Perhaps I will just keep what I have for a while longer and donate some more to the Katrina relief.

[cripy]

if thats all you do, get the raptor.

[gotkilled]

if thats all you do, get the raptor.

meh..the raptor may be fast but it has an expensive cost per gig ratio. I would probably go with the Maxtor Diamondmax10 300gb 7200rpm w/ 16megs of cache. 2nd best compared to the raptor. Not to mention that it can be had for only 130ish.

[cripy]

if your board supports SATAII get the maxtor.

[Zamboni]

A second 120GB to RAID-1 your data storage. :)

The sound card would be my last priority, I have four different sound cards in the house, and I can't tell the difference between them. The Turtle Beach still probably has a few years left in it.

[xonik]

meh..the raptor may be fast but it has an expensive cost per gig ratio.Raptors were never intended to compete on a cost-per-capacity basis. Instead, they excel on a performance-per-dollar basis when compared in the big picture (read/write, random access, sustained vs. burst).

[streetkid]

diamondmax 10 / 16mb /ncq and the chaintech

[Tweakin]

Whats the rest of your system like? It sounds to me like you don't really need either. The raptor is nice, but if you ahve a weaker link in the rest of your system it would be far more worth it to upgrade there. The X-fi is not what you are after.

[Eickst]

I plug my computer into a Denon AV Receiver, and from there it goes into my Paradigm Cinema 90 home theater.

On board audio and my Audigy 2 sound almost identical, except it *seems* (this is totally subjective benchmarking here) that the Audigy produces better bass.

[setscrew]

Whats the rest of your system like? It sounds to me like you don't really need either. The raptor is nice, but if you ahve a weaker link in the rest of your system it would be far more worth it to upgrade there. The X-fi is not what you are after.

It is not much, but it is all I have:
ASUS P4P800SE
P4 3.0E with XP90/Panaflow L1A
aforementioned Spinpoint 80GB (boot)
7200.7 120GB (storage, seperate channel)
Enermax 425W.
eVGA 6800GT with VF-700cu
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz into Klipsch 4.1
2 x 1024 Crucial Value RAM
usual opticals
all in Antec 1030 case (semi-modified)
old Dell 19" Trinitron monitor

Thank you for the frank advice. My thoughts after I posted is that being a mid-range system, throwing a Raptor or X-Fi in there may be a waste of funds.

[TechLarry]

I'm not so sure I'd give up that TBSC. That's a damned fine card, and unless you are running games with fancy EAX effects, I'm not sure it's worth the money to replace.

Plus my TBSC NEVER hummed through the sub like this stupid Audigy-2 ZS Plat Pro does.

The only thing worrysome about the TBSC is driver upates. Turtle Beach seems to have tired of driver updates on that one. It's the last really good card they sold, so that's a shame :(

-Larry

I am contemplating upgrading my extisting system and have approximately $160ish to spend (if at all). I currently have a Spinpoint 80GB and a 7200.7 120GB each on a seperate ATA channel (mobo has two unused SATA ports). The sound issue is covered by a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.

Given that the X-Fi and the Raptor are approximately the same, I was wondering which yields the most benefit?