Need Help on Ebaying an Augidy 2

[SentToSchool]

I have 2 deals going on:
$24.99 for Refurbished Audigy 2 5.1 Card(says 6.1 in description ):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWN:IT&viewitem=&item=170054822177&rd=1&rd=1
$35 for Refurbished Audigy 2 ZS 7.1:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...E:B:BOC:US:1&viewitem=&item=170056728973&rd=1

Which one should I take? I only have a 5.1 system and I heard the difference between the 2 is minimal.

Also, are refurbished items like these reliable?

 

[Mister X]

Yes they are reliable....
Aside from the obvious hardware difference and the fact that the ZS card has a bundled software equalizer (there is a software hack to add it to the Audigy2) the two card perform similarly

 

[SentToSchool]

I mainly listen to music and I game but not close to being hardcore. Would the ZS make the $10 difference worth it?

Also, is there even an Audigy 2 with 5.1? I thought there are only 6.1 and 7.1 cards?

 

[JaYp146]

I mainly listen to music and I game but not close to being hardcore. Would the ZS make the $10 difference worth it?

Also, is there even an Audigy 2 with 5.1? I thought there are only 6.1 and 7.1 cards?

All Audigy series cards are 5.1 compatible.

 

[Mister X]

Yes, they are both 2.1, 4.1, and 5.1 cards.

You simply select the speaker configuration with the software.

 

[SentToSchool]

I understand that they all support 5.1 but it says 5.1 in the title but 6.1 in the description. Did they mess up?

 

[JaYp146]

http://www.techspot.com/reviews/hardware/audigy2/boxx.gif
Audigy 2 is capable of 6.1 ^

 

[HSE]

Hardware-wise both are almost the same if you don't plan to upgrade to 7.1, but the ZS series have also a built in DTS-ES decoder and the vanilla is only DD EX. I can't recall but I think the ZS drivers hack doesn't make that work on the vanilla. Would that be an important feature to you?