My new rig will be completed in about a week and the soundcard I initially planned on using is the X-Fi Platinum (The discontinued model) that I've been using on my old rig. I plan on pairing it with a pair of Senn HD595s. I've been considering stepping up to the newer Auzentech X-Fi Prelude with the higher quality opamps, dacs, and the extra XRAM. I'd like to know if it's generally worth it to upgrade to this card considering I dont plan on using any external DACs or Amps with the Senns.
Also
i) Does the XRAM seem to help at all in any current game or do any upcoming games claim to take advantage of it. I plan on having 8GB of DDR2 system memory so this is pretty much a moot question but it never hurts to ask..... again
ii) Are all of the drivers for this card pretty much identical to the X-Fi ones or are there any extra drivers that seem to seperate this card dramatically from the X-Fi ones.
Also
i) Does the XRAM seem to help at all in any current game or do any upcoming games claim to take advantage of it. I plan on having 8GB of DDR2 system memory so this is pretty much a moot question but it never hurts to ask..... again
ii) Are all of the drivers for this card pretty much identical to the X-Fi ones or are there any extra drivers that seem to seperate this card dramatically from the X-Fi ones.