• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Sound Blaster X-Fi Worth it?

A

Ange062

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
2,088
Ive been using the onboard audio of my DFI SLI-DR for a while, and it hasnt really started to bother me until lately. Ive been playing BF2 pretty heavily, and i have noticed that sounds that should be there often arent, and that certain things just sound funny, like certain channels are missing (for example, sometimes i only hear the bang sound of the DAO-12 shotgun and not the clanging recoil sound).

So my question is, is spending $110 on a base model X-Fi worth it? Will it fix the problems that im encoutnering?

And on that note, is it worth spending another $170 on top of that to get the FPS edition with the x-ram that i have been reading about? $280 for a sound card sounds rediculous to me, i can hardly justify spending the $110 on the base model. But if its truly worth it, then i guess i have to have it because im [H] ;)
 
I would say yes; however, I did not use the karajan audio module on my DFI board, just installed the x-fi from the beginning. Nearly anything is going to be better than onboard audio. The X-fi xtrememusic was recently onsale for 98 no rebates in the hot deals forum.
 
Most people on this board will say that the xram is a gimmick mostly. It can be used with a few of todays games, but not many atm. It may or may not be used alot down the road, but i doubt myself that it will be that great an increase over a lower x-fi setup.
As for the x-fi, i had an audigy 2zs, and the x-fi sounds alot better now than the audigy did. I got the platinum and with headphones, so it sounds really good at least to me. Hearing sounds in game that i didn't know were there is a plus in my book, but your mileage may vary...
In conclusion, from onboard sound, i'd say there should be a definite improvement, but i'd go with whatever your budget can afford. The platinum is basically the same thing as the fatality, except for the ram added so that may be a better choice. I'd wait for a few other comments just to hear the general opinion tho.
Hope it helps you a little.....
 
AFAIK, the Platinum only adds the front box breakout and the Fatality is the first with the X-Ram or whatever it is.
 
Ange062 said:
Ive been using the onboard audio of my DFI SLI-DR for a while, and it hasnt really started to bother me until lately. Ive been playing BF2 pretty heavily, and i have noticed that sounds that should be there often arent, and that certain things just sound funny, like certain channels are missing (for example, sometimes i only hear the bang sound of the DAO-12 shotgun and not the clanging recoil sound).

So my question is, is spending $110 on a base model X-Fi worth it? Will it fix the problems that im encoutnering?

And on that note, is it worth spending another $170 on top of that to get the FPS edition with the x-ram that i have been reading about? $280 for a sound card sounds rediculous to me, i can hardly justify spending the $110 on the base model. But if its truly worth it, then i guess i have to have it because im [H] ;)
Click to expand...

Basically short answer yes, the upgrade will be worth it.

The X-RAM debate is currently going on as we speak-> http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=998906

Short answer for X-RAM, if you play BF2 or Quake 4 using headphones and you are extremely CPU limited, there apparently will be a difference. But other than that, there is no point to it.
 
Moofasa~ said:
Basically short answer yes, the upgrade will be worth it.

The X-RAM debate is currently going on as we speak-> http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=998906

Short answer for X-RAM, if you play BF2 or Quake 4 using headphones and you are extremely CPU limited, there apparently will be a difference. But other than that, there is no point to it.
Click to expand...


Im running with all settings maxed out on my system, highest resolution my monitor can support with 4xSSAA and all the other goodies enabled and my frame rates are still great. So i think from a performance perspective, i dont have much to gain as my system is more then adequate to handle the cpu load caused by the audio. Im just looking for better quality sound with less loss of channels.

I cant talk myself into getting the fatality (the cheapest x-ram model) because that is WAAAAAAY too much to spend on a damn sound card. Im going to order up the base model ASAP.

More input is much appreciated though.
 
The price/performance isn't there to justify X-ram yet...good choice IMHO ;).
 
Ange062 said:
Im running with all settings maxed out on my system, highest resolution my monitor can support with 4xSSAA and all the other goodies enabled and my frame rates are still great. So i think from a performance perspective, i dont have much to gain as my system is more then adequate to handle the cpu load caused by the audio. Im just looking for better quality sound with less loss of channels.

I cant talk myself into getting the fatality (the cheapest x-ram model) because that is WAAAAAAY too much to spend on a damn sound card. Im going to order up the base model ASAP.

More input is much appreciated though.
Click to expand...

Well of course, performance may not be an issue for you, but you will be able to use higher quality sound engines for games (games that support EAX HD, which is practically every new game). Also the sound quality in general will be greatly improved since on-board uses crappy DACS and opamps.

I totally agree, unless if you need extra inputs/outputs, get the XtremeMusic. X-RAM is pointless, and if you are not interested in high quality sound, the Elite Pro is worthless too.
 
WOW, it was definitely worth it. Everything sounds better, from the elimination of an annoying static sound when doing nothing at all, to better and richer sounding music, so being able to hear every what sounds like every sound on an entire BF2 map.

This card is incredible, and well worth the money. For any of those of you out there that arent satisfied with your onboard or oldschool sound cards, get teh cheap X-Fi for $113 and you WONT be disappointed.
 
Ange062 said:
WOW, it was definitely worth it. Everything sounds better, from the elimination of an annoying static sound when doing nothing at all, to better and richer sounding music, so being able to hear every what sounds like every sound on an entire BF2 map.

This card is incredible, and well worth the money. For any of those of you out there that arent satisfied with your onboard or oldschool sound cards, get teh cheap X-Fi for $113 and you WONT be disappointed.
Click to expand...

Maybe I will one of these days :D. Glad to hear your happy with your purchase ;).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top