Vista x64 + X-Fi XtremeGamer or onboard STAC9271D?

[SuperSubZero]

I've been using Creative stuff forever, my current gaming rig has XP64 with the X-Fi XtremeGamer. I have no major complaints about it. Note that my speaker setup is very basic, a simple two-speaker desktop setup that doesn't typically get very loud, I rent a room and I have to keep my volume to a reasonable level.

I'm upgrading this rig today, new CPU, mobo, 8GB RAM, new hard drive, video card.. pretty big deal. I'm also going with Vista Business x64. The mobo is an Intel board with the onboard STAC9271D audio chip.

I keep hearing the X-Fis aren't too friendly with Vista x64, and aren't too friendly with bigger amounts of RAM, along with the loss of hardware acceleration under normal conditions. I am quite ignorant of the specifics and Google doesn't seem to be helping out too much.

Is the X-Fi even worth using in Vista or should I just scrap it and go with the on-board sound? I'm not sure I'm cool with this ALchemy thing, I don't know much about it but I don't want extra agent/TSR type things running all the time. I see the latest beta drivers are trying to fix the big RAM issues but how stable are they? I definitely want stability, I demand it in fact. I play Final Fantasy XI, and it's normal for me to sit in game for days at a time. I expect to start playing other games, probably some stuff with native OpenAL, how is that all working out?

 

[Deleted member 89018]

I personally would just use the onboard audio. Sigmatel's codecs are pretty nice.

Of course, since you already have the X-Fi, if you decide you don't like the onboard audio you can just go back to using that...