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X-Fi differences

T

Tobuk

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 6, 2005
Messages
130
okay, i'm looking to buy a soundcard, as the on-board sound on my new A8N-SLI is rather crackly in BF2. it doesn't do that in any other application or game, but anyway. i've wanted a soundcard for a while, so i was wondering, is it worth getting the Fatal1ty X-Fi with the 64Mb of RAM? or would the normal platinum edition work fine? i do want the front panel audio, so i don't want the XtremeMusic edition. i was just wondering if the added 64Mb of RAM on the soundcard will help now, or if it will be worth it in the long run. Thanks in advance!
 
Tobuk said:
okay, i'm looking to buy a soundcard, as the on-board sound on my new A8N-SLI is rather crackly in BF2. it doesn't do that in any other application or game, but anyway. i've wanted a soundcard for a while, so i was wondering, is it worth getting the Fatal1ty X-Fi with the 64Mb of RAM? or would the normal platinum edition work fine? i do want the front panel audio, so i don't want the XtremeMusic edition. i was just wondering if the added 64Mb of RAM on the soundcard will help now, or if it will be worth it in the long run. Thanks in advance!
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Ugh, I started a X-ram topic and it got about 1** some hits. The outcome, just get the xtreme music, by the time x-ram is widely supported newer cards will be out.
 
TheBlueChanell said:
Ugh, I started a X-ram topic and it got about 1** some hits. The outcome, just get the xtreme music, by the time x-ram is widely supported newer cards will be out.
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I agree with this completely. X-ram will not be worth it for a while. Just get the regular one with the front panel to suit your needs. No reason to break the bank for something that will hardly be utilized in this generation of cards
 
i suppose. if anyone is sold on the Fatal1ty version though, please say so and why, :D for now i'll just plan on the platinum.
 
Only thing I can say is that I'd feel bad down the road if I didn't get the Fatal1ty if the extra ram turns out to be usefull. But since I got the Fatal1ty pre-order price, that made the decision easy. :) If I didn't get the discount...not sure which X-fi I'd get. I don't NEED the 5" bay, but it's very handy to plug my headphones into. shrug.
 
Now what Will I get over my Audigy 2 with the X-fi? Does it take any more load off of the CPU?
 
TheBluePill said:
Now what Will I get over my Audigy 2 with the X-fi? Does it take any more load off of the CPU?
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People have been saying that the audio quality of the X-Fi is much better than the aud 2. Especially if you use headphones.
 
For music skip the Audigys and go straight to the Emu line. Emu 0404 runs about $80 and is better than any audigy at music.
 
Very happy with my X-Fi after using it for about 5 hours last night. I am glad I made the upgrade.
 
Teecee said:
Very happy with my X-Fi after using it for about 5 hours last night. I am glad I made the upgrade.
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What did you replace? Do you see the difference in music or games, or both?
 
Does the X-Fi still fall prey to the known Creative Labs - Via Chipset problems? I'm currently using an Audigy 1 on a K8T800 Pro board and I've still got crackliness going on from time to time. If the X-Fi would get rid of that, I'd seriously consider upgrading to it.
 
I'm using an A8V Deluxe right now, which is a via-based 939 mobo, and the X-Fi has worked splendedly thus far, even in BF2.

 
Davenow said:
What did you replace? Do you see the difference in music or games, or both?
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I had an Aud 2 in one PC and a turtle beach catalina in another PC. I replaced the Aud 2. Games, I havent played anything but WoW yet so couldn't tell a huge difference and 90% of the time I play with the WoW sound off. What I could tell a huge difference in was the music. Didnt matter if it was a mp3 or internet radio, both sounded amazing. I can't put my finger on what makes the audio much better but it does. I cannot wait until I get my HD595's on Monday.

I am having a PSU prob which is the reason I havent tried any other games with it. My new OCZ 600W powerstream comes in on Monday or Tuesday, although I am tempted to send it back and buy the PC Power and Cooling 850W.
 
Teecee said:
I am having a PSU prob which is the reason I havent tried any other games with it. My new OCZ 600W powerstream comes in on Monday or Tuesday, although I am tempted to send it back and buy the PC Power and Cooling 850W.
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Not to thread jack, but why in the hell would you need to spend that much money on a PSU, especially what in the hell are you powering that requires you to hve 850Watts. What do you have a scsi controller, and a device on every ID possible? Since I know you could max out a SATA contoller and still have plenty of room left over with a 600watt psu
 
UltimaParadox said:
Not to thread jack, but why in the hell would you need to spend that much money on a PSU, especially what in the hell are you powering that requires you to hve 850Watts. What do you have a scsi controller, and a device on every ID possible? Since I know you could max out a SATA contoller and still have plenty of room left over with a 600watt psu
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Just to try it out. I would not buy it do to need. Just like I dont NEED three Dell 24" LCDs. Heck, maybe next year we can do quad SLI:)
 
Teecee said:
Just to try it out. I would not buy it do to need. Just like I dont NEED three Dell 24" LCDs. Heck, maybe next year we can do quad SLI:)
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well...yeah, but at least you can use the full functionality of your LCD's. Why buy a PSU with an overkill amount of wattage for your system if its going to go unused? Just to say you have one?
 
riggs58 said:
well...yeah, but at least you can use the full functionality of your LCD's. Why buy a PSU with an overkill amount of wattage for your system if its going to go unused? Just to say you have one?
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Well, I do have two 7800GTX. 6 Nexus 120mm case fans. Water pump. Better to have more than not enough I suppose. I have never heard anything negative about them either. Gonna see how this OCZ Powerstream 600w works out. Hopefully it fixes my issue and I wont need to buy a new one.
 
Teecee said:
Just to try it out. I would not buy it do to need. Just like I dont NEED three Dell 24" LCDs. Heck, maybe next year we can do quad SLI:)
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You know 1kW is a lot of power right? Mmmkk.
 
Teecee said:
Well, I do have two 7800GTX. 6 Nexus 120mm case fans. Water pump. Better to have more than not enough I suppose. I have never heard anything negative about them either. Gonna see how this OCZ Powerstream 600w works out. Hopefully it fixes my issue and I wont need to buy a new one.
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Have you tried using the Extreme PSU Calculator?. It might help you decide if a 850W PSU would benefit your setup. With my rig, a PSU of around 500W is recommended. And that's with (9) fans, a fan controller, DVD drive, DVDRW drive, floppy drive, WinTV card, and what's in my sig below
 
I went from DFI Nforce 4 onboard Karajan or whatever to X-Fi Fatal1ty and It's quite an improvement, I gained FPS and sound quality. I was pegging the FPS limiter in BF2 at times last night with with 80-90 average and sometimes 99.99 fps whereas I only got 60 average, 80ish max with onboard. I can hear and see a decent improvement.
 
For those who already are using an X-Fi, which version are you using? I know that Creative has the ExtremeMusic version, a Fatal1ty version, and a few others. However, my local stores are only carrying the ExtremeMusic version.

Any notes on the differences between the various models?
 
Creative actually released a decent sounding card that's good for gaming? I don't believe. Looks like I might have to pick one up when I redo my desktop. Any idea if they'll release a notebook version as well?
 
I think the higher end models (Fatal1ty and above) have higher quality DACs. That I guess would be another reason to invest in one (besides the XRAM).

If you buy one of these, you really should have the best PC speakers you can buy. I would also suggest upgrading all your cabling as well (audio, AC, video, surge suppressor, line conditioner, etc).

I mean, if you have the money for the higher end cards, then I suspect you will want to do this other stuff as well...and you will have the money to blow ;)
 
mike_j_johnson said:
I think the higher end models (Fatal1ty and above) have higher quality DACs. That I guess would be another reason to invest in one (besides the XRAM).
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Only the Elite Pro has the higher quality DACs and breakout box. The only difference between the Fatal1ty and lesser cards is that the Fatal1ty adds 64mb of X-Ram.
 
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