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X-Fi gobbling up CPU cycles

M

MentatYP

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 15, 2005
Messages
497
I don't really know if that's what's happening, but when I put a new X-Fi card (the basic, low-profile version) into my system it dropped performance of games anywhere from 10-20% compared to onboard audio depending on the game, and 3DMark06 wouldn't run at all (screen goes blank then it reboots). Did I get a bum X-Fi card? I looked at the resources the card was using, and it didn't look like it was conflicting with anything.
 
I'm not too sure if the low profile versions are hardware accellerated or not, but it sounds more like a bad card or a system resource issue. Try it in different PCI slots or remove some USB or ATA devices as well, this will tell you where the problem is.

Turn off/disable unused devices in BIOS (such as serial ports and parallel ports). If need be, you may have to manually assign PCI IRQ resources in bios as well.
 
Thanks for the tips. I found out that I accidentally exaggerated the numbers in my original post. I was installing this card on a new mobo keeping the same other components from my other system, so I foolishly assumed performance should be about the same as my previous mobo. So I looked at the numbers again using the new mobo with an old Sound Blaster Live! as a baseline measurement, and compared to that the framerate with the new X-Fi is around 10% less, give or take. Same difference when compared to the mobo's onboard sound. I tried moving the X-Fi to a different slot but it made no difference; tried new drivers and no improvement.

This isn't a huge difference, so I'm wondering if everybody with an X-Fi experiences this but doesn't notice or doesn't care? It doesn't matter for most games, but when I'm only getting around 40 fps in Oblivion for example, another 6-7 fps off of that can mean the difference between somewhat smooth and somewhat choppy. Can anybody confirm/deny conclusively whether they encounter this behavior with their X-Fi cards compared to onboard sound or older sound cards? The performance drop is worrying enough, but the fact that I can't run 3DMark06 at all when the X-Fi is enabled makes me think I might have a bum card or that the mobo just doesn't like it (I have an Asus A8R32-MVP btw, and I haven't heard of incompatibilities between X-Fi and ATI chipsets).

Should I maybe try the X-Fi XtremeMusic? I'm currently wrestling with the XtremeAudio version--the cheapest one.
 
I've heard the low end version is software, not hardware acceleration.
 
MrFace said:
I've heard the low end version is software, not hardware acceleration.
Click to expand...

Only 2 people have responded so far, and both of you have mentioned this. 100% is pretty strong, so I did some searching and found this thread on Creative's forums, which seems to agree. The problem is, they mention that the Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit is the same way, but my Sound Blaster Live! Value (which surely isn't better than the 24-bit) doesn't slow down my system and neither does the mobo's onboard sound. My point is, the lack of hardware acceleration seems to be a trait shared by all 3 solutions I tried--X-Fi XtremeAudio, Sound Blaster Live! Value, and Realtek onboard audio--yet only the X-Fi XtremeAudio causes any performance hit. What gives?
 
which games?

difference may be the version of EAX you are running in the game..

if you add on the EAX4/5 with the Xfi and it is done in software, you will indeed take more of a performance hit with the Xfi vs the Live
 
Doom3, COD2, and Oblivion to varying degrees, with Oblivion seeing the worst hit (about a 15% frame rate drop). Regardless of what the problem is, this card is definitely going back. I'm still curious to find out exactly what the deal is. The extra X-Fi processing burden on the CPU because of lack of hardware audio acceleration makes sense though as a very probably cause for the performance drop. I've confirmed from Creative's own knowledge base that the X-Fi XtremeAudio does NOT have hardware acceleration. Live and learn :rolleyes:
 
This is interesting information. I was debating getting the gamer x-fi to replace my aging Audigy 1. Now that I know the smaller, cheaper x-fi's are software based, I won't bother.

Very sneaky how the lack of hardware acceleration isn't mentioned anywhere. They just don't mention the hardware acceleration at all.
 
The specifications in Creative's knowledge base says that the low-profile XtremeGamer is hardware accelerated, but the XtremeAudio is not. I would say that they were being sneaky with their naming scheme and specifications, but that's giving Creative way too much credit.
 
I don't see how it could stop 3DMark from running because 3DMark doesn't even use sound.
 
That's what I thought too. But 3DMark06 installs OpenAL, so it must have the ability to use sound. Maybe the full/registered version? Anyway, what would happen was 3DMark06 would still be scanning my configuration, then I would hear a pop from my speakers, and the screen would go blank and the computer would reboot. I'm not saying that this will happen to all X-Fi XtremeAudio users, but 3DMark06 sure enough didn't like mine.
 
This may not help at all, but I used to have a SB Live! that would sometimes eat up CPU cycles. See if you have a running process called "cthelper.exe." Ending that always worked for me and never did any harm :)
 
SuperSubZero said:
This is interesting information. I was debating getting the gamer x-fi to replace my aging Audigy 1. Now that I know the smaller, cheaper x-fi's are software based, I won't bother.

Very sneaky how the lack of hardware acceleration isn't mentioned anywhere. They just don't mention the hardware acceleration at all.
Click to expand...

That should be the cheaper X-Fi singular and not plural since it is the only one, the X-Fi Xtreme Audio. IMHO, Creative should be jumped, slapped and trashed out for sticking the X-Fi name on this POS. No use trying to sugarcoat it, this is sleaziness at its best, slip this one model in there and hope folks don't notice. Its DACs are no better than Audigy 2 ZS and even it does HW EAX4 acceleration, sheesh! Their lame assed excuse will be something like, well, it's meant for Music. So where's the better DACs then?

As Geeks we should call them out on BS like this, any of them and not just Creative. Creative you suck when you do stuff like this :rolleyes: Man, talk about loosing hard earned respect:p
 
H-street said:
which games?

difference may be the version of EAX you are running in the game..

if you add on the EAX4/5 with the Xfi and it is done in software, you will indeed take more of a performance hit with the Xfi vs the Live
Click to expand...

Yes because the Live has no means of Hardware or software support for anything above EAX2. I can't find any real info on the Fake X-Fi XA. Like the amount of transistors and etc..... The Gamer is nothing more than an Xtreme Music minus the support for the I/O console and X-RAM. It otherwise as the same spec as the 3 other X-Fis. It has already replaced the Xtreme Music that's nothing more than a Platinum without the I/O Console and wiring for it.

Right and I went looked again and the SN ratio now shows 108db when it showed 106db the other day.
 
I see the Pro version of 3DMark tests 3D sound. I didn't know that. Maybe your X-Fi is conflicting with a memory address space used by your video card. Uninstall the drivers, move it to another PCI slot and install them again. Just a guess.
 
Gatticus said:
I see the Pro version of 3DMark tests 3D sound. I didn't know that. Maybe your X-Fi is conflicting with a memory address space used by your video card. Uninstall the drivers, move it to another PCI slot and install them again. Just a guess.
Click to expand...
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, but no luck. I'm not putting any more time into troubleshooting a POS that's going back to the store anyway. I think I'll stick with my Sound Blaster Live! Value; I only have 2.1 speakers so I don't exactly need the surround capabilities.

What does EAX do, anyway? Is it really that big a deal?
 
MentatYP said:
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, but no luck. I'm not putting any more time into troubleshooting a POS that's going back to the store anyway. I think I'll stick with my Sound Blaster Live! Value; I only have 2.1 speakers so I don't exactly need the surround capabilities.

What does EAX do, anyway? Is it really that big a deal?
Click to expand...

I agree, but don't based your experience off of that POS! Even finding an Audigy 2 ZS at the Creative EBay store would be a better move. I must say though if Creative looses customers, its their own damned fault.

You cutting yourself short or missing out on some great sounds. Audigy 2 ZS and X-Fi Gamer-Xtreme Music can do 2.1 CMSS 3D similar to CMSS-3D Headphones. Yes it rocks and that's why the Xtreme Audio Crap is so stupid on Creative's part.

EAX adds realism to positional audio. Pat them on the back when they do good but also trash them when they don't!
 
I don't think the xfi xtreme gamer is software based

since it says right on the box 15% performance improvement over onboard audio
i think the other one is softwaer based
because the xtreme gamer and xtrememusic is the same price
while the xfi xtreme audio is like 30 dollars cheaper !
 
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