X-Fi XtremeGamer or something better?

So, should I go with Creative Xtreme Gamer

  • Yes!

    Votes: 11 52.4%
  • No way!

    Votes: 10 47.6%

  • Total voters
    21

gamersbd

n00b
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
35
I need to choose a sound card. I primarily play games (have a 5.1 surround sound speaker) and listen to music. Plus, I occassionally record stuff over microphone/line-in. My current card is Sound Blaster Live 5.1 and I was considering switching over to Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer. Is it a good option or is there something better?

I also heard that the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer has problems with the flexi jack thing. Is it true? Have anyone experienced it? I plan to connect my speakers via digital coaxial audio cable.

Thanks in advance!

More Info: I use Vista Ultimate with SP1 (32-bit x86)
 
XtremeGamer is definitely the most cost efficient card for a mainly gaming focused person :) I like mine. But in light of a recent review I saw, I'm not so convinced it's worth it to deal with Creative's drivers. CPU's have become substantially more powerful, games have become largely GPU limited, having the CPU process audio isn't as bad as it used to be. See review below:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500/4

There is some benefit to having a solid Creative card though:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500/5

If you had the ALC889 on your motherboard, which the very popular Gigabyte DS3R's do, I'd very seriously consider staying with onboard audio for the first time in a long time.

I haven't had any issues with the Flexi jack stuff, I only use standard analog 2 channel plugs.

I use the XtremeGamer in Vista SP1 64bit without any glaring issue.

Maybe take a close look at the ASUS Xonar DX in that review I linekd above, could be a very good card for you... though more expensive than the XtremeGamer.
 
If you can afford it, I would say a Auzen XFI Prelude over the X-FI Gamer. But if you cant then you can grab either the X-FI Extreme gamer, or the asus Xonar Dx. Also the Xtreme Extreme music in my other computer is also working fine with Vista 64bit SP1.
 
Prelude all the way.

How often do you buy a soundcard?
Its one of the most important parts of your multimedia system and outlasts every other component so you might as well get the best if you can stretch to it.
The sound quality difference is very noticeable, my most recommended upgrade for any multimedia machine.
It really sparkles with games too, extremely precise positional audio cues.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. In the end, I've decided for the Prelude, largely due to that it's based on Creative's chip (I'm biased towards Creative) and because it has A PCI interface. I plan to run two HD 3870 X2's in CrossFire so all my PCI e slots will be covered.

I use Gigabyte's EP35-DS4 mobo and the onboard audio is good, but not the best.
 
Just blatantly ignore my previous post. The HD 3870 X2's leave (fortunately) a PCIe slot free! Plus, there is really no need for EAX in Vista
 
EAX still can be done in openal. and then for Direct sound hal games. alchemy convert them to openal. so you still getting your eax in those games. Besides openal games.

Because openal isnt effected. only the games which uses the direct sound hal, that isnt in vista.
 
great choice, I went from a one year old X-fi Xtremegamer to a Prelude 7.1 and the difference was huge. I had doubts at first but when i first heard the prelude, it was in its own league. The sound basically went from stereo 5.1 to surround 5.1!
 
The XtremeGamer is one of the best budget sound cards.

Geeks.com has an OEM version for less than $40.
 
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