XFi vs Onboard sound

[Burner27]

I am sure this has been beaten to death but I need to bring it up one more time. I am a very casual gamer and by that I mean I rarely have time to play and I play nothing current. I am switching over to an i7 setup because I am not planning on further 'major' upgrades to my system for quite a while. I have an XFi Titanium Fatality card that I am not sure I need anymore, and I have come here to ask for advice.

I know that onboard sound has gotten a lot better over the years and with the i7, there are many cores (HT and physical) so the performance hit should be minimal. I would probably just use the digital out port to pipe sound to my receiver when watching BluRay movies.

Is the XFi necessary in my setup? In my previous system, the XFi worked flawlessly under Vista x64. I may be one of the very few out there that own a creative labs' product who can actually say that!! But I am reading that some are having issues in their current i7 setups. I am going to an Asus P6T motherboard. I know nothing of the ADI sound chip on it.

I also see that most people that have Dual-SLI setups or even Tri-SLI setups are using onboard sound (either because they have no room or just don't see the point either).

I would appreciate some advice on this matter.

 

[lawless2142]

You answered your own question:

* You don't play new games (i.e. low cpu usage anyway)
* You don't care about audio quality (using optical instead)
* You think you're going to need the space.

If you don't want it, sell it.

 

[Trombe]

If you're using digital out, the only reason to use the X-Fi is for its DSP effects, which I'm sure you won't miss if you're not going to play games often. Go ahead and hock it.

 

[Alai]

Also, if you don't have good speakers or headphones, then you don't need good soundcards. Not that the X-Fi Titanium is that good, but it's decent and a bit better than onboard.

 

[Elledan]

Yeah, EAX hardware acceleration of sound effects is about the only thing I can think of unless your card has specific in/outputs you need and the onboard solution doesn't offer.

I have been using onboard sound since my SoundBlaster PCI 128 died, and frankly have never once considered going back to a dedicated soundcard.

 

[hbidad]

you my friend, don't count. You don't know what you have missed over the years

 

[dkjack]

Don't know if this is relevant to you, but with an onboard soundcard you can't record streaming audio.

 

[Burner27]

If you're using digital out, the only reason to use the X-Fi is for its DSP effects, which I'm sure you won't miss if you're not going to play games often. Go ahead and hock it.

Only using Digital out when I play BluRay movies, otherwise I use the regular analog port to my PC speakers.

Also, if you don't have good speakers or headphones, then you don't need good soundcards. Not that the X-Fi Titanium is that good, but it's decent and a bit better than onboard.

I have Klipsch Pro Audio 2.1 speakers

Don't know if this is relevant to you, but with an onboard soundcard you can't record streaming audio.

I have no need to record streaming audio.

You answered your own question:

* You don't play new games (i.e. low cpu usage anyway)
* You don't care about audio quality (using optical instead)
* You think you're going to need the space.

If you don't want it, sell it.

Games = agree
Audio Quality = did I say I didn't care about audio quality?
Space = ? What space? What are you talking about?

 

[Alai]

I have Klipsch Pro Audio 2.1 speakers

These are decent speakers, but they are still subpar imho. Getting a pretty good source would help you out, but I don't consider the X-Fi to be that good. Again, I consider it decent and won't give you a really good audio quality boost. Stick with onboard audio or you can shoot for a higher quality soundcard like the Xonar D2 or the HT Omega Claro. However, for the games that use EAX, X-Fi is a must for the maximum audio experience, imho. It's just I don't play enough EAX games and I don't see too many games in the future using EAX either. Adds extra cost for the game producers that isn't necessary for a strong gaming experience.

Games = agree
Audio Quality = did I say I didn't care about audio quality?
Space = ? What space? What are you talking about?
Your second to last statement in your OP.

Answered some in bold.

 

[Burner27]

Answered some in bold.

My second to last statement was referring to others' setups, not my need for space. As i am only a casual gamer, I will not be going SLI or TriSLI which means space isn't an issue anyways.

I am sorry for not being clear on that.

 

[UnexplodedCow]

I'd guess the onboard won't be horrific. Maybe keep the XFi around and see how the new stuff fairs with the Klipsch setup? But you'll mostly be limited by the speakers. Still, they should provide enough clarity to hear the difference between onboard and XFi. I always say keep the card, and you'll at least have less onboard noise (I've always had problems with mouse movement causing noise in the speakers).