Eroak

Does anyone here use a SB X-fi card? How well does it's 3D effects work? Does it really improve game preformance?

I'm thinking about getting the one with the built-in 64mb RAM

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jonan_

I got an Xfi extreme gamer last week and I can't say that it is any better than the onboard I had before that. If I could get rid of the popping and crackling then maybe I would sound better. It did allow me to turn my EAX on which had previously froze my computer but can't really tell the differance between having EAX on or off though. As far as frame rate goes I did not see a noticable change. So unless you know how to get rid of the annoying popping I would recomend not getting it. If you do know how I would recomend sharing that news with me

DrakinClaw

I have a sound blaster X-fi card, and it is clear and amazing. I have never played the game in just sterio speakers. I have always had it set to 5.1 surround sound, and its SWEET! really helps when you got enemies coming up from behind you. Although my wife always tells me to "turn it down!"
hahah
drakin

Zoopy_T

If going from onboard to the X-Fi, the difference is amazing (unless you are one of the few people who suffer from the popping and crackling thing). Although in 2142 there is a little crackle from orbital strikes.

DrakinClaw

You know, the crackling could be because of your speakers. The X-fi system alters the audio levels in the game to create depth. However if these levels go beyond what your speakers can handle its called "audio clipping"
Drakin

DaddyOfThree

There was a thread somewhere on the net that talked about the popping and cracking from the Creative X-Fi cards (I believe it was an "unofficial" response from Creative on the issues). It essentially pointed the finger at issues with the memory bus. It specifically highlighted improperly configured DDR2 memory. Say you had DDR2 memory enabled in the BIOS but only had a single memory chip. It also indicated that the majority of issues were with AMD motherboards/designs because there were the only ones with DDR2 at the time. I also notice quite a few discussions on how an SLI design might impact the performance of the memory bus (might also create the popping and cracking).

You might try searching the net (Google) and see what you find, there are a lot of hits out there referencing the problem.

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Eroak

What setup do you have computer wise?

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BleedingKnee

I had crackling and popping with the X-Fi and my old mobo. I had to put my audio on medium quality to in order not to get screeching sounds when artillery was coming down.

After upgrading to an Asus AN8SLI with an AMD X2 4800 (same DRAM), everything was perfect sounding. All my settings were maxed out and the difference was incredible. Firing the Pilum is nothing short of amazing.

Mind you, I have a set of high end headphones (Sennheiser HD580). Also note that music sounded just as good on my old mobo as it does on the new one.

I've found that both the old Sound Blaster Live and the new X-Fi (I have the platinum) offer exceptional sound quality, especially when compared to mobo's built in audio. I have not had a mobo what would not let noise out the built in audio (you can hear fans spinning, hard drives working, etc).

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"Even the very wise cannot see all ends" - Gandalf

Gillespie

Make sure that your volume setting on your computer is set at 75% (or lower). Use your speakers to make the sound louder or quieter.

Maxing the volume to 100% with your computer's Volume Control causes all sorts of popping, crackling, and screeching. Just dial it back to 70 - 75% and crank up the volume on your speakers.