Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

**Zid** · 02-27-2007, 05:50 PM

well are the budget versions of the XFI worth it or not?..

replacing an Audigy 2 ZS Gamer.

Xtreme Audio

and Xtreme Gamer are the ones i'm looking at both look very slim and puny compared to my zs gamer

**Zid** · 02-28-2007, 07:03 AM

i bought an xtreme gamer got it cheap about 50 bucks i hope it's worth it.

**MoreGooder** · 03-25-2007, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by Boot

One word of caution for anyone looking to buy though -- there are some issues with Nvidia 680i boards and especially Asus boards running in SLI. Audio pops, crackles, and what has become known as the Screech of Death are common on these boards when using X-Fi cards. I'm a sufferer. I'm not saying don't buy one; I agree that the in-game sound is better than my Audigy 2. Just do some reading on the Creative forums and maybe your mobo manufacturer's forums first so you go into it with open eyes.

This is THE reason why I haven't purchased a Creative Labs product in about 3 years. EVERY sound card that they produce, every model, every year, every price point has the exact same issues as this one. Just google and you will see an example or 2 or 100 of this mentioned for every card. The simple fact of the matter is that Creative Labs thinks that they don't need to solve this rediculous problem because people will continue to buy faulty product since they have the majority of the market locked up.

Me? I use a Bluegears b-Enspirer. It's fantastic. Auzentech makes other cards with the same Oxygen chippery on it, but for a higher price.

My advice to everyone reading this is to abandon Creative Labs sound cards, period. Well, if you like re-booting your computer while in the midst of a heated battle because of SKREEEEEEEEETCH!!!!!!! that nearly blows your eardrums out, then I suppose you could continue to purchase their junk.

**Hambergler** · 03-25-2007, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by MoreGooder

This is THE reason why I haven't purchased a Creative Labs product in about 3 years. EVERY sound card that they produce, every model, every year, every price point has the exact same issues as this one. Just google and you will see an example or 2 or 100 of this mentioned for every card. The simple fact of the matter is that Creative Labs thinks that they don't need to solve this rediculous problem because people will continue to buy faulty product since they have the majority of the market locked up.

Me? I use a Bluegears b-Enspirer. It's fantastic. Auzentech makes other cards with the same Oxygen chippery on it, but for a higher price.

My advice to everyone reading this is to abandon Creative Labs sound cards, period. Well, if you like re-booting your computer while in the midst of a heated battle because of SKREEEEEEEEETCH!!!!!!! that nearly blows your eardrums out, then I suppose you could continue to purchase their junk.

I still use a audigy 2.
I would love to switch to another maker. The problem is, I love me some EAX.

**Boot** · 03-25-2007, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by MoreGooder

My advice to everyone reading this is to abandon Creative Labs sound cards, period. Well, if you like re-booting your computer while in the midst of a heated battle because of SKREEEEEEEEETCH!!!!!!! that nearly blows your eardrums out, then I suppose you could continue to purchase their junk.

Maybe hardware is hardware, but I wanted to be able to click the BF2 box for "X-Fi". I seem to only be a sucker for soundcard marketing, because I never click those "You're the 999,999th visitor" popups.

So after my $75 soundcard and lots of googling forums, I went out and spent another $50 on a USB hub to get all my peripherals off the mobo USB ports to eliminate the screech of death from 2142. I don't know if it worked, because I haven't played 2142 since, and it's been almost 2 months. But I checked that damn X-Fi box!

**UnDeaD** · 03-25-2007, 01:05 PM

I like onboard sound, and with a cpu as fast as a core2duo, I don't even care. I still run max settings in BF2 with 4x aa, and still getting 99 or more frames.

**CingularDuality** · 03-25-2007, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by UnDeaD77

I like onboard sound, and with a cpu as fast as a core2duo, I don't even care. I still run max settings in BF2 with 4x aa, and still getting 99 or more frames.

And it still sounds like crap...

**MoreGooder** · 03-25-2007, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Boot

Maybe hardware is hardware, but I wanted to be able to click the BF2 box for "X-Fi". I seem to only be a sucker for soundcard marketing, because I never click those "You're the 999,999th visitor" popups.

So after my $75 soundcard and lots of googling forums, I went out and spent another $50 on a USB hub to get all my peripherals off the mobo USB ports to eliminate the screech of death from 2142. I don't know if it worked, because I haven't played 2142 since, and it's been almost 2 months. But I checked that damn X-Fi box!

Yeah, I've seen all sorts of hocus-pocus recommended for eliminating this issue. The best and most reliable method is to simply sell the card on e-bay and let someone else deal with it.

**UnDeaD** · 03-25-2007, 03:55 PM

My sound is great to me, I think people may be a little picky.

**CingularDuality** · 03-25-2007, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by UnDeaD77

My sound is great to me, I think people may be a little picky.

I know I'm picky. I've got some low frequency hearing loss, but other than that, I guess I have fairly distinguishing hearing. I can't stand listening to crappy audio equipment.

Right now, most of my gaming is through a pair of Plantronics 500 headphones which is decent. Hundreds of times better than onboard, but only half as good as a decent sound card.

So, are there other good sound cards? Sure. Turtle Beach has made a few good ones. I've never heard of any other companies making anything worth writing home about. Creative is still really where it's at for sound.

**MoreGooder** · 03-25-2007, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

So, are there other good sound cards? Sure. Turtle Beach has made a few good ones. I've never heard of any other companies making anything worth writing home about. Creative is still really where it's at for sound.

And so it goes.... Creative Labs wins all business for the casual gamer from now and evermore, endlessly putting out junk for the masses, overpriced, poorly supported and faulty.

You might be lucky. Perhaps you have a good card. Hold onto it for dear life. Never upgrade your computer or its drivers, or install anything that might possibly somehow magically interfere with the creative labs drivers.

Best of luck.

**CingularDuality** · 03-25-2007, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by MoreGooder

And so it goes.... Creative Labs wins all business for the casual gamer from now and evermore, endlessly putting out junk for the masses, overpriced, poorly supported and faulty.

You might be lucky. Perhaps you have a good card. Hold onto it for dear life. Never upgrade your computer or its drivers, or install anything that might possibly somehow magically interfere with the creative labs drivers.

Best of luck.

I guess I've been lucky for the past decade, too. I'm not sure if you were gaming 13 years ago, but Creative practically created the PC sound standard. They had no competition for years. Everything was advertised as being "SoundBlaster compatible". Well, now third parties don't seem to compare about compatibility anymore. More and more people are settling for onboard sound when they purchase their budget PC, so motherboard manufacturers aren't paying as much attention to the high end sound card market. That's simply not where the numbers are...

**sc1ence** · 03-26-2007, 11:08 PM

I bought a x-fi gamer fatal1ty the other day and installed it in an nforce 4mobo. i hear some minor clicks during arty strikes, but nothing else that is wrong. i bearly notice the clicks. music is a new experience as is the entire game. it just sounds amazing. i was playing with the realtex 97 on board sound. for me, it is a world of difference. i did not realize how awsome the game could sound with all that ear candy. my mic is also now considerably better sounding without all the background noise. this makes it ideal for fraps recordings with voip. overall I am satisfied. I did read up on the snap crackle pop issue, which creative officialy announced is due to nforce 4 having and out of spec pci bus. but when you wife says, go to compusa and buy a nice soundard. dont spend more than 150. you bet your ass im coming home with a 149 dolar sound card...

**Hambergler** · 03-27-2007, 06:17 AM

Sound is so important to me. I got a receiver with DVD-Audio capability. DVD-Audio uses separate inputs for each of the 5 speakers. So I wired each speaker separately to the 600 watt receiver from my audigy 2, and I have it hooked up to high end speakers. I crank it up so loud sometimes, my windows shake and I think their going to shatter during an arty strike. Being able to get good quality sound reproduction with surround sound adds a tremendous amount to the immersion factor. Onboard sound is like living in a cloudy place all of your life and never seeing the sun. I really want the x-fi, I'm just waiting for the skreech problem to be fixed. I know I may have to wait till the next generation of cards to come out.

**=Sarc=** · 03-28-2007, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by UnDeaD77

My sound is great to me, I think people may be a little picky.

Have you done a comparison with any other sound card? When I got my new PC, I decided to try the Realtek onboard 5.1 compared to my Hercules Game Theater XP. The onboard sound is tinny and doesn't seem to have the oompf that my Game Theater has.

I did upgrade to a X-Fi and compared to my Game Theater, the X-Fi has clearer sound. I used to have a buzzing sound if nothing was playing. It wasn't loud but with the X-Fi there is no buzz. It could be that the Game Theater is 6 years old and the contacts/wiring could be causing some interference.

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