Welcome to Tactical Gamer

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 31
Discussion: General Forums / Buy / Sell / Trade - Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99 - Fys.com has the Creative Soundblaster X-Fi for $149.99 - $50 MIR = $99.99 (free shipping)
  1. #1

    Hambergler's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    HTX
    Age
    37
    Posts
    1,708

    Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Fys.com has the Creative Soundblaster X-Fi for $149.99 - $50 MIR = $99.99 (free shipping)
    http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4559427

    Fillable Rebate Form
    http://forums.slickdeals.net/attachm...6&d=1169819088

    Nice

  2.  
  3. #2
    Zid
    Zid is offline

    Zid's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Syracuse, New York, United States
    Age
    23
    Posts
    644

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    why so much for a sound card?... can anyone actually tell the difference between an Audigy 2 and a new X-Fi?

  4.  
  5. #3

    CingularDuality's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas, USA
    Age
    37
    Posts
    18,761

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Quote Originally Posted by Zid View Post
    why so much for a sound card?... can anyone actually tell the difference between an Audigy 2 and a new X-Fi?
    The folks here that have 'em sure say they can. I think the X-Fi removes a LOT of pressure from the CPU.

  6.  

     
  7. #4

    =Sarc='s Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    4,862

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    It comes with a front panel and the card has X-Ram. If you get the X-Fi Gamer, it's a lot cheaper because it doesn't have those extras.
    JO Guides & Tutorials
    Team Element - It's who you game with.

  8.  
  9. #5


    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Sioux Falls, SD
    Posts
    650

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Quote Originally Posted by Zid View Post
    why so much for a sound card?... can anyone actually tell the difference between an Audigy 2 and a new X-Fi?
    I bought the x-fi xtreme gamer at www.mwave for $69 about 1 1/2 weeks ago and I can tell a major difference between it and my old audigy 2. No question in my mind that the sound is much better from the x-fi.

    What's really sweet is that the x-fi has a bass cutoff freq which really cleans up the sound coming from the smaller speakers while thumping up the bass nicely.

  10.  
  11. #6

    TychoCelchuuu's Avatar

    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Age
    22
    Posts
    1,776

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    But keep in mind the Fatal1ty is an overpriced X-Fi, because of all that X-RAM crap that no games actually use. Any other X-Fi is a better buy.
    |TG-Irr|TychoCelchuuu

  12.  

     
  13. #7


    Acreo Aeneas's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    DePaul University (Chicago)
    Age
    26
    Posts
    8,205
    Blog Entries
    19

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    My Audigy LS has bass cutoff frequency as well ...although it did cost me $40 about 3 years ago.

    Last I saw, the XtremeGamer X-Fi also has X-Ram, just not as much as the Fatal1ty.
    Acreo Aeneas
    Content Development Team
    Technology Relations Manager



    Former 9th IHS Member. Long live the mobile infantry!
    Novice Audiophile, Technology Enthusiast

    "Arrrrgh! This waiting for BF3's beta is driving me up a wall!" - Acreo Aeneas

  14.  
  15. #8

    TychoCelchuuu's Avatar

    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Age
    22
    Posts
    1,776

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Yeah, the gamer has like 2 megs or 64 megs or something of X-Ram, and the Fatal1ty has 128. Overkill imho.
    |TG-Irr|TychoCelchuuu

  16.  
  17. #9

    Boot's Avatar

    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Wisconsin, USA
    Posts
    2,030

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    The Fatality version is branded with some dweeb's name on it. The price difference is royalty and branding. I bought the XtremeGamer version for a lot less money. I was settling for this... what I wanted was the XtremeMusic which was out of stock forever and may be discontinued. It appears the only difference though was a Midi port (which would be lost on me).

    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.
    |TG-12th| Boot

  18.  

     
  19. #10

    TychoCelchuuu's Avatar

    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Age
    22
    Posts
    1,776

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Well, no, that's not the only difference; the Fatal1ty has more X-RAM, which basically doesn't help, at least at this point in time. But you're not paying more just for branding.
    |TG-Irr|TychoCelchuuu

  20.  
  21. #11

    WhiskeySix's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    13,482
    Blog Entries
    1

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Quote Originally Posted by CingularDuality View Post
    The folks here that have 'em sure say they can. I think the X-Fi removes a LOT of pressure from the CPU.
    Actually, all the Audigy's pull the sound processing off the CPU, since they all have a DSP on-board. That's what checking the [x] Hardware box does...

    The difference is that the X-Fi cards have a DSP that's more robust (can operate on more sampling-rates) and is a lot more powerful. It has extra horsepower to render effects on more channels, and it can run more advanced algorithms, specifically CMSS-3D.

    I've not heard the difference myself, but this is certainly an interesting offer.

    |TG-12th|WhiskeySix

  22.  
  23. #12

    CingularDuality's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas, USA
    Age
    37
    Posts
    18,761

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Quote Originally Posted by WhiskeySix View Post
    Actually, all the Audigy's pull the sound processing off the CPU, since they all have a DSP on-board. That's what checking the [x] Hardware box does...
    Couldn't you say that about any sound card?

    The difference is that the X-Fi cards have a DSP that's more robust (can operate on more sampling-rates) and is a lot more powerful. It has extra horsepower to render effects on more channels, and it can run more advanced algorithms, specifically CMSS-3D.

    I've not heard the difference myself, but this is certainly an interesting offer.
    So, what does the X-RAM do, then?

  24.  

     
  25. #13

    WhiskeySix's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    13,482
    Blog Entries
    1

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Quote Originally Posted by CingularDuality View Post
    Couldn't you say that about any sound card?
    Absolutely - Just about every sound card available these days will have a DSP on it... the whole 'extra loading for the CPU' thing really isn't an issue these days provided if you're using an external sound card. Back when the earth was cooling, sound cards would only have the ADC's and DACs (digital<-->analog converters) on them.... Today, you generally have that situation on your motherboard. So, if you are using "on board sound" then you're using the CPU to render sound effects and the motherboard for conversion. Likewise, having Software [x] checked will use the CPU for rendering and just use the the sound-card's converters.

    Quote Originally Posted by CingularDuality View Post
    So, what does the X-RAM do, then?
    The short answer: it allows "better" effects. X-RAM is just a marketing name for some additional local RAM they put on the X-fi cards for use during effects processing... (so it isn't bottlenecked by waiting for RAM on the other side of the motherboard)

    The long answer: Most audio effects, especially spatialization/reverberation effects like CMSS, require a "history" of the last few seconds of sound to be available in memory.... for example, a simple reverb ("echo") algorithm works by combining what's playing now (the sound coming directly from the source) with attenuated versions of what was played 'before' (sound that was delayed getting to you because it had go up and bounce off the ceiling first). So at any point in time, you're listening to something like this:
    sample(N) + 0.5*sample(N-5) + 0.25*sample(N-10)
    For a more refined effect, you need to blend more samples, which necessitates a longer 'sound history' to draw from... Pictures here if you're curious about this kind of thing.

    |TG-12th|WhiskeySix

  26.  
  27. #14

    CingularDuality's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas, USA
    Age
    37
    Posts
    18,761

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Ah, makes sense...

    Thanks!

  28.  
  29. #15

    Tonk's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Luck, WI USA
    Age
    25
    Posts
    2,742

    Re: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty $99.99

    Quote Originally Posted by TychoCelchuuu View Post
    Yeah, the gamer has like 2 megs or 64 megs or something of X-Ram, and the Fatal1ty has 128. Overkill imho.
    i remember waaaay back... when i started seeing the specs for games requiring x-mb dedicated graphic ram... i was like LOLOMG... but now.. it is the number that means the most (well.. almost) in a gaming rig...
    i see audio ram.. and im like .. LOLOMG
    powered by Windows 7

    . . . .

  30.  

     

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts


  
 

Back to top