Vista, Sound Card, Drivers, and My Rig

**Acreo Aeneas** · 07-29-2007, 12:21 AM

Okay, I wanted to address these issues for a while and so here I am doing it in a seperate thread so I'm not going off on a tandrem derailing another thread.

One thing of note: I won't be building the system until next summer (around June/July) although I'm just purchasing some minor hardware (case, fans, drives, etc.)

Rig:
Intel C2D E6420 (2.13 GHz w/ 4 MB L2 Cache on LGA775)
eVGA nForce 680i Motherboard (the one with dual gigabit nics)
eVGA 8800GTS (320MB, PCI-E x16)
Kingston DDR2 (667, 2 x 2GB)
HT Omega Striker (7.1, PCI, 24-bit, solid-state caps)
Sony NEC DVD-ROM
Samsung DVD+/-RW DL Lightscribe
Samsung Floppy
Seasonic M12 (500W, SLI, 80-Plus)
Zalman Fan Controller
Antec P180B
Masscool Case Fans (4 x 120mm)

32-bit or 64-bit Vista?
+ Are there problems running 32-bit programs and/or drivers on 64-bit Vista?
+ Does the current sound and video drivers really mess up the functionality and useability of Vista and programs?
+ Does the OEM 32-bit of Home Premium/Ultimate contain the 64-bit version as well for install like the retail version?

E6420 and eVGA nForce 680i (bolded)
+ Are these two compatible? Anyone have these two paired in their system?
+ Any need to update the BIOS? Is the BIOS update as easy as ASUS?
+ Has anyone overclocked using this board? Any issues?

HT Omega Striker (bolded)
+ Anyone using this card?
+ How does it compare with SB X-Fi XtremeGamer (or above)?

Overall Rig
+ Anything I should be concerned about?
+ Suggestions?
+ Comments? Raves? Bashes?

Author's Comments
I might use a QX6700 if it fits my budget next summer. If not, I'll stick with possibly a E6600.

Edit: #1: Added an additional question under OS.

**Acreo Aeneas** · 07-29-2007, 12:31 AM

Ah scratch the first question on 32-bit Vista addressing 4GBs of RAM. I found the answer: it supports up to 4GBs theoretically. As proven with XP, you only get about 3.2GBs or so.

It was apparently a "marketing decision" to place a 4GB upper limit on Vista 32-bit/XP 32-bit: link.

**Hambergler** · 07-29-2007, 03:01 AM

I think everything looks good, I just have a feeling the config may change alot before next summer.

EAX is a big part of my gaming. So I wouldn't use the HT Omega Striker. If you don't use EAX, then I guess give it a try.

I'm a bit partial to corsair ram for their great tech support.

And I would get a beefier PSU maybe 650, but that's just me.

I back up all my gear with UPS, brownouts, spikes and dips can wreak havoc on those tiny circuits.

**marstein** · 07-29-2007, 03:29 AM

Be careful with Creative sound cards. Read a little in http://forums.creative.com/creativel...board.id=Vista and beware. I'd be interested in how that sound card performs.

**Hambergler** · 07-29-2007, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by marstein

Be careful with Creative sound cards. Read a little in http://forums.creative.com/creativel...board.id=Vista and beware. I'd be interested in how that sound card performs.

Holy Crap, thanx for the heads up. Can't believe I missed this. Those idiots are charging $10 for alchemy for Audigy 2.

**Mosati** · 07-29-2007, 12:37 PM

What's the stock FSB on that CPU?

As to the video card, I think you should strongly consider holding off and getting one of the next-gen DX10 cards.

I have the X-fi Xtreme Music card; it was horrible while I was running Vista Ultimate. I'd assume the Xtreme Gamer would be much the same.

Best advice I can give is to build your PC with the ability to heavily over clock in mind, you will get so much more bang for your buck. One factor that people overlook too often is the PSU and RAM. I would definantly recommend swapping out that PSU with a more powerful one, even if you're going to stick to your current components. As too RAM, I may be slightly biased but I've had the greatest success with OCZ ram. Tight timings, good heat-sinks, and the performance to price ratio is a good one.

A little off topic, but - I recently switched to a slimmed down version of XP after getting tired of bad performance with Vista Ultimate and my lacking a DX10 card. The performance boost was amazing. The ISO is 227MB and has every single unnecessary program and service removed. I'm not recommending you put it on your planned rig, just spreading the word. :P

http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1271841/1452265/ (btw, anyone want an invite to demonoid?)

**=Sarc=** · 07-29-2007, 12:39 PM

The only reason for going X-Fi is to have EAX. It's proprietary since EAX HD came out so no other cards will have this technology. If you like EAX effects, you have to get an X-Fi. Don't even consider the Audigy cards just because they're cheap now. Creative doesn't really support them and, as you can see, Alchemy is $10. Alchemy is free for X-Fi though. It's costs money for Audigy owners because it was never originally planned.

I never wanted a Creative card before but I eventually caved in. It's quite essential for the hardcore gamer. I haven't had serious problems with it but I do get loud static once in a while. Maybe once a week, it'll randomly squeal for 10 seconds. It's the price we pay for EAX. Maybe Vista's new sound architecture is a good thing...

The 4GB limit isn't a marketing decision. It's the 32-bit limit on the OS. 2^32 bytes = 4GB. Instead of hacking in >4GB support, MS has a 64-bit Vista. I'm certain that buying Vista Ultimate entitles the owner to 32 and 64-bit versions. I'm not sure about the other versions.

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html - This is a pretty good explanation of the RAM limit.

I would recommend 32-bit Vista for now. There's quite a bit of support for 64-bit Vista but 64-bit apps are barely used. The only advantage is the larger RAM limit but the disadvantage is dealing with driver problems and incompatible programs.

It's nice to have a list now but I usually don't look at parts until about month before purchase. A year from now, a lot of things can change. The second generation of DX10 cards might be out. We could see really great deals on quad core CPUs. There could be much better support for 64-bit.

**Mosati** · 07-29-2007, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by =Sarc=

It's nice to have a list now but I usually don't look at parts until about month before purchase. A year from now, a lot of things can change. The second generation of DX10 cards might be out. We could see really great deals on quad core CPUs. There could be much better support for 64-bit.

It's unfortunate, the lack of 64-bit support. As it stands there is no reason to use the 64-bit versions because of that. I really hope that changes in the near future.

**Acreo Aeneas** · 07-29-2007, 02:21 PM

Well in that case, I'm thinking about just slimming the RAM down to (3) 1GB modules then, since most don't see anything past 3.2GBs.

As for the PSU, I'll consider a 600W one. I used a benchmark PSU calculator and wattage-wise, that setup will eat approximately 435W (444W CPU OC @ 2.4GHz). The FSB is 1066 MHz (or was it 1033 Mhz?).

As for EAX, no I don't ever use it. I actually hate how the EAX effects ruin the feel of the audio streaming through the speakers/headphones. As for EAX support on the Striker, it supports EAX 2.0.

Finally, I do plan on OC'ing the CPU up to 2.4 GHz at least. 3.0 Ghz if I can push the 6420 that far on stock (has anyone tried it on stock cooling?).

**Zoopy** · 07-29-2007, 02:41 PM

My x-fi and 2142 does not work on the "X-Fi" sound setting. Also with the new drivers my 5.1 is all messed up. But the sound is so much better when it does work.

**rage4order** · 07-29-2007, 03:12 PM

Zoopy, is that with Vista? I was thinking about the x-fi xtreme gamer for my system and I am running vista 32bit, might rethink if I am going to have issues.

**Mosati** · 07-29-2007, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Finally, I do plan on OC'ing the CPU up to 2.4 GHz at least. 3.0 Ghz if I can push the 6420 that far on stock (has anyone tried it on stock cooling?).

The reason I recommend the higher watt PSU was because of the higher power requirements needed when OCing anything. You're going to need to increase the voltage to these components in order for them to run stable. Which in turn means those components will run at a higher temperature.

Stock cooling would probably net you low OC numbers. I use a large heat-sink fan combo by Thermaltake for cooling my CPU with great success.

**Zoopy** · 07-29-2007, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by rage4order

Zoopy, is that with Vista? I was thinking about the x-fi xtreme gamer for my system and I am running vista 32bit, might rethink if I am going to have issues.

Yes, I use Vista Business, and for some reason my sound goes crazy when I get hit by an orbital strike when on the X-fi mode. Not sure if it happens to everyone, but definetly me (I have the X-fi Platinum)

EDIT : There was a new version of ALchemy for X-Fi that was released a while ago, it supports 2142, I'll try it out and get back to you

**Acreo Aeneas** · 07-29-2007, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by Mosatii

The reason I recommend the higher watt PSU was because of the higher power requirements needed when OCing anything. You're going to need to increase the voltage to these components in order for them to run stable. Which in turn means those components will run at a higher temperature.

Stock cooling would probably net you low OC numbers. I use a large heat-sink fan combo by Thermaltake for cooling my CPU with great success.

Ah. The rest of the system with UPS and such already comes in at a hefty $1400 shipped. It's already some $300-400 over budget, so I'm trying to do as much as possible on stock without the expensive, cumbersome, and heavy custom coolers. Does anyone know of a site or if they know how much of a performance boost a OC'd C2D has over stock?

From the research I've done, the HT Striker Omega has Vista beta drivers that work very stable "compared" to the X-Fi ones. The only qualm everyone has had is that the Vista drivers for the Omega disables the SPDIF (Optical) In/Out.

**Mosati** · 07-29-2007, 05:53 PM

If cost is an issue why not look into an AMD CPU? They have always been and still are the king of high performance affordable CPUs.

C2D OCing:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=106321

You could also check out Futuremark and see if you can find benchmarks for systems similar to yours in 3DMark.

God its hard to type with one hand, shoulder reconstruction is not conducive to keyboard usage.

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