SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS card

[Darren S]

Looks to be the next upgrade on my PC. It may also have something to do with the fact that I'll be able to select 'Ultra High' in audio settings for Battlefield 2 now.

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=14000

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/x-fi/technology/battlefield2/

About time the old onboard audio codecs got replaced....

D.

 

[wozzaa]

Wanting one of these myself but havnt got the spare cash. BUt my audigy 2zs isnt exactly a bad card.

 

[Darren S]

It was really the only option available to me to improve the spec & performance on my PC. I'm limited to 32-bit CPU and have already maxed that with a 3200XP and the 9800 Pro limits me to the AGP bus.

The nVidia audio codecs just can't handle s**t-loads on screen at once. In online BF2, there's been a couple of occasions where I'm firing away and the noise just goes silent - yet I can still hear other sounds in the background. Clearly, the audio is getting saturated with requests and can't process everything adequately - thus transferring more workload onto the CPU.

According to Creative's blurb, it's the equivalent of having a 3.4Ghz CPU in there - purely for audio. I went for the Fatal1ty model too as that comes with the 64MB memory onboard, same as the much more expensive Elite Pro model. It's supposedly 24 times more power than the Audigy 2 ZS card - but bearing in mind I've never used one of those, I've got no way of testing it!

I'm planning to run some frame-rate utilities as well. Before the upgrade, with the standard mobo audio within BF2, then disabling that in BIOS, whacking the X-Fi card in there and retrying it. Creative say that there's a 40% improvement in the gameplay of BF2 when an X-Fi is installed. I personally think that that will be a load of b****cks, but if it increases the framerate by freeing-up the CPU by some margin, then it will be worth it. On top of sounding superb too!

D.

 

[Lee]

Just prey Creative write some decent drivers for a change. Ever since they since they launched the Live card their drivers have been shockingly bad.

 

[Hotshot]

^^^ never a truer word spoken. Getting hold of them used to be more torturous than actually using them.


Also your AGP slot will cope fine with an X800 XT Pro AGP version as it's what i've got in my gaming box

 

[Darren S]

Lee - I know what you mean m8. I've had 5 different CL cards - going back to the original SoundBlaster Pro and each had their own quirks. The best one I've had to date was the complete and utter system crash of an Audigy card being installed whilst the PC it was in was connected to a HP All-in-One machine.

Switched it to onboard audio - worked fine.... :S

D.

 

[Lee]

I've still got an AWE32 in the cupboard at work, with the extra RAM slots. I can't bare to throw the trusty old card away.

I've got an original Audigy at home, which thankfully has never given me any problems.

 

[Dink]

i've got the x-fi xtreme music card in mine and it's been fine since the day i put it in there

 

[Darren S]

i've got the x-fi xtreme music card in mine and it's been fine since the day i put it in there

Dink - I'm praying that you're right on this one m8. Now that the bloody card has turned up, I'm reading all sorts of horror stories on other forums - some users reporting BF2 performing in single-figure framerates after the X-Fi install!

Half of me is thinking of returning the card, unopened........

D.

 

[Darren S]

Well, the card is in and even without a reformat of the PC - things are running fine. The only issue I've come across is that after a few minutes, C&C Generals Zero Hour ends up running at single frames per second. It did this on my old Audigy card too - so it must me Creative's wonderful software to blame.......... again! :dapprove:

Naturally, BF2 was the first game I tried. Set the audio settings to ultra high and ran it. The sound was noticably crisper, sharper and capable of many more sounds at once, than previous. The much-hyped blurb from Creative about improving the game's frame-rate also rings true - Battlefield 2 is now much smoother than previously.

I also tried the old staple favourite of Quake 3 and again - no problems occurred.

Looks to be a BIG thumbs-up so far.....

D.