Hi
I have been using the same soundcard since i got one of my earliest pcs (way back in the 90's. This old Soundblaster Live 5.1 has been taken to and from each pc as i upgraded over the years yet, despite cpu, mobo and gfx upgrades i have always stuck with the same card even to my current build. It still good enough to give me decent sound but lately there 2 main issues which has forced me to think is it time for a upgrade? Soundcards is one of the few hardware components which i don't really have a clue about.
1. My pc has been crashing and locking up intermittently in few games. Most others apps and games are fine but the few of the newer games this issue occurs were it obviously tries to play a sound file and it ends up tripping and stuttering over that sound which forces the pc to reboot. It happened in Bioshock and Dark Crusade etc but never in CSS. It doesn't happen all the time but can vary so not exactly dependable. I think i got this problem fixed now as the creative drivers hasn't been updated since 2002 since the card has become EOL. I found some new alternative drivers made by a entirely different group which has done the trick. So far 3 days of running the pc and not one crash. Fingers Crossed
2. If i upgrade my card does that mean i have to upgrade my speakers, sub woofer cables etc. I believe the new cards are digital these days is that right?? Bit of waste as my current set of speakers and sub woofer is just fine
If someone can clarify that would be great if there someway i can upgrade the card and keep using my speakers and sub-woofer.
Lastly i use to get really good performances out of the card, the sound was so good i could distinguish footsteps infront behind or around me. Since i got CSS i haven't really been able to do thos so i am not sure what has happen? The same equipment was able to do this before so i got strong suspicion i am either missing software or again driver related in this case to the way it being used by the newer games. Perhaps i can install the creative software again from the CD and leave out drivers. Is it the mixer that controls the EaX affect right??
Sorry written a book but got so many possibilities on this. Shed some light please?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Kyo
I have been using the same soundcard since i got one of my earliest pcs (way back in the 90's. This old Soundblaster Live 5.1 has been taken to and from each pc as i upgraded over the years yet, despite cpu, mobo and gfx upgrades i have always stuck with the same card even to my current build. It still good enough to give me decent sound but lately there 2 main issues which has forced me to think is it time for a upgrade? Soundcards is one of the few hardware components which i don't really have a clue about.
1. My pc has been crashing and locking up intermittently in few games. Most others apps and games are fine but the few of the newer games this issue occurs were it obviously tries to play a sound file and it ends up tripping and stuttering over that sound which forces the pc to reboot. It happened in Bioshock and Dark Crusade etc but never in CSS. It doesn't happen all the time but can vary so not exactly dependable. I think i got this problem fixed now as the creative drivers hasn't been updated since 2002 since the card has become EOL. I found some new alternative drivers made by a entirely different group which has done the trick. So far 3 days of running the pc and not one crash. Fingers Crossed
2. If i upgrade my card does that mean i have to upgrade my speakers, sub woofer cables etc. I believe the new cards are digital these days is that right?? Bit of waste as my current set of speakers and sub woofer is just fine
If someone can clarify that would be great if there someway i can upgrade the card and keep using my speakers and sub-woofer.Lastly i use to get really good performances out of the card, the sound was so good i could distinguish footsteps infront behind or around me. Since i got CSS i haven't really been able to do thos so i am not sure what has happen? The same equipment was able to do this before so i got strong suspicion i am either missing software or again driver related in this case to the way it being used by the newer games. Perhaps i can install the creative software again from the CD and leave out drivers. Is it the mixer that controls the EaX affect right??
Sorry written a book but got so many possibilities on this. Shed some light please?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Kyo
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