Hi i registered here after looking through the internet for informations to best set this up, and most post i read where from this forum, but as i read various information i became a bit confused, so i was hopping to get some advice on how to get this sorted, i will be going through my findings (while asking some questions i found no answers for) and how i plan to set things up so please comment if you think something is wrong or if my conclusions seem to be good.
Currently i plan on using this on windows 7, my machine is a i7 6700 with 16 GB of ram and an RTX 2060, please no comments about upgrading to windows 10, i may do that again in the future but currently i have no plans for it due to some issues with the latest windows builds (i may go with LTSC in the future but that will be a story for another time).
First of Drivers, while there are a few cases with people satisfied with the official drivers most cases seem to give a lot of credit and support towards the UNI modded drivers so from my understanding of looking into the issue i gathered this would be good choices to make:
-installing the uni drivers with the normal preset, so i can get all of the card's features including GX mode.
-leaving windows on the default 16bit 44100 Hz and changing just in the asus xonar control panel to my desired bitrate (up to 24 bit 96000 Hz, or actually mine might have up to 24 bit 192000 Hz since its the SI version), from what i understand changing the default in windows leads to some issues like popping sounds when listening to music especially when songs transition from one to another.
-using the headphone preset and configuring for the medium gain (middle option i think it was called the "Pro-gaming mode 32~64Ohms")
-use the "Hi-Fi" and 2 channel modes for music and general usage, use Dolby DTS with 8 channel with the middle/2nd room preset for gaming and lastly use GX Mode only for older EAX titles (like doom 3).
I think that about covers it for what i'm planning if you have any comments about the above please share, now here are the things i want to ask, no matter how much i searched i couldn't find a good answer:
Sorry for the wall of text, any feedback is appreciated and thank you in advance.
Currently i plan on using this on windows 7, my machine is a i7 6700 with 16 GB of ram and an RTX 2060, please no comments about upgrading to windows 10, i may do that again in the future but currently i have no plans for it due to some issues with the latest windows builds (i may go with LTSC in the future but that will be a story for another time).
First of Drivers, while there are a few cases with people satisfied with the official drivers most cases seem to give a lot of credit and support towards the UNI modded drivers so from my understanding of looking into the issue i gathered this would be good choices to make:
-installing the uni drivers with the normal preset, so i can get all of the card's features including GX mode.
-leaving windows on the default 16bit 44100 Hz and changing just in the asus xonar control panel to my desired bitrate (up to 24 bit 96000 Hz, or actually mine might have up to 24 bit 192000 Hz since its the SI version), from what i understand changing the default in windows leads to some issues like popping sounds when listening to music especially when songs transition from one to another.
-using the headphone preset and configuring for the medium gain (middle option i think it was called the "Pro-gaming mode 32~64Ohms")
-use the "Hi-Fi" and 2 channel modes for music and general usage, use Dolby DTS with 8 channel with the middle/2nd room preset for gaming and lastly use GX Mode only for older EAX titles (like doom 3).
I think that about covers it for what i'm planning if you have any comments about the above please share, now here are the things i want to ask, no matter how much i searched i couldn't find a good answer:
- People behind the Uni Drivers diss the GX feature a lot, but i've seen a lot of reviewers praising it and saying that the older games they played with it on ran without issues, is it really that unstable even if disabled except when playing titles specifically made for it ? I'm asking that because taking advantage of it sounds quite nice for games such as FEAR and DOOM 3, but i don't want to introduce system instabilities...
- The authors of the Uni drivers say that using the "normal" install preset that uses the Asus Xonar Panel will introduce an up to "~200µs" latency, is that something to worry about ? I don't do competitive or MP gaming in general, i mostly play with V-Sync on at ~60 FPS, i listen to music (generally my flac library is between 16 bit 44100Hz up to 24 bit 96000 Hz), and i watch anime series and movies, this is my main use case that's related to sound.
- What should i set my for "bit" and "Hz" in the Xonar audio panel ? As i said my flac audio library ranges from 16 bit 44100Hz to 24 bit 480000hz and even quite a few songs that are 24 bit 96000Hz, should i go for 24 bit 96000Hz in the Xonar Audio Panel or should i go lower for a good middle ground for all the songs ?
Sorry for the wall of text, any feedback is appreciated and thank you in advance.