Xi-Fi range... need help

krisboats · 8 Mar 2007 at 19:12

W00t W00t!!! X-FI!!!

Okay, i've been looking through past threads and had a look at a lot of varied information on the x-fi range, but i've not been able to come to a definate answer so i've made this thread to ask.

I'm currently using onboard audio on my MSI K8T Neo motherboard (AGP) and bought some nice altec lansing speakers for an x-mas present to myself. Ideally i would like to get the best out of these speakers as i can't help but feel my computers onboard is nowhere near as good of an output as they could use.

So i was looking at a X-Fi card, only now i have to choose one. I watch movies, listen to music (A LOT!!!) and play games (CS:S, HL:2, Far Cry etc) so i've gathered the X-Fi audio is a no-no.

Now do i go for the X-Fi music or gamer? Or do i splash out a bit extra and get the fatality pro card for like £90 (without front ports etc)? I've gathered the jump in quality from onboard to a X-Fi will be good but i'm not sure this X-RAM malarky would be noticeable by myself, or even if its worth an extra £35-40.

The last thing is what do i need to do to get it working once i make my purchase? I've never fitted a soundcard before, any bios things i need to change, any pci socket in particular i should use? I don't have any pci sockets used at the minute so is the furthest from my graphics card the best idea?

Cheers in advance
kris

BFG_9000 · 8 Mar 2007 at 19:16

Sound like the X-Fi Extreme Gamer would suit your needs nicely... I have one myself and they are awesome, and only around the £50 mark...

krisboats · 9 Mar 2007 at 14:50

Ha ha, only just noticed i've been caling it Xi-Fi not X-fi

I'm so retarded

krisboats · 9 Mar 2007 at 16:49

Okay i've gone and bought the extreme gamer, should be here monday.

Figured i can use the optical output to plug into my surround sound and use the line out for my 2.1 pc speakers (headphone/mic sockets on the wired remote)

Tooks · 9 Mar 2007 at 19:33

Good choice! I was blown away by the increase in sound quality. The Crystaliser for MP3 playback just sounds so good!

Only thing you need to do in the bios is disable the onboard sound.

I'd then remove the drivers for it/any onboard sound software, before installing the X-fi and then the drivers for that.

Personally, I'd use the PCI slot furthest away from your graphics card, to minimise any chance of interference.

krisboats · 9 Mar 2007 at 21:52

Tooks said:
Good choice! I was blown away by the increase in sound quality. The Crystaliser for MP3 playback just sounds so good!

Only thing you need to do in the bios is disable the onboard sound.

I'd then remove the drivers for it/any onboard sound software, before installing the X-fi and then the drivers for that.

Personally, I'd use the PCI slot furthest away from your graphics card, to minimise any chance of interference.

Okay so when it arrives, i go to add/remove programs... remove the realtek ac97 stuff, switch the machine off, whack the X-Fi in pci slot 5, switch it back on and whack the creative cd in?

Or do i need a special driver removal tool for the onboard drivers?

Tooks · 9 Mar 2007 at 23:34

Sounds good to me!

Don't forget to disable the onboard in the bios after removing the AC97 gubbins, otherwise your pc will re-detect it, and ask you to install it again.

krisboats · 13 Mar 2007 at 08:39

W00t! Woke up 20 minutes ago, parents gave me the soundcard as my birthday present....

Jeezus everything sounds nice now. The bass is much deeper, and everything else sounds, well, i don't really know how to describe it. Its like it used to be really... dirty?.... and now it sounds clean. Such a strange thing to describe but its nice.

Easy to install, and no problems with pops/crackles that i can see as of yet, so thats one of my concerns out the window.

I'm very very happy with this.

Now i have to go play with oblivion that my sis gave me.