Post new topic   Reply to topic
View previous topic Printable version Log in to check your private messages View next topic
Author Message
vandylOffline
Location: Madison, AL
Post subject: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Nov 22, 2009 - 10:52 PM
G0dlike
G0dlike


Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 651
Location: Madison, AL
Status: Offline
Dear Creative,

Please stop producing shitty drivers and blaming performance issues on nForce chipsets.

----

In all seriousness, the drivers that Creative has been pushing out for the XFi series have been substandard at best. I've had issues with the XFi ExtremeGamer Fatal1ty soundcard I bought... oh... a year ago? Maybe a little longer than that.

Back when it was brand new, running on the drivers provided with the hardware, I'd have occasional crackling and popping sound in various games (CoD4, for example). I figured a driver update would fix that. (It didn't. None of the updates helped.) In fact, the problem seemed to get worse.

Not to mention that the card just flat out won’t run in Windows 7 (64bit) – some games have sound, some have it for a few minutes and it craps out, and some (like Solitaire) take down the entire sound system altogether, requiring a reboot to restore sound.

I researched the issue and discovered a lot of conflicting information. Creative claimed that the PCI cards have known issues when running on nForce boards, while users pointed their fingers at the drivers, reasoning that the chips and hardware of the Audigy2 experienced no such issues. The XFi series is actually based on the same architecture as the Audigy2. Ultimately, there’s been no real resolution for owners of the first generation of PCI-based XFi soundcards.

I picked up an XFi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional from BestBuy today – funny story btw. The Titanium series is PCI-E, and is equipped with different chips on the board (except for the main sound processor). Installed the board and drivers in Windows XP, fired up CoD4 – and YES! There is no more popping and crackling! SUCCESS! Wish I didn’t have to swap my card out to get rid of that issue. Hence my letter to Creative.

I’ve installed the drivers in Windows 7, but haven’t playtested it yet. I’ll update this with the results.

Long story short – if you want to get an XFi card, and have an nForce board with a PCI-E x1 slot, get a Titanium series.

AND PLEASE! IF YOU HAVE AN XFi SOUNDCARD AND A NON-NFORCE MOTHERBOARD, LET ME KNOW IF YOU’VE HAD THE SAME ISSUES!

_________________
PhukFace: what d you get 72 virgins?
vandyl: yeah. unfortunately they were all members of either au gamers, au society of anime and manga, or both.
 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address MSN Messenger  
Reply with quote Back to top
kurtmax_0Offline
Location:
Post subject: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Nov 23, 2009 - 12:46 PM
Color-Swapped Ninja
Color-Swapped Ninja


Joined: Oct 23, 2005
Posts: 1083

Status: Offline
Creative hasn't been good since.... ever. You either need to use onboard sound (most games are tested with this since 99% of people have this) or get a real professional sound card (something with ASIO at least).
 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website  
Reply with quote Back to top
BanditOffline
Location: Madison Alabama
Post subject: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Nov 24, 2009 - 02:04 AM
G0dlike
G0dlike


Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 855
Location: Madison Alabama
Status: Offline
I have an Xfi card. Know what I did with it.... put it on my desk. Fact is without the frigging front mount crap you can't easily get to all the functions of the card. 1 digital in/out/multi port on the card, 4+ capable to be driven by the card if you just have the pinouts the front mount adds. How much for the front mount you ask? Try $100 dollars over the retail of just the card.

I was a creative fan boy. I love their audio processing, but quit milking me with pinouts that's just wrong. I DON'T want to front mount everything.

So back to internal sound. I'll put that extra money into my rig.
 
 View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail ICQ Number 
Reply with quote Back to top
vandylOffline
Location: Madison, AL
Post subject: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Nov 24, 2009 - 11:36 AM
G0dlike
G0dlike


Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 651
Location: Madison, AL
Status: Offline
just an fyi - the pci-e xfi and win7(64) get along just fine.

_________________
PhukFace: what d you get 72 virgins?
vandyl: yeah. unfortunately they were all members of either au gamers, au society of anime and manga, or both.
 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address MSN Messenger  
Reply with quote Back to top
PhukFaceOffline
Location:
Post subject: Re: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Nov 24, 2009 - 06:30 PM
Color-Swapped Ninja
Color-Swapped Ninja


Joined: Jul 06, 2005
Posts: 1103

Status: Offline
      kurtmax_0 wrote:
Creative hasn't been good since.... ever. You either need to use onboard sound (most games are tested with this since 99% of people have this) or get a real professional sound card (something with ASIO at least).



that statement is bs.....

they used to be excellent and the ONLY choice if you were serious about quality...

then 2004 came along and have slowly been going down hill since....

and yes it is what vandyls is stating, support/drivers are absolute shit.

_________________
She's Einstein, Her head is the greatest...
 
 View user's profile Send private message  
Reply with quote Back to top
vandylOffline
Location: Madison, AL
Post subject: RE: Re: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Nov 24, 2009 - 10:57 PM
G0dlike
G0dlike


Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 651
Location: Madison, AL
Status: Offline
I always knew you were my nigga.

Not ERRRRRR!!!!

_________________
PhukFace: what d you get 72 virgins?
vandyl: yeah. unfortunately they were all members of either au gamers, au society of anime and manga, or both.
 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address MSN Messenger  
Reply with quote Back to top
kurtmax_0Offline
Location:
22 Post subject: Re: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Nov 26, 2009 - 12:43 AM
Color-Swapped Ninja
Color-Swapped Ninja


Joined: Oct 23, 2005
Posts: 1083

Status: Offline
      PhukFace wrote:
      kurtmax_0 wrote:
Creative hasn't been good since.... ever. You either need to use onboard sound (most games are tested with this since 99% of people have this) or get a real professional sound card (something with ASIO at least).



that statement is bs.....

they used to be excellent and the ONLY choice if you were serious about quality...

then 2004 came along and have slowly been going down hill since....

and yes it is what vandyls is stating, support/drivers are absolute shit.


Ever heard of Gravis? Ultrasound? Try again.

It wasn't as popular as Creative, but had far superior sound quality. Most of the demos of that time utilise the ultrasound. It's main problem was lack of support on some games and shoddy sound-blaster emulation.

Try this exercise:

Play Dark Forces in DOSBox with sound-blaster, and then try it with ultrasound... which one is superior?
 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website  
Reply with quote Back to top
PhukFaceOffline
Location:
Post subject: RE: Re: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Dec 01, 2009 - 06:54 PM
Color-Swapped Ninja
Color-Swapped Ninja


Joined: Jul 06, 2005
Posts: 1103

Status: Offline
why use does box when I actually have a DOS box (pre P4 ... Razz)...

anyways youre point is invalid, ask anyone besides the person looking back at you from the mirror....

btw, gravis was shite and you know it...

_________________
She's Einstein, Her head is the greatest...
 
 View user's profile Send private message  
Reply with quote Back to top
kurtmax_0Offline
Location:
Post subject: RE: Re: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Dec 01, 2009 - 09:13 PM
Color-Swapped Ninja
Color-Swapped Ninja


Joined: Oct 23, 2005
Posts: 1083

Status: Offline
Well we can disagree then. Gravis had far superior sound quality, even if it was less compatible with a majority of games than a sound blaster.
 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website  
Reply with quote Back to top
vandylOffline
Location: Madison, AL
Post subject: RE: Re: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Dec 01, 2009 - 11:10 PM
G0dlike
G0dlike


Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 651
Location: Madison, AL
Status: Offline
I swear I had a post in this thread. and I think it got deleted...

_________________
PhukFace: what d you get 72 virgins?
vandyl: yeah. unfortunately they were all members of either au gamers, au society of anime and manga, or both.
 
 View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address MSN Messenger  
Reply with quote Back to top
YeongungOffline
Location:
Post subject: RE: Re: RE: XFi... why why why  PostPosted: Dec 04, 2009 - 03:08 AM
Moderator
Moderator


Joined: Nov 11, 2009
Posts: 26

Status: Offline
Errr...

Nah, nothing got deleted, as far as I can tell...

Aaaa...

_________________
Mr. Green With Kimchi, and Zergrush! Mr. Green
 
 View user's profile Send private message  
Reply with quote Back to top
Display posts from previous:     
Jump to:  
All times are
Post new topic   Reply to topic
View previous topic Printable version Log in to check your private messages View next topic
Powered by PNphpBB2 © 2003-2009 The Zafenio Team
Credits