I'm at the end of my last straw with Creative Labs. They're not offering any support, they're not doing any updates for XP, and if you look on their forums, regardless of XP or Vista, EVERYBODY is having the damn same issues. Crackling, popping, ect. Bios - updated, XP - Updated, NForce - Updated 12.5, OpenAL August '07 updated

What's a good alternative to the X-Fi Fata1ty card? I'm looking for a gaming card with an onboard processor, so it doesn't suck up my cpu/memory, and retain my FPS. There was a card I was interested in by BlueGear but unfortunately it doesn't have onboard processing. Any audiophiles out there can make a suggestion. I do have good speakers, Logitech Z-5500.

well i never seem to have a problem with any creative soundcard, of course i have only used three but they are all still working.

basically creative really are the only company which makes powerful chips and they have the support of the game industry.

however, auzentech have this, http://www.auzentech.com/site/prod [...] relude.php

basically it is the power of the x-fi but from a different company. it should be interesting to see how it works out.

so, ye i know people have problems but that is no different from any major company, they sell lots of products and it is inevitable that 10's-100's ofd people will suffer problems.

Check BGears sigth again. It does have a High Performance PCI Audio Processor, the C-Media 8788
http://www.bgears.com/b-enspire.html

Review Link : http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/i [...] &Itemid=27

Or the Razer Barracuda
http://www.razerzone.com/index.php [...] ucts_id=41

Review Link : http://www.3dgameman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44141

The Auzen X-Meridian is a really nice card, particularly after upgrading the opamps (if you are using the analog outs). Unfortunately, it's no longer in production, so it could be hard to find.

Thanks for the leads, the auzentec looks almost exactly like the X-Fi in almost every perspective outside the addtional connections. I don't know if the crackling, popping, etc. stems from the chips or the drivers, and I wonder if their drivers would be compatible with the Creative card, it would be very interesting to see what happens.

I think I saw a lower end version of that Bgear card, now that's the card I want. I'm going to give it a shot, only because it's not a Creative chipset.

It saddens me to go with an alternative, I used to swear by Creative since the Sound Blaster Pro, just hit the market in the good ol 386 days. But the company is just making enough to cover costs in the sound card department since the onboard sound are almost as good as a basic sound card these days. Creative is focusing their resources on where they're really making their money, those mp3/video players. They've forgotten ther roots

To be quite honest with you I'm presently running an X-FI Extreme Music presently problem free but it hasn't always been problem free the M/B I was using when I had problems with it, the 2 just didn't get along was an ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe skt939.

I know what its like to be completely frustrated with Creative its happened with me in the past, the crackling and popping and sometimes skreech and squeal, at that time I had switched to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, and only went back to Creative out of desperation because the Santa Cruz drivers fell behind.

However Turtle Beach has an up to date offering, and since the Santa Cruz not the first time exibited any crackling, popping, or any of that crap I'm recommending this card from Turtle Beach.

You may even find the Montego cheaper at Newegg, I've never listened to this soundcard but I know full well Turtle Beach makes a quality product and you won't be disappointed.

NCCReliant/Star Trek 3 Search for Spock

Forget all about the rest...
ASUS Xonar 2 in PCIe... do a google search and you will remember me! hehe

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829132001

So tell us all about this card. What will there be to remember? I'm about done with Creative. PCIe ?