Sound Card Question

[hulkingsmith99]

Hey guys, I am currently using the 64 bit version of Vista and I came across this sound card - was hoping if people could chime in and let me know if this will work with the 780i board as I have heard rumors that currently it is not supported...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006

Also, it says it is PCI Express compatible. Does this mean it will use the 16x PCI-E slot or can it only use that 1x slot? I never plan on running tri-sli, so I would use the middle PCI-E slot. Any advice would be great. Thanks!

 

[lucuis]

It would use a 1x Slot. Not sure if you can plug it in a x16 slot anyway, unless you know for sure i wouldn't try it.

BTW that sounds card is supposedly awesome.

 

[hulkingsmith99]

I've heard the same, was just alittle bit worried if it would work alright with my SLI'd 780i.

Edit - After glancing inside of my case, if I'm using SLI then this sound card is no go - the pci 1x slot is blocked due to the size of the 8800 GTS.

Suppose that limits me to either the X-FI Xtreme Gamer Fatality or the Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer card.... any opinions on which is worth the money? The Fatality is alittle more, but the only real difference I see is the xram, which I heard didn't make squat of a difference.

 

[lucuis]

I can vouch for the X-FI Xtreme Gamer. It's great card, and produced clear powerful sound, IF you set it up right. Most users claim it's crap under Vista, but i can guarantee you they didn't set it up right.

You'll need the latest Vista Drivers, and ALchemy. ALchemy is from Creative so no worries about crappy 3rd party programs. It's a utility to enable EAX under certain games. Apparently Vista codes it's sound a little differently, so ALchemy is required to translate. Don't worry though, there's no loss in sound quality.

I pride myself of being an Audiophile, so hopefully you can take a little comfort from that. Now there is better sounding cards out there, but they come with quite the premium. Auzintech Prelude would be one. Actually as far as i know Auzentech provides better sound quality then most Creative Cards. Most people can't tell the difference though since they listen to nothing but compressed audio.

And yes XRAM is useless, except for like 1 game

 

[hulkingsmith99]

The Auzintech Prelude is a pretty sexy card, and I can afford it - I'm just wondering if the audio will be worth the change. I'm not planning on using my speakers THAT much, as when I game I usually do it pretty loudly and my roommate isn't a big fan That being said, I currently own a pair of Sennheiser PC350's which are very good quality.

I'm alittle nervous about auzentech having enough room not to touch the SLI bridge, but I ~think~ it would be ok as I believe it's the same size as the xfi fatality series.

So it comes down to whether or not the difference in price would be significant based on the fact that I'll be using a headset. (Comp is primarily used for gaming, but I'm a big music listener)

 

[lucuis]

It being worth it will have to be your call, but i can say you won't be disappointed with either one.

 

[chookman]

Id go with an X-fi Gamer then, i dont think it sounds like youll ever use the extra features of the Prelude or get to hear the slightly better sound quality produced.