Audigy SE vs. X-Fi XtremeGamer

Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102002 - ($30)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102006 - ($61 after $30 rebate)

Which should I get? $30 is a nice amount for a soundcard...however...the X-Fi has a $30 rebate which makes it $61 instead of $91...but $61 is still 100% premium over the Audigy SE. Which would u get?

im planning on going vista ultimate

stay away from vista!!! XP is your best friend trust me!

I know but I want DX10!

I had vista ultimate on my computer for three months and it was a living hell. Its really nothing special, its nothing but a wolf covered sheeps fur. Just yesterday i went back to XP with SP3. You wont get the full support for your sound card on vista as you would on XP.
I say stay with XP and deal with not having DX10. You may suffer a small loss for eye candy, but thats it. But its up to you. I am saying this from experience.

Just so you know, the Audigy SE uses software decoding while the X-fi uses hardware decoding.

The difference between those is that hardware decoding can use the soundcard to actually decode the sound, instead of your computer's processor then running it through a filter, which is what software decoding does. This gives your CPU some extra time that it can put somewhere else (Say, devoting more time to a game). This WILL boost your framerates slightly in games (1-5fps) depending on the game. And, in my opinion, hardware-decoded sound sounds better and clearer than software-decoded. (I went from an Audigy SE to an Audigy 2 Platinum, and the difference is definite.)

Now, if you're looking for sound quality for like music and things, save the money ang get the SE. For games though, you'll want that hardware decoding capability, and that means getting the X-fi.

Vista doesn't support hardware decoding for audio. Hardware decoding would only offer a performance advantage in Windows XP, which does support hardware decoding.

And where did you get the no hardware decoding info from?

I have the X-fi xtremegamer on vista. And it works fine. It even came with drivers specifically for vista from creative... so I don't know why people say that it doesn't work on vista.

same here. i ahve xtremegamer on vista with the creative drivers and it works fine. be sure to download creative alchemy, so you can play old games with eax support.

I also have x-fi and sure it works in vista only it has a lot less options available in vista than in xp. but you can get unofficial drivers that will offer full functionality in vista like in xp

hmm $30 card...vs paying $90 for a better sound card...and than waiting to get $30 back....arg...wish i could hear both cards in action before buying >.<

X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional ($85 after rebate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6829102005

damnit they are making this hard on me

Really it depends on how much money you make/have, and how much you realyl care about sound.

I don't really have that much money. But whenver I have pretty decent core parts(motherboard, ram,cpu,videocard) and I have extra money, I'll buy accessory stuff, like new speakers, a better case, sound card, monitor, keyboard/mouse. And typically these accessories are slow moving things that don't develop as fast. So I think it is good to get good quality stuff, as it will probably be with you for a while. So I have pretty nice speakers, and keyboard/mouse, and all that stuff. In the end, I feel like it is worth it, because I use the parts for so long, and they don't really get outdated.

But, I still do not really feel the extra money for the fatality card is worth it. Not all games support the xram, or whatever it is, and I doubt the performance is even noticable.

I love my Xtremegamer. I think it was definitely worth the money(I also bought it for $90, and sent in my $30 rebate a few weeks ago). After using this card, I would not want to go back to onboard sound.

I think the X-Fi Xtremegamer is the sweetspot, very high quality sound, and not overly expensive. Of course, this is all relative, but whatever.

I suggest you get the Xtremegamer. I doubt you'll be dissapointed.

Well, yeah, I'm also a bang for the buck kind of guy.

I'm just saying it's important to make sure it's something you'll be satisfied with, and good quality.

The Audigy doesn't have the crystalizer, I think. And that's one of my favorite parts about the Xtremegamer. I can really notice a difference in my music when it's enabled, and I really like it.

From my perspective, if you don't want to spend the $60 on the Xtremegamer, because the Audigy is half the price, then you might as well stay with onboard sound. I'm not saying the Audigy is bad, because I've never heard it. But I'm just saying that if the extra $30 dollars isn't worth it to get the Xtremegamer, than maybe the $30 for the Audigy isn't worth it over the onboard sound.

y didnt u get XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional for $25 more? i might as well go on either extreme....onboard/audigy or XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional ..the price jumps are like $20-30 difference between all these cards.

http://shop3.frys.com/product/5020 [...] IN_RSLT_PG - $80 for fatility

The added price for the XRAM on the X-fi Fatal1ty Pro is wasted cash. The sound quality is no different then the XtremeGamer. XRAM is only supported on like 2 games, and it marginally helps out in game performance, it does nothing for sound quality.

@Topcover: if it is true that its a hit or miss...with that card...yeah it would suck to miss...

but would Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 work in Vista for sure?

http://shop3.frys.com/product/5020 [...] IN_RSLT_PG -- $49.99 after rebate! this is getting tempting now...

I havent read all the replies here but... for the price id get the X-fi everytime. Im currently running an X-Fi Fatal1ty on vista and havent had an ounce of problem with it. The drivers are fine now (they werent in the past).

With the X-fi you get better quality sound, more channels and more features. it wins hands down IMO

Nice find, i payed $90 for mine.

$175!!! man u must really like sound!

plus it does games too. Typically you can only find a gaming card or a studio quality sound card. this does both