SB Live corruption/crash with modern games?

[thegimp]

I have a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 card which I am using with Windows XP. The last driver update for this card was all the way back in 2003 or so. With some (but not all) new games I am noticing several problems and was wondering if this experience was the norm for people trying to keep this soundcard going in a new system.

In Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Kane & Lynch, what usually happens is that, as the game progresses, performing certain actions or going to certain places will cause a strange reverb effect to play, and it increases in pitch until it sounds like mic feedback.

Then in King's Bounty, there's no sound corruption but the system crashes to a BSOD sporadically, usually when opening a new interface screen, with an IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL message, which I suspect is also related to the sound driver.

In Gears of War, there are random hard freezes on loading screens.

So I'm wondering if anyone out there is still using an SBLive card and what their experience has been like trying to play newer games.

 

[wuzy]

Creative does have a reputation for the lousy drivers especially for their latest cards under either Vista or XP. The last time I used a SB Live! 5.1 was back in 2005 so no help there.

Just curious, assuming your computer has the spec. to power modern games with good eye candy and a res. of 1600x1200 minimum, why are you still using a SB Live! 5.1? The integrated DSP outputted from Realtek HD which comes with most modern motherboards now IMO has better sound quality than SB Live! 5.1

 

[starams5]

Creative does have a reputation for the lousy drivers especially for their latest cards under either Vista or XP. The last time I used a SB Live! 5.1 was back in 2005 so no help there.

Just curious, assuming your computer has the spec. to power modern games with good eye candy and a res. of 1600x1200 minimum, why are you still using a SB Live! 5.1? The integrated DSP outputted from Realtek HD which comes with most modern motherboards now IMO has better sound quality than SB Live! 5.1

You're right about Creative and lousy driver's, my Fatality was on the shelf during most of the Vista era. Tried it with Windows 7 and it is running without any issues just like old times.

 

[dokk2]

I too have a Soundblaster 5.1 and I have never had any serious problems with it with XP, I only install the drivers,never the rest of the software.
Might be worthwhile to put up some system specs,I do not think the 'blaster is the ROOT of your problems maybe the SYMPTOM,check the system hardware tag see if there is any exclamation point on anything..if not then you may have a software problem,go to disk properties and check/repair file system....