SoundBlaster X-Fi makes games to run faster compared to ZS2?

[netspiderz-net]

They say that the SoundBlaster -X-Fi makes game run faster than the previous SoundBlasters cards. Is that true? How this is possible?

 

[chuckshissle]

I've never heard that before but my X-Fi does not affect my game's performance at all when switching to onboard sound and vice versa. There's a "Game Mode" for X-Fi cards but I only know it's feature is not just better gaming sounds but no interference to the game as well. So in a way it sort of make the game run faster due to that the soundcard is taking the sound processing task from the cpu. But not actually boosting the performance.

 

[kye3k1]

Would this stop all the glitching I get when I run my games, here is my comp:
AMD 2600
1GB ram
Sound blaster Live! 5.1
X800 Pro
Half life 2 glitches alot when there is sound being heard, fear glitches loads on 640x480. My Graphics card should be able to run at 800x600 with decent settings I take it.
There is another issue. I have 333Mhz RAM. I have heard this can cause glitches, but my glitches noticably happen when there is a new sound being thrown into the scene.

I hope this would stop my glitching, if it does I will get it for my PC which can be transfered across into future PC so its not a waste of money (I hope :roll: )

And how does the card make the games faster but not boost performance? Isnt that the same thing?

 

[rodney_ws]

I recently upgraded from an old SoundBlaster Live to an X-Fi Xtreme Music... I noticed no perceptible difference in performance in games, although I will swear that many sounds are more distinctly produced now on the newer card... also, on a couple of newer games, my SB Live would freak out and make horrible sounds after playing for 15 minutes to an hour... perhaps it was a driver issue... who knows... I do know that I've had ZERO problems with my X-Fi.

 

[kye3k1]

Mine is grabling too, in Serious sam 2. Its when ever some one talks. I have tried changing all the stteing to minimum etc, no difference, it doesnt happen in alot of games.
I am in a lose-lose situation because if I get the drivers my comp crashes with a driver error, if I dont use them sound is cheap. The other thing is I think I have poured enough money into My family PC with a graphics card on release and extra ram (with paper round money!) So its just time to move on.
Move on to Conroe that is

 

[netspiderz-net]

I think that the problem is not about drivers.

The problem is about sounds, all the time I there is a new sound that is not loaded into memory... the hard disk load the sound and the game stops until the sound is ready to come out.

Is that right?

:arrow: How to prevent this craping loading?:?:

Upgrading from 1GB to 2GB of RAM?

 

[halcyon]

Hmmm...in games there is a lot of audio processing going on, and if you're using an SB Live! or newer and EAX, there's more. Fortunately, the SB cards can offload this to their APU and those save the CPU from doing the DSP. I said all of that to preface the fact the the X-Fi's APU or "Tank" as Creative call s it (whatever) is in a totally different class compared to previous generation card processing power. Creative designed this to deal with some of the issues described in posts above. ...that's why you don't hear too many X-Fi owners complaining about snap-crackle-n-pops that even some Audigy 4 owners speak of. The X-Fi's APU is able to handle all the mixing and DSP that's happening in a game far better than in previous generations.

I'm by no means an authority and don't purport to be. For further info on why you'll get less of that snap-crackle-pop with an X-Fi than you might even with an Audigy 4, check these articles out...

X-Fi in general: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1850381,00.asp

X-Fi's APU: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1813719,00.asp