The Audigy 4 makes very low demands on the processor - less than 6% in the worst case, as measured with RightMark 3DSound. In practice, the results were similar to the results of our tests with the Audigy 2 ZS. So presumably the Audigy 4 will offer the same performance with games (allowing for contingencies) as the Audigy 2 ZS, since it shares the same EAX version.

In Conclusion

The Audigy 4, probably the last in the Audigy series, is undeniably the most advanced and most universal consumer sound card. It's obviously aimed at sound buffs who don't want to be hampered in the areas of games and multimedia . But it's certainly in a narrow market niche, as the rather steep price confirms.