Posted October 13, 200717 yr I dont know a damn thing about Sound cards, but i really want to get off my onboard sound. I have an old Live! card, but hooking up 5.1 is a pain in the ass. So for the usual stuff: Gaming, Movies, Music etc... Whats a good, solid card thats in the 50 to 100 USD range?
October 16, 200717 yr If you want to go for something a little more expensive then go for a creative soundblaster X-FI. I'd have to say the sound quality is very good when you play games with the last card i have listed. Hook them up to 7.1 speakers even, and the sound will get even better: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102016 - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102007 - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006 - Retail EDIT: And if you don't want to put out that much money, you could even go for an older, cheaper, creative Audigy SE if you really want too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102012 Hope this helps! :sleep2:
October 16, 200717 yr Creative's not that great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001
October 16, 200717 yr Actualy, creative has the best and most powerfull soundcards on the market bar none. Creative X-Fi is the way to go
October 17, 200717 yr Author I just did a quick glance and saw these 2, The BlueG is about 50$ more than the X fi after the X fi rebate but the BlueG has 192khz and the X fi has 96khz. I have no clue what that means. Which one would be best? Im guessing the BlueG but its a new brand (ive never heard of em) So... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829127002
October 17, 200717 yr Read these two reviews and other reviews on newegg about the blueg card... Very Dissapointed!! Reviewed By: FoxXx on 10/15/2007 Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1 Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month Pros: It worked Cons: This is a first for me, i have never rated a product so low before in my life. The card's drivers are mid-range, somthing that you would get for on board, all of these 5 star reviews, obviously they have never had a good sound card. First of all this card sucks 100 fps from me in cs:s when my reg is 300, so this thing is a bottleneck to my system, i cant enable optical for my 5.1 receiver which is the reason why i bought this card, and its sound is HORRIBLE in game 3D and for music. Other Thoughts: my system -4 gigs ddr2 800, gtx ultra , amd 6000+ the sound card i had be four was a 3 year old SB audigy 2, and it sounded alot better then this, and i bought it used, please take this comment seriously, i wont regret it Did you find this review helpful? Yes No Overpriced, No OPENAL Support., Games Won't start Reviewed By: on 10/11/2007 Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1 Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year Pros: Good DTS Connect & Dolby in Vista & XP Cons: Doens't support OPEN AL! Won't work on Quake 4, Bioshock, and a lot of OTHER Games unless you dissable hardware acceleration, which effectly makes this card as useless as Mainboard audio. BASICALLY THIS CARD WILL PLAY NO SOUND ON GEARS OF WAR, UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3, CRYSIS, AND A LOT OF OTHER GAMES THAT USE OPEN AL! Other Thoughts: I can't belive such a nice card and they rep on the phone said you need to dissable sound acceleration to get any game to even start up, so basically no differnece between mobo sound and this thing...What a shame. Guess I"ll have to auction on the worlds biggest garage sale... 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No EDIT: Notice the first person just gave this card a bad review yesterday so in the end youll probabaly be better off with the X-Fi.
November 8, 200717 yr Author I finally ordered one. I went with the Creative Xtremegamer. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102006 Its a 7.1 and i only have 5.1 speakers, but i think paired with my Sennheiser headset i should be good. Ive never used a sound card (except for a 3 year old live card) So im sure it will make a major difference to someone who has used onboard sound for 5 years.
November 9, 200717 yr Author I got it today and been playing around with different settings and such. I can really tell a difference in music. Its crisper and just more crunchier (not sure how to describe it) I listen to mostly rock/hard rock. In game so far is sort of difficult. UT echo's if i enable eax and i really dont like the echoes. Bioshock is also a pain so far. Im playing with settings in game and with the card itself, at first the highs were really fucking high and now its better. The sound is a little fuller so to say. I didnt have enough time to play around with my 5.1 speakers with it yet so that should be fun. My Sennhaisers sound great with it though. Ill really have to sit down (when i have time) to test it out on all my games and demos (20+ :happysad:) to see how it does overall. Not bad for 80$ but it makes me wonder if i would of spent another 50+ and got an even better card what the difference would be.
