Need some advice on which soundblaster to buy

[dimmy32]

I mostly use my comp for gaming . Currently I have a soundblaster live ! 5.1 .
I use Creative's speakers 2.1 ( 2 main speakers and a sub-woofer ).
Is it worth the money to upgrade my sound card or not with this set up ?
I'm not planning on upgrading my speakers - they sound pretty good.
I was thinking about getting an Audigy X-gamer....

thanks guys !

[OS-Wiz]

Yes, provided your games can take advantage of the x-Gamer's exhanced EAX and EAX2 HD, etc.

[dimmy32]

My 5.1's can do EAX as well on games, but it really doesnt seem to make much diff , when playing EAX vs. Non-EAX games....

[soupnazi]

Originally posted by dimmy32
My 5.1's can do EAX as well on games, but it really doesnt seem to make much diff , when playing EAX vs. Non-EAX games....

That's because your only using 2.1 speakers. Eax takes advantage of 4.1 or more speakers.

If you also listen to alot of music, the Audigy 2 oem is a good choice.

[dimmy32]

oh, that explains it....
I dont listen to music on my computer - I am an audiophile and have a pretty good sound system.
Like I said, I use the computer for gaming , but would like to know if I should stick with my soundblaster 5.1 or buy an Audigy...

[Freakish]

the audigy 2 prices has dropped considerably... id grab one of them.

[soupnazi]

Originally posted by Freakish
the audigy 2 prices has dropped considerably... id grab one of them.

Just make sure it's an audigy 2. They're much better. Not sure if it worth the money upgrading though. Are you unhappy with the current performance of your card?

[dimmy32]

I like the soundblaster live 5.1 .
I noticed that prices have dropped a bit on the audigy series. I was wondering how much of a diff it would make over the 5.1 cards. If the difference isnt worth upgrading the card, i wont bother .....

I can afford to buy an audigy 2 , but will it blow away the 5.1 or just sound a bit better...?

[soupnazi]

Originally posted by dimmy32
I can afford to buy an audigy 2 , but will it blow away the 5.1 or just sound a bit better...?

With the current speakers/setup you have, it would just sound a bit better. A friend of mine who has the Altec 641's went from integrated sound to an Audigy 2 and noticed a BIG difference because it's more noticeble on HIS speakers.

If you satisfied with your sound, I'd just wait and prices will drop as usual. You'd need a good set of speakers (preferably 4.1 or higher) to take full advantage of the audigy 2.

[dimmy32]

Solid advice ! I'll wait ..thanks everyone

[soupnazi]

Glad to help.

[freakboy]

over on tom's hardware there some gaming comparisons for different sound cards. The audigy 2 did the best after having an nforce2 motherboard(onboard video).

I have a dell 4100 p3 that i've upgraded literally as far as it can go:

1.4 p3 (fastest cpu without soldering)
512 megs
upgraded hd (could get a faster one)
8500 video card (could boost this but for limited gain)
sb live (cheap version)..

Would ditching my current sound card and getting an audigy 2 give a noticeable boost to performance in games: counterstrike, day of defeat, etc.

I'd end up recycling the new board for my next computer, so i'd probably get an audigy 2 or some other higher end thing.

Does anyone know how this card will help the FPS? Is it going to smooth out the bottoms? I notice now that I start to lag with lots of ambient and in-game sounds at the same time.

thanks
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[Isezumi]

generally youll want to start your own thread to get your quesions answered...

however to answer your question...I would say that you MIGHT on average see a 1-3 frame increase if you move to the A2.

[freakboy]

Yeah, i realized after i posted on this thread that maybe nobody would see it. Anyway - thanks for the info. I'll probably go ahead and upgrade.

For no good reason :-)

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