Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card (70SB073A00000)
There's so much focus on video and graphics when it comes to games. But that's only part of the experience. What if you couldn't hear the blasts, bombs, explosions, tackles, and grunts? That's why your available PCI slot in your desktop needs this Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme sound card for PCI. The Sound Blaster X-Fi sound card delivers faster audio performance and intense, realistic sound in all your games. Headphone surround sound is better too?so good, you'll swear you're listening to multichannel speakers?and your games will sound richer as you hear all of the crisp, clear highs and bone-crushing lows you've been missing. Revitalize your compressed game sounds with X-Fi Crystalizer and hear crisp, sharp gunshots and deep, booming explosions for the most intense gaming experience ever X-Fi Crystalizer repairs the damage that MP3 and WMA compression causes and intelligently enhances high and low frequencies for cleaner music playback and more realistic movie sound Delivers THX certified surround sound and includes Cyberlink PowerDVD software with DTS and Dolby Digital-EX decoding via free download for an unbeatable DVD movie watching experience X-Fi CMSS-3D matches the sound to your headphones or multichannel speakers and positions specific audio elements?such as voice in the center and ambient sounds in surrounding channels, so your music and movies sound more alive A dedicated audio creation mode supports near transparent conversion between any resolutions, digital-matched recording, low-latency ASIO support and more
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card (70SB073A00000) Accessories
 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor, 2.40 GHz, 8M L2 Cache, LGA 775
Logitech NEW G5 Laser Mouse
Logitech Z-5500 THX-Certified 505-Watt 5.1 Digital Surround Sound Speaker System
Antec Sonata III 500 Quiet Super Mini Tower ATX Case (Black)
Crysis
Western Digital WD5000KSRTL Caviar 500 GB SATA Hard Drive
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Logitech Z-2300 THX-Certified 200-Watt 2.1 Speaker System
Antec Nine Hundred Steel ATX Ultimate Gamer PC Case (Black)
Sony DRU840A 20x Internal Dual-Layer DVD Burner
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card (70SB073A00000) Reviews
Do a computer restart and I GOT THE BLACK SCREEN OF DEATH. Turn on computer. If the install would have went smoothly I would have given this 5 stars. I'm running windows XP, 2 gig ram on an Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe Motherboard with an AMD 64 X2 Dual Core Processor. We can't prove the software caused the crash but I haven't had any problems until I installed this software.
Put in install disk and install. I use Spysweeper and keep it up to date. Even with a clean hardrive and fresh operating system I still had to install the software twice to get it to work. Open case, insert sound card. I'm using the Logitec X-540 5.1 speakers and the sound is crisp, clean and clear. Easy installation. Windows finds it and asks for the install disk. But now that it is installed and working properly the sound is a vast improvement over the motherboard sound.
After trying several different work arounds, including a windows repair I had to send my computer to a shop and have the harddrive formatted and Windows reinstalled. If I had to do it again I would not use the software but go directly to the Creative Sound website and load the updated driver directly from them. Remove all sound drivers from device manager. My computer is less than a year old.
I needed a gaming card and one with ASIO support for home based recording. This includes an Axiom 61 midi controller keyboard, Guitar Rig 3 software edition without their Rig Control unit, and Line 6 Toneport UX2. All my music hardware is USB based and I've got 7ms or less of latency with all of them. Highly recommended for at home musicians and gamers. So far I'm totally satisfied and don't expect to have to buy a 'pro quality' soundcard which is BIG bucks. All my games sound great.
Installation was a breeze and there is an automatic update service that keeps drivers and programs current. For the price, you cannot beat the quality of sound this card produces, even with your standard computer speakers. You cannot go wrong with a Creative product. Even if you don't want to spend the extra money, it is well worth it to upgrade your standard sound card to even the lowest price Creative card.
I did not notice much of a difference with music audio, but if you are a gamer, this is definitely worth the investment. I upgraded from a Sound Blaster Audigy Value. Wow, what a difference in Mass Effect. The sound from this game is now pretty incredible.
The software installation alone took longer on my computer than installing Supreme Commander (an 8 gig game), and required 3 reboots. I've watched a few DVDs with the included PowerDVD program, and they sound just as good as games. To change options for Game Mode is one program, to change options for Entertainment Mode is another, to change general options is yet another program. The sound from this card blows onboard audio away. I couldn't believe the difference when I first tried it. Music is clearer, video game sounds are crisper, and overall everything just sounds a hundred times better. Plus there's a driver updating utility that needs to be dealt with, and the ever-present "Register Me" notice.
The same thing happens with music, it's just better. There's no way to describe it in words; you really just need to listen for yourself. Overall, I highly recommend this card. Instead of having all audio options built into one single program, Creative broke it up into many programs.
I've also found that my games run about 10 to 20 fps higher now that I'm not using onboard audio.
Games, movies, and music all sound fantastic on it.
It seems like very few cards offer it.
This card features an Intel HD Audio front panel connector (not compatible with the AC'97 audio connector) which is nice.
The Creative software itself is a little bit unnecessary and the interface can be confusing.
The full install includes tons of stuff that you don't need).
(Side note: when installing the software, choose "Minimum Installation".
On the downside, installing the drivers and software is like pulling teeth.
The programs link to each other, but its still annoying.
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