Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card - OEM

Pros: After 10 hours of set up, uninstalling, reinstalling, re-un-installing, re-re-re installing, it's semi-working and makes games and music sound better.

Cons: It took 10+ hours to install. The divers ARE NOT SUPPORTED FOR WINDOWS 7!!!! The drivers that came with it are for Vista. The have beta drivers on the website for Windows 7 and 8 but getting them to work is a real pain in the neck.

I'm at 12 hours of working on this and I still don't have full capabilities yet. Personally I've never messed much with sound cards, but a good friend of mine is a professional sound engineer and has been helping me. Both of us together have still taken this long to get it semi-working.

Other Thoughts: I wouldn't have gotten it if I had know that its drivers were this bad.

Pros: Good sound for gaming/movies

Cons: Bad drivers, also not sure if its a driver issue but theres a loud static sound everytime you pause any sort of sound.

Other Thoughts: If your on a low budget and need a optical port like I did I recommend it but there is much better out there.

Pros: cheap

Cons: it is not true 7.1
this card does true 2.1
emul 5.1, 7.1, x-fi
so if you looking for 5.1, 7.1, x-fi please don't buy this.

Other Thoughts: good thing that i ask creative first.
They also dont know why this item wrote in 7.1 and x-fi...

Pros: newegg shipped quickly.

Cons: Dear Kenneth,

I am afraid according to the information you have given us, since you bought an OEM soundcard from newegg, it would be a soundcard that we would not able to support.
OEM products are often specifically customized for the PC manufacturer who ships them, and therefore the PC manufacturer is the primary source for support and warranty requests regarding the OEM product.

In some cases, OEM drivers can even be found on our site for a limited number of products. However, unless a Knowledge Base article or driver listing states it is for your specific OEM product, you should always contact your original supplier for all hardware, driver, and other technical issues.

If you still require assistance, please reply to this email and include any previous correspondence to ensure a quick response.

Best Regards,

Ramil
Worldwide Customer Response
Creative

Other Thoughts: this is a brand new card and i cant believe creative will not support this.. I have tried everything to resolve the driver and compatibly issues With XP and windows 7.

Pros: Great card for setting up systems that are going to be used by every day people as well as Music computers.

Cons: Other then what is stated below I was finally able to get it working.

Other Thoughts: I was having similar trouble with several different cards including this one, but I think I found the problem for those of you still experiencing the volume changing for no apparent reason. I found that on a 2 speaker system that the default setting was for 7.1 speaker setup and after changing this to 2.1 everything worked great. as well as on a 4.1 speaker setup I changed it to the appropriate setting for those speakers and the volume changing stopped and the surround setting worked as expected.

Pros: I bought this card for the singular reason that it is currently the only card with a TOSHLINK connection for < $50. Of course after installation Win7 recognized it and installed the default driver. With the default driver, I instantly started to experience the static popping noises everyone reports.

After some research, I managed to find the Creative driver (dated 2009!) on the Creative support website, even though it isn't easy to find on their site. Regardless, I installed the new driver and rebooted. (I did not install any of the Creative apps).

After reboot - CRYSTAL CLEAR SOUNDS! Whatever static popping noise issues they had in the past, is now resolved in this driver. Driver version 6.10.0.209 dated 5/21/2009.

Works PERFECTLY as my "poor man's receiver" between my new 55" LG TV and surround sound speakers. As a "bonus" - the sound out of this card vs. the mobo built-in soundcard is significantly better. (surpise lol)

Extremely pleased with how this worke

Cons: None so far...

Other Thoughts: My setup lets me use my computer as a home stereo receiver to pipe sound from my XBOX/TV (via SPDIF toshlink cable) to remote surround sound speakers. Since its via the PC, I am using an "inexpensive" ($60 range) 5.1 speaker set with cables ran through the walls to the corners of the room. This "poor man's receiver" setup lets me experience 5.1 surround sound for - wait for it - about $150 total! System setup intended mainly for movies and Netflix:

XBOX > HDMI cable > LG TV > SPDIF cable > THIS sound card in my PC > 5.1 speakers.

The Creative 5.1 speakers (from Newegg!) are adequate for my needs. I don't intend to power a heavy metal rock concert in my living room and therefore don't need more powerful speakers. Just enough to enjoy movies in my living room without breaking the bank. Besides I have other things to do besides watching movies every night :)

Hardest part is running speaker wires to get everything connected.

Pros: Affordable for a PCIe 1x slot card.
Sound is always crystal clear without static.
It does exactly what I bought it for. Was plug and play in my new Windows 7 x64 gaming machine. (I didnt install the drivers included)

Cons: none

Pros: it have some new feature then my audigy 2 zs. pcie 1x than the pci card. support xp, vista and win 7 but see cons. at least it has a toslink build on the card.

Cons: ok on xp the software work very well but still twitching on the update when the programs are rewriten. then it downgrades under vista. not all of the features are workable. then on win 7 its just a sound card with no features to use with.
xp-workable
vista-some what
win 7-just like a build in sound card but with a 24 bit w/ 48hz

Other Thoughts: wait for a newer card or get an asus for better product with vista or win 7. this is better under xp. also not workable with linux

Pros: A massive upgrade from my bad onboard Asus sound. I don't understand the bad reviews. It's good for the price and PCI-e is a plus.

Cons: Software is poorly designed - EQ woud have been nice.

Pros: Cheap

Cons: Sound is all over the map, one second everything is fine and the next voices are cut out. It fluctuates constantly

Other Thoughts: Should have believed the reviews, this thing sucks