Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Pros: it works only if it doesnt have any kind of IRQ conflicks. which i have finally figure out how to do it. i run a asus a8n32-sli-deluxe mobo. i use this procedure to fix it: use driver cleaner pro then Download newest Chipset Drivers, but do not install yet * Download and install any BIOS updates * Reboot and enter BIOS * Set what you want, disabling any stuff you never use (whether it be firewire or midi or whatever) * Reboot to Windows * Uninstall all drivers related to sound and video (the b******t apps that go with it too) * Run Driver Cleaner Pro and multi-select all video and sound remotely related to your hardware (I select everything under manufacturer name) * Reboot TO SAFE MODE (keep pressing F8 during reboot until you get the menu choice) * Run Driver Cleaner Pro and clean the same things you just cleaned in normal mode * Select CAB cleaning and clean all CABs it has an option to clean the rest continues in other thoughts>

Cons: creatives tech support is very poor. still waiting on a new driver update. to help out with BSOD=blue screen of death.since the asus mobo have alot of conflicks with creative sound cards. just check out creatives forums you will see what i am chatting bout

Overall Review: * Reboot to normal Windows, cancelling out all the search for a driver gumps * Install the newest Chipset Drivers * Reboot, enter and recheck BIOS settings (chipset drivers can sometimes screw with this) * Reboot to Windows * Install latest OnBoard Sound Drivers if seperate from Chipset * Reboot * Set Windows sound applet stuff, test onboard sound. Any pops? Should be fine * Reboot * Install Sound Card DRIVERS (non of that extra c**p) * Reboot * Set Windows sound applet stuff, test both sound sources * Reboot * Recheck sound applet settings, reboot again if you need to set stuff again (it can be difficult to get Win to set some of that in stone) * Now you can install your Video Drivers * Reboot and retest everything * Lastly, I would suggest the latest monthly version of DirectX to be installed then you should either give you a clean and working as you want it system, or give you an indication of where the problem lies, depending on where in the process

Pros: Beautiful sound and look for a pci card with and an extensive amount of entry level audiophile software. CMSS3d and the 42bit crystalizer alone are worth the price of the card allowing for sound audible from all channels in headphones, use of all speakers even with 2 channel media, and improved quality of mp3 sounds or video. There is lower CPU usage and a noticable increase in range and fidelty over even the most advanced onboard solutions in games. Plus, you get EAX5 support and OpenAL support: sound will play as the authors intended, or as close as is possible today.

Cons: The card is poorly supported by creative. The drivers were unstable on my machine and contained a great deal of bloat-ware and high use memory processes (50mb overall). My machine BSOD'ed at least twice from installing and the sound dropped out a couple times weeks after install which could only be resolved from complete uninstall/install. I experienced severe SCP once while playing DVDA discs, but it disappeared with a reboot. BE AWARE THAT MANY PEOPLE EXPERIENCE SCP ISSUES THAT NEVER GO AWAY AND CREATIVE WILL NOT RMA FOR IT. Switching from game mode to entertainment mode is extremly annoying... if you forget your games will not sound as good.

Overall Review: Microsoft has announced that it is not supporting hardware acceleration for Direct Sound in Vista DX10, which could very well mean that games will have no performance benefit. HDCP will be enabled in 2010 and will only support output through an HDMI cable, which the X-fi doesn't have. If you are a casual game player or have cheap 5.1 speakers you won't get much value from X-fi. Although headphone audio is amazing and microphone sound is crystal clear. HTPCs all have to have one. Even with all the problems with this product it has been worth the cost for me.

Pros: great sound, great features, battlefield 2 has never sounded so good!

Cons: many known issues with call of duty series and a few other games ! since the install system has lowed due to many resources this card takes! also since instal cod2 uses 99% cpu, from online research this is common with creative cards so be careful if cod series is your game of choice!

Overall Review: overall great and able to manage cod2 with major tweaking !

Pros: Better than onboard system. You hear everything!!! Very clear.

Cons: On some boards it is required to disable the onboard audio! (ABIT...etc) Not a bad thing, just have to have a better technical understanding w/systems.Software is a little much for the liking.

Overall Review: Disable onboard audio, then install X-FI, then install driversand re-boot. Clean crisp high quality sound. Excellent gamers card. Looked at all reviews for all cards in this price range and for the money plus bang/trills this is the sound card to buy. NO PROBLEMS!!!! SB X-FI + SENNHEISER = :)

Pros: I only have a two speaker system, but i could hear twigs snap from far off as I was being attacked by a wolf and i could hear drops of rain hitting leaves of the trees. Now concidering that I have a hearing problem thats saying something. Hook up and setup was ever so easy.

Cons: I wish I had a better speaker system.

Pros: This card is like music to my ears, oh wait, it literally is. It sounds amazing! I upgraded from an old Sound Blaster Live card and the difference was amazing. I don't think I can ever go back.

Cons: Although it was a huge leap in quality for me, I've heard that it's not all that much better than the newer Audigy 2 cards, so if you're buying a replacement for an old card this is the way to go!

Pros: This is by far the best sound card I have owned. I originally got it for the sound editing features because I am a sound tech for Theatrical plays. But it is an over all rock solid card.

Cons: Only reason this card didn't make a 5 rating is the lack of compatibility and the anger it caused me with windows xp. When doing a full install it causes major system lag and hang time. After many hours of trouble shooting I found two solutions to this problem. One: download driver from creative and use only the audio consol. Or.. once again download drivers from creative then install what ever else you want off your install disk(excluding the driver). Then do the following. start(click) run(click) msconfig(type and enter) startup tab(click) disable DLLML.exe and your system will run just fine

Overall Review: I love this card but it has caused me so much anger. I made a complet system build from parts I got from new egg so when I first saw system lag I troubled shooted "everything" and i mean everything that you can trouble shoot on a computer to find out where the hang time was accouring from. And after a godly amount of time on my new system I found out it was as simple as disabling a single function.

Pros: None?

Cons: Just as the person below me, my box/wrapping was not even sealed and looked like it may have also been a used card. It did not work or install at all. very bad, very bad.

Overall Review: I give it a 3 because Im sure it is a decent product if it would have actually worked, now I have to wait for creative to repair/replace it, since I cannot send back to newegg, horrible.