Windows 7: Gaming Sound Card

I am looking for a good gaming sound card to replace XtremeGamer by Creative Labs. Since upgrading to this newer build of Windows 7 I can't get the driver to work and it never really worked right anyway. The beta driver or the Vista ones in compatibility mode. Daniel K people also said to try, they didn't work either. Always will freeze the computer and then I will have to go into Safe Mode and remove the driver to be able to boot again. So any ideas for a good card? What about the Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Audio Card? Will it work with Windows 7?

HT Omega - The Next Generation in Audio.

Thisislaw, what usually occurs when it freezes?
i have the same card and the most problems i've had were Crysis have messed up sound. other than that, there hasn't been any issue. are you using the beta driver designed for windows 7? i know that the d/l link is easily overlooked on the creative site. is there a chance you got the wrong driver?

Yeah, I am using the beta drivers holo88. In fact, I used every driver they offered. All that happens is during the installation of the driver it completely freezes. Must power down, boot into safe mode, and remove the driver. If I let it boot normally it will hang at "Starting Windows". I used to have it working in build 7077. But in build 7232, it seems impossible.
And I was thinking HT Omega before but I really like the sound of the Razer one so far but they are hard to find even used.

If you're running x64 do yourself a favor and don't get that card, that is unless you can find a x64 driver for it seeing as Razer doesn't provide one,

Razer Support

and IIRC it took them over a year after Vista came out to even get the 32 bit driver out. That isn't to say that you can't use the C-Media re fence driver (CMI8787 I beleive is the chip on that card),

C-Media Company Information

you just won't get the Razer software with it.

I do run x64. But what would I need the Razer software for?

To be able to take full advantage of what the card can do. The Windows settings only allow for basic configuration options. Don't know if it comes/installs with the reference C-Media drivers but what the Razer software is is a Razer branded version of C-Media's Xear,

C-Media Company Information

Hello, have not been on. Just in case anyone else buys the Razer card. It works perfectly in Windows 7 (driver + software), you just need to download Vista driver.

The Razer Barracuda AC-1 gaming sound card works very poorly with windows 7. The Vista beta drivers are terrible anyway, with many features non-working or disabled. 5.1 surround sound is difficult to get working in almost any game, the only success I've had is to use Dolby Pro Logic II and stereo source with most games to get sound coming out of the rear speakers. It's different for almost every game and most don't work properly at all.

The card offers wonderful sound quality and performance, but the lack of Windows 7 drivers is a huge problem.

Thisislaw, try turning off your front and center speakers and listen for the sound from your rear or surround, you'll find that even if you do get your settings right and get it working, it isn't proper surround sound. Compared to how the card worked on XP this is miserable. I regret ever buying the card as I upgraded to Windows 7 shortly after getting it.

It's really too bad.. -_-