Which sound card should I buy?

[MotoMedic]

I have a Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music OEM Dell SB0467. Just upgraded from XP to 7 Ultimate x64. Have tried all the fixes for this card and got it to work but very poor sound. I've decided to buy a new sound card.

Was considering Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Sound Card, but despite Wndows website showing complete compatability & the 'Win7' logo, I've read alot of negative comments online about it not working properly with Win 7 x64.

So which low cost card will work with Win 7 x64 with no problems?
(I just want good quality sound for playing music on my 2.1 speakers)

 

[stormy13]

MotoMedic, welcome to the forums.

Would really like to know what Dell had Creative do to those cards that they for the most part don't work with the reference Creative drivers. It isn't just a Windows 7 thing either and has been going on with those cards pretty much since they came out in XP as well.

That said have you tried either of these with it,

SB X-Fi Series Support Pack 2.0 (05/15/2009) - Creative Labs

SB X-Fi PCI Install Disc 1.0 (unofficial) - Creative Labs

I would go with the second one just for the newer driver and apps in it.

If you can't get it to work, before buying another card it would probably be worth giving the onboard sound a try instead.

 

[Wishmaster]

If you are going to get a Creative card, I would recommend getting at least a Xtreme Gamer.

The Xtreme Audio/Music cards are not true X-Fi Cards.


Personally, I have had no issues at all out of Creatives Drivers/Software with mine under Win7 or even Vista x64.

I know thats not been the case for everyone though, I just have never seen any problems.
I would love to know the cause of the issues quite honestly. Theres obviously a few from many people.



Also, if Im not mistaken, Creative only "officially" supports the X-Fi cards from Xtreme gamer up, For Win 7.
In fact, they actually just released a updated one not long ago.

 

[stormy13]

The Xtreme Audio/Music cards are not true X-Fi Cards.

Only the Audio falls into that category, the Music is a true X-Fi.

 

[MotoMedic]

Thanks for the replies. The "SB X-Fi PCI Install Disc 1.0 (unofficial) - Creative Labs" worked perfectly for me!