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| Ease of Set Up | 9.8/10  |
|---|---|
| Value for Money | 6/10 |
| Overall rating | 7/10 |
Full review by
AirborneUK
expert review 
on 20th Sep 2007
User Rating : 8
Respect :
0
Good Points: Improved CPU performance Great Audio for gaming and music Easy to install and setup includes some nifty software
Bad Points: High pitched whine with microphone on my XP64 bit machine* Slightly on the expensive side.
General comments: This is a fantastic sound card, which was a large improvement over my on-board sound system!
The sound card helps improve system performance as it does the job of processing the audio and leaves the main system processor to get on and do other things.
Although slightly expensive for my liking, you do get what you pay for! This card really does work well with a good speaker system - mine being a Creative 5.1 surround speaker set, which has lasted me years.
I can now set all my audio settings to HIGH and have it set to EAX, which adds depth & amazing effects to games!! - Although it does take some getting used to.
Works brilliant with BF2142 bringing out all the noises I never knew existed inside the Titans - and in other games too.
*With all that said I was disappointed and am still completely baffled with an odd microphone issue I am experiencing, every time I increase the microphone volume I get a high pitched whining noise which might not seem like much but trust me it is annoying after 5 minutes! Oddly enough I only get this with my XP64 bit machine, and not my windows 2000 pro OS, I haven't yet come across anyone else with this problem so it may just be my setup at fault!
Despite that, it is a brilliant card which does exactly what it is meant to do, and the software included is very helpful, an easy to use speaker setup allows you to adjust all sorts of setting to suit your needs, or just a simple pre-adjusted setting mode (Game/Audio Creation/Entertainment modes).
Another piece software included can in most cases clear up any distorted audio that you have, as well as improving mp3 music in some cases.
Although some have said about random clicks, snaps and crackles which apparently is a common issue with some people, I have not come across such problems, always check your system is compatible before buying any hardware/software!
Another classic product from a brilliant company, Creative! I strongly recommend this product to those wanting more from their standard on board or old sound card. Try one, you won't believe the difference until you have tried it.
AirborneUK's review and ratings | 406 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
moparado
on 21st Jun 2007
User Rating : 1
Respect :
0
After almost two years, Creative has yet to fix the SCP problem. I eventually uninstalled the Fatal1ty and went back to on-board sound.
I recommend before buying this card, go to Creative's user forum and do a search for SCP and related X-fi sound problems to see if your MOBO is compatible with this sound card. Some of these threads were so long from disgruntled users, they were deleted by Creative last year.
moparado's full review | 132 words
Review by
silverfox4me
on 6th Aug 2006
User Rating : 10
Respect :
0
Creative Labs Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty - I'm using it with the creative inspire 5.1 speaker system, excellent all round sound. I'd definately recommend THIS sound card for any serious gamer, not only will it save on system resources as it has its own in built processor & adds depth & amazing effects to games, especially first person shooters like F.E.A.R
silverfox4me's full review | 87 words
Review by
Mirko Sitic
on 4th Nov 2005
User Rating : 9
Respect :
0
Primarily bought the Creative Labs Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty card for gaming as my onboard audio was not efficient enough with Doom3 , CS and BF2. With X-Fi I am now playing at highest settings with full EAX effects. The best of all the features is the surround sound over regular headphones, it is simply unbelievable. Another very cool thing about X-Fi is that it has an option to enhance mp3 so that they sound better. This appears a bit gimmicky first, but it works great. Somehow it adds more s ...
Mirko Sitic's full review | 167 words
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