Matthew on 11/6/2009 at 16:05
IIRC you could mod the nVidia 7900GS to restore it to full 7900GT capability, too. That needed a soldering pen though, I think.
june gloom on 11/6/2009 at 19:19
ATI's X850 Pro only had 12 pipelines, whereas the X850 XT and X850 XT Platinum Edition had 16. Because it was cheaper, ATI actually made 16 pipelines on the Pro card and locked out 4 of them, rather than have to spend money on a whole different board. You could flash the BIOS on the Pro with the BIOS from an X850 XT Platinum Edition, and would unlock the extra pipelines and gave it a nice overclock too. So basically you get ATI's top of the line (at the time) card for the price of their midrange card.
steo on 11/6/2009 at 19:27
Isn't the whole basis that all the cards come off the same production line, but the more expensive cards have passed tighter quality control checks and can thus be sold as faster cards, while if they sold the lower quality cards as high-end, they wouldn't all be able to cope with the higher demands and the manufacturer would have to deal with a lot more returns and unhappy customers. So while you could work some magic to turn an 7900GS to a 7900GT or whatever, it wouldn't always be as reliable as a 7900GT out of the box. That's my understanding of it, anyway.
ZylonBane on 11/6/2009 at 20:16
Pretty much. But chip makers have production targets for each "class" of the part, so often parts that tested as top quality will be sold as the next-lower type. That's why so much of overclocking culture is hoping that you get lucky with a particular chip or card.
inselaffe on 11/6/2009 at 20:59
Incidentally, what's better, an audigy 2 zs or an x-fi XtremeMusic? Is that a proper x-fi?
I am just wanting to get a soundcard and was wondering what was best to get (probably will end up being second hand) and thought it was best to ask. Would be PCI (not pci:e). Obviously x-fi supports a later version of eax, but i also read some crystalisation thing mess up the audio? Also does it work find on windows xp? I hope it doesn't have problems with sound or eax in thief (be it 1, 2 or 3) or issues in old games (my current onboard sound has buzzing bee issues with grand prix legends engine sounds :S). But yer hopefully xfi is backwards compatible and stuff.
Yes I am rather clueless about soundcards (and most things).
EvaUnit02 on 11/6/2009 at 22:30
Quote Posted by Dan Knott
Incidentally, what's better, an audigy 2 zs or an x-fi XtremeMusic? Is that a proper x-fi?
X-Fi's are far better than Audigy's and yes, the XtremeMusic is a true X-Fi.
Actually the XtremeMusic is out of production and has been superseded by the XtremeGamer (I'm NOT referring to the more expensive XtremeGamer Fatality series). The only notable difference is that the former has a MIDI connector and latter can be hooked up to any old ATX case's front-panel audio jacks. Whereas the XtremeMusic doesn't support front-panel headers and requires an over-priced Creative HDD bay drive to achieve the same thing.
The one that you want to avoid is the X-Fi XtremeAudio - that is the fake X-fi. It's just a rebadged Audigy Value/Soundblaster Live 24-bit/etc. Basically a big scam by Creative. (Yes, Audigy Value's/SB Live 24-bit's can be soft-modded into X-Fi XtremeAudio's).
Quote:
Obviously x-fi supports a later version of eax, but i also read some crystalisation thing mess up the audio?
The 24-bit Crystaliser can be turned off and I highly recommend that you do so because it sucks, it artificially colours the audio.
Quote:
Also does it work find on windows xp? I hope it doesn't have problems with sound or eax in thief (be it 1, 2 or 3) or issues in old games (my current onboard sound has buzzing bee issues with grand prix legends engine sounds :S). But yer hopefully xfi is backwards compatible and stuff.
Absolutely zero compatibility issues with XP and older games. All three Thief's work perfectly.
Some Game hardware mixing and EAX implementations require for the card to be set in Game Mode. Just grab an app called X-Fi Mode Changer and the process becomes automatic.
(Outside of games, the best audio quality is achieved via Audio Creation mode + Bit-matched playback. Entertainment mode is pure junk.)
Bjossi on 11/6/2009 at 22:34
The X-Fi crystalizer can be disabled from the Audio Console without any trouble if one doesn't like its effect on the output.
EDIT: EvaUnit beat me to it.
inselaffe on 12/6/2009 at 01:13
Ah ok thanks. If i manage to get that then it's a bit annoying my front panel audio won't be of use but still, if I can get it cheap i think it's worth it. I doubt I'll make use of the midi port haha but you never know.
So yer I guess get that then if i can :)
It sounds like the crystalisation is like that silly srs wow effects thing in windows media player haha.
Thanks
Bjossi on 12/6/2009 at 01:54
I don't know, to my ears the crystalizer does make the output more crisp. Its original name, 24-bit crystalixer, is nothing but bullshit though, which is probably why Creative renamed it in later builds of the audio console.
And by the way, thanks for those tips above, EvaUnit. It hadn't crossed my mind to try Audio Creation mode and bit-matched playback before, so I always used Entertainment outside gaming, I look forward to giving that a try once I get my PC back. And that mode switching app will come in handy. :cool:
inselaffe on 23/6/2009 at 17:03
Ah wow ok I managed to get an extreme music for £20 so that seems good.
Inline Image:
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/29-102-188-01.jpgWhat is the tiny 2 pronged connector for, in the middle of the card, above and to the right of the creative chip? (it is unlabelled).
Also where would cd audio lead be connected to?
Hmm you say that it cannot be connected to side panel audio connectors - a shame but not the end of the world.
Would the side panel ones need to be disconnected from my motherboard? and would it be best to install drivers for the soundcard before putting it in - or put it in and install it and then install the drivers (I have no manual).
Also would the onboard sound need to be disabled I wonder? or would that happen automatically. And when i shortly rebuild the computer, as long as i don't install drivers for the onboard sound, it would not need to be "disabled"? or would it?
What I am wondering is if a cheap front panel from an older sb card would be compatible with it, for example if:
(
http://www.kickassgear.com/Reviews/images/LiveDrive.jpg)
or (
http://www.guru3d.com/review/creative/audigy/Mvc-010f.gif)
or even (
http://allabout.co.jp/entertainment/dtm/closeup/CU20030830/03.jpg)
(although there doesn't seem to be any difference externally at least for audigy 1 and 2 ones).
Thank you and sorry, i am rather clueless.
