SpoonMuffin
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- Jan 11, 2007
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Processor | x2 4000+@2.96gz, thermalright ultra90 with 90mm panaflow ultra speed |
---|---|
Motherboard | biostar tforce 550 |
Cooling | Thermalright ultra90,90mm panaflow ultra speed fan |
Memory | Transend AxeRam ddr2 800@986mhz 5-5-5-15 2t TrFc 75ns |
Video Card(s) | x1900xtx+zalman vf900cu cooler |
Storage | 80+160+200+250gb |
Display(s) | 20.1in gaming lcd 1600x1200@120hz(dvi-d) |
Case | cg-briza (thx again to ashen) |
Audio Device(s) | realtek 8ch hd audio latist drivers |
Power Supply | 400watt fsp 12cm fan psu |
Software | windows 2003 sp2(custom build),nod32,opera9,tcmp,vlc,udrfrag,perfect disk,utorrent |
Introduction
Back in May, we published an article and report about many issues reported on the latest Creative Labs product – The Sound Blaster X-Fi. A few weeks later Creative released information and blamed DDR Dual Channel for these related issues. And, after a few months, they changed their version and blamed Nvidia’s nForce4 for these issues, instead. Nvidia never responded to us about their side in the story, but they denied it on a chat.
We kept following this story and we received a lot of reports from users without nForce4 that claimed they had the same issues. So, to investigate these issues, we grabbed an X-Fi XtremeMusic from the closest hardware store and checked it out on the following motherboards: Asus M2R32-MVP, Asus A8N-SLI, Asus A8N32-SLI, ECS RS482-M and Gigabyte GA-965P. We used Windows XP SP2 with the latest updates and the latest drivers for all the devices. We also used the latest BIOS versions and ensured that the X-Fi was not sharing an IRQ with any other device by plugging it into a non-shared PCI slot.
IRQ Sharing
Talking about IRQ Sharing: Most of the time, Creative Labs and some other audio card manufacturers blame IRQ Sharing for its issues. Currently, Creative and everyone are saying that the issues and reports are caused by IRQ sharing.
Let me explain something to you, IRQ Sharing is not a bad thing! In these days devices are supposed to share an IRQ with other devices, but the device has to support both hardware and software. IRQ Sharing is in the latest PCI bus specification – and every manufacturer needs to follow and make their products support fully the latest PCI specification. If Creative’s products are unable to support IRQ Sharing, Creative has to take their products from the shelves or make it work. When someone tells you that IRQ Sharing is an issue, tell him that IRQ Sharing is a feature of the PCI bus and devices are supposed to support it.
Most of today’s motherboards use IRQ Sharing – mostly due to SLI and Crossfire. Therefore, manufactures have to accept the PCI specification and make their hardware work and support IRQ Sharing. Failure to do so means that the manufacturer’s product is breaking the PCI bus specification.
Asus M2R32-MVP
We plugged in the card and installed the drivers from the CD; and then applied the latest drivers from Creative Labs. We installed a few games such as Battlefield 2 and few more and played around. We didn’t notice any crackling or popping issue on this motherboard. Be aware that this motherboard is powered by ATI’s latest chipsets – the Xpress 3200 for AM2. So far, everything worked on this motherboard without a problem.
Asus A8N-SLI
The A8N-SLI is a classic motherboard; this is one of the first SLI-capable motherboards that appeared on the market. It is powered by Nvidia’s nForce4 chipset. We installed the same stuff on this motherboard as well and checked around. The results were the same as the M2R32-MVP -- everything worked without any popping or crackling sounds. So far, so good.
Asus A8N32-SLI
After that we tried the A8N-SLI. We went to the 32 edition that is powered by the nForce4 x16 chipset. This time we had an issue finding a slot that does not share an IRQ with the graphic card. So, we had to plug our graphic card into the second PCI Express slot to avoid IRQ Sharing. After we managed to get it working, we installed games and all the other stuff. This time, the crackling noise was noticed with the drivers from the CD. After that we installed the latest drivers and it reduced the crackling noise -- but it still existed. We tried playing around by switching PCI slots, but nothing solved it.
ECS RS482-M
The RS482 is powered by ATI’s Xpress 200 chipset and is suited for the AMD 939 socket. We installed the motherboard and flashed it with the latest BIOS. After the operating system installation, we installed the latest chipset drivers and some games. We installed the X-Fi with the drivers from the CD and noticed that the crackling issue appeared on this motherboard as well. Same with the latest drivers, but however, the frequency of the issue appeared less than with the A8N32-SLI -- but it did still exist on this motherboard. In the same drill, we tried to switch to other PCI slots but nothing solved it – and it actually made it worse due to IRQ Sharing.
Gigabyte GA-965P
It took us some time to grab an Intel chipset based motherboard and that delayed this article. After we managed to get this motherboard working, we installed all the drivers, games and stuff to get the X-Fi working and ready for this article. Fortunately, this time, the X-Fi worked flawlessly without any problems. Even the old drivers from the CD worked well and smoothly.
Results
From our entire testing, the X-Fi generated crackling noises from 40% (2/5) [Fixed typo] of the motherboards. I’d consider it a high number because PCI cards are suppose to fit and work fully within the PCI specification. If this card fails to work on more than a single motherboard, the manufacturer should investigate and do something about it. I must say that the latest driver update has helped in reducing the frequency of these issues, and some motherboard manufacturers have released BIOS updates to fix the issue. Since BIOS is software as well, it is likely that these issues can be solved via software. Yes! They don’t have to wait for motherboard manufacturers to sort it out -- Creative can write a small device driver that’s capable of acting like the BIOS modification itself.
Software
During this test we noticed that X-Fi’s driver is written horribly. Instead of coding a driver, Creative took a lot of code parts and integrated them into a single driver. Therefore, it creates a lot of memory usage and may affect the performance of your computer. When we inserted the CD and launched the installer we saw that Creative is adding so many applications – in my opinion, most of these applications are totally useless and are not suited for an enthusiast or a gamer -- musicians maybe, but that’s too much I guess.
When we choose only the Audio Console and the drivers only – without all the applications that we don’t really need -- the installer still showed that 131MB are required to install it. Why the hell do I need to use 130MB on a small audio console and audio drivers? We have enough free space on our hard disks these days, but still, 131MB for an audio driver only and a small console is way too much. Well, let it be, we installed the drivers and check this out:
X-Fi’s drivers added three new applications in our Startup Folder and from what I saw, one of them is totally useless (Updreg.exe). You think that’s all? Well, think again! Except for these three new executables on the Startup, X-Fi’s drivers added not one, not two or three, but SIX new device level services to our system. Every service is handling a different feature. And now you can see that instead of writing one single driver for all the audio needs (Like Realtek is doing) they are writing many parts and spamming your system with their services/executables. And what does this all mean?
It takes away from your system resources due to unoptimized and unprofessional coding from Creative’s side. The screenshot above just shows the usage of the three executables; we still don’t know how many resources are being used by all six of the services-based device drivers. Creative is trying to aim their products to gamers and enthusiasts, but their driver is simply horribly and unprofessionally coded. Why do we need to lose so many resources – just to run a single audio card? Why? There are many solutions out there with almost the same features that don’t spam our systems with tons of services and crapware/bloatware.
Sound Blaster X-Fi Issues Explored
Published on December 26th, 2006
Conclusions
In our test we saw that two motherboards out of five caused the X-Fi to produce crackling and popping noises. But, beyond that, we saw that X-Fi’s driver is simply bloatware and amateurish code. Personally, I have nothing against Creative Labs. I honestly believe that there is a place and need for audio solutions. There is a place for the latest X-Fi products and I’ve always thought that. I even remember the good old days of the Sound Blaster Pro, 16 and AWE. However, Creative has to do a lot of thinking and make a lot of changes, because they are currently disappointing and losing users of their products. They have a lot of potential and I believe in them. But, they must make some changes for the next product launch. They must get rid of that bloatware thing that they call a driver. They need to lose all the current developers, hire new ones and get some good hotshot software development manager; and write new and professional software for their hardware.
Software is not enough here – they need to start following books and standards and make their products run on EVERY motherboard. They need to test it on every motherboard before they launch it to the market to ensure their products are working and bug-free. They need to improve their cooperation with motherboard manufacturers and make their products 100% certified for the PCI (or PCI Express) specification – including making their hardware/software capable to work with PCI IRQ Sharing.
Beyond software and hardware they need to treat their customers better because too many people are complaining about lack of support. Their forums have turned into a full time battlefield (Why play Battlefield 2142 when you can fight for free on their forums?). That includes proper driver updates and public relations. (Not these viral marketers/employees that are sent to flame us on a few forums).
In addition, their X-Fi prices are extremely overpriced and unattractive. Why would anyone pay so much to buy some product that doesn’t even have native SPDIF/DDL outputs? So, instead of making front panels, ridiculous Fatal1ty marketing, they should do something useful and smart. Anyway, if Creative Labs will start making these changes I mentioned they might have a chance and convince us to stop using the onboard Realtek audio, and to buy their products. Creative has to make changes and shake the entire company if they wish to impress us. Instead of blaming other manufacturers and DDR Dual Channel and IRQ Sharing, they should investigate research and make changes because they are the ones selling the cards, not the others. Blaming others is not helping. They should take action themselves. Until then, if anyone asks me what I think about X-Fi, I will simply say, "Crap, it isn’t worth your money."
Updates
1. We tested five motherboards, not six (it was a number typo).
2. A few users have contacted us, and claimed they are experiencing some issues on the nForce 680i chipset as well. However, we don’t have any 680i chipset based motherboard in our labs to verify it. (Thanks a lot to Nvidia/EVGA for their horrible cooperation).
Written by Eran Badit
Edited by Lewis Turner
sorry i didnt copy over the images, somebody else is welcome to post them if they like, but this just conferms that creative sucks arse at programing!!!!