Have any suggestions, advice, constructive criticisms, etc. on my new build?

[bytheway_r]

About sound cards - Soar, there's a certain rule regarding sound quality. Same as with many other things, really. It says that final sound quality will be as good as the worst part in the whole sound related setup.

This is a trap some people fall into. For best sound you should have speakers / headphones of comparable quality to your sound card.

I'm also in agreement with cravinmild regarding Creative's market. They're cards mostly for gamers, though movies will be just fine with a card like this. Music... there are better choices but there's also the issue of whether or not an average person will notice a difference.

[soarwitheagles]

I have read many reviews including instals for this card also.  Most are not overly possitve but to play devels advicate, most people are idots.  Both of my instals were different. The first one was basic the second i custom instaled and it allowed me to instal the parts i wanted-drivers and creative console launcher, the rest is filler. 

  My process was easy,  first i shut down the pc and put the card into the mobo-plugging in the front panel FIRST (3.5mm jacks or the front panel device as in your case) to the sound card as its easyer this way.  Start up the pc > bios > disable onboard sound (will not disable front jacks even if plugged into the mobo) > restart > launch the software (dont use the disk it came with-dl from creative labs here):

http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&CatName=Sound+Blaster&subCatID=208&subCatName=X-Fi&prodID=17813&prodName=PCI+Express+X-Fi+Titanium+Fatal1ty+Champion+Series&bTopTwenty=1&VARSET=prodfaq:PRODFAQ_17813,VARSET=CategoryID:1

only use these drivers if your sure that is your card other wise get the drivers for the card you have, it does make a differance

Cut and paste to your top bar if the link does not lite up lol-its a long one.  I assume your card will come with the front device and not just the card, other wise you either got the pro series or never recived the front panel control box.  I have the pro series so my card does not have that extra device.

You can go for a complete instal (i did it the first time and it took forever) or custom instal and pick the parts you want-mostly garbage extras,  you really only have to instal the drivers NOT the whole package.   My sound card crapped out everytime it over heats which causes me to pull the card- replugg the card in > uninstall drivers > reinstall drivers,  it works everytime.

Im from beautiful BC  Canada,  mid way up the and in the centre.  110c in the summer and -30c in the winter, Lots of sun.  We have alot of cattle ranches and orchards around.  Im about 3 hours away from Vancouver which is ranked one of the most beautiful citys in the world and the most expensive place to buy a home in Canada..........go figure.

Cravin, You live in a beautiful area of Canada!  One of my friends flies up there every year for the Steelhead Trout fishing and he loves it up there.

I visited Vancouver in the 1970's, so it has been quite a while.  I do remember the people were exceptionally nice there.

Thanks for your insights on how to install this sound card.  I think I have the same card as you, but I am not 100% certain.  And yes, this model did arrive with the Sound Card itself [Model #:SB0080] and the Front Panel [Model #SB1110].  I have included a pic of these items as well as the box it arrived in.

The box says this is the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion 1 series.  I am not sure what that all entails but I know I received a good deal on it because it is new, normally cost $199, and I was able to purchase it for under $70.

I will proceed slowly but surely on this install because I need it done right.

Please let me know if you have any more good advice on this install.

Thanks again!

Soar

[soarwitheagles]

About sound cards - Soar, there's a certain rule regarding sound quality. Same as with many other things, really. It says that final sound quality will be as good as the worst part in the whole sound related setup.

This is a trap some people fall into. For best sound you should have speakers / headphones of comparable quality to your sound card.

I'm also in agreement with cravinmild regarding Creative's market. They're cards mostly for gamers, though movies will be just fine with a card like this. Music... there are better choices but there's also the issue of whether or not an average person will notice a difference.

BytheWayer,

Thanks for your informative post.  It sure made sense that the final sound quality will be as good as the worst part in the whole sound related setup!

I see now I must have good speakers as well.

I do own the Altec Lansing Surround Sound 7.1 system at the moment, and I think it a great speaker system.  I hope this sound card will truly enhance this speaker system!

Mostly for gamers...well, I do not game very much, but it will be nice to "hear" my enemies before they see or hear me!  Wish Creative made something like this for real life scenarios!

Ok, after installing this baby, I will post the quality results later.

Have a good one!

Soar

PS I included a pic of my new GPU!

[cravinmild]

I hope your going to keep the 2x 250gts for sli action on the intel machine (your amd mobo wont support it) or you could run the 4xx series card and a 250 as a dedicated physx card (amd mobo) as they are both nvidia cards.  Not alot of games use it yet but its comming around and where its done right.......OH BOY!   I hate an empty board, makes it look naked..and not in a good way.

Just thought id mention that, some thing to think about if your going to shelf a card.


Thanks for the compliment on where i live,  it really is a special place.  I remember river rafting in the interior (movie: a river runs through it >brad pitt) and just above us was a place horses would be lost to quick sand.  A few hours after that run we were in the rain forests fishing while surrounded by 400f moss covered trees,  then we went to the ocean.   All that in a day.
    Most peoples here are very nice,  we are pretty layed back IMO.

[soarwitheagles]

I hope your going to keep the 2x 250gts for sli action on the intel machine (your amd mobo wont support it) or you could run the 4xx series card and a 250 as a dedicated physx card (amd mobo) as they are both nvidia cards.  Not alot of games use it yet but its comming around and where its done right.......OH BOY!   I hate an empty board, makes it look naked..and not in a good way.

Just thought id mention that, some thing to think about if your going to shelf a card.


Thanks for the compliment on where i live,  it really is a special place.  I remember river rafting in the interior (movie: a river runs through it >brad pitt) and just above us was a place horses would be lost to quick sand.  A few hours after that run we were in the rain forests fishing while surrounded by 400f moss covered trees,  then we went to the ocean.   All that in a day.
    Most peoples here are very nice,  we are pretty layed back IMO.

Cravin, I am not sure if my Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 v.1 will support SLI.  Even though I have heard alot about SLI, I am still not sure what it does!  If it is very helpful, I would want to install a second card because I still have several of them laying around.  Is it very difficult to set up a SLI in my Intel system?  Also, what are the benefits?  Last, must I use the exact same cards?

Do you run the dedicated physx card and if so, what does it do?

Hope I am not asking too many questions!

Soar

[cravinmild]

A quick look up shows that even though its an Intel mobo it only supports dual ati cards @ 8x  or single cards (ati or nvidia) @ 16x so NO it wont sli and nor will your amd mobo as its a crossfire board also (sorry my bad for not looking it up befor i opened my big mouth).   You can still use the amd mobo with two nvidia cards-one as the main card and the second dedicated as physx this can be done with different series nvidia cards ie.  450 main and 250 physx.  This set up would benifit you in games that use physx (mafia2-batman) but not for much else.  In the nvidia control panel you can choose which card does which OR you can set the cpu to run the physx calculations allowing you to keep a single gc.  I have done tests and the cpu (your cpu) will come very close (fps) that your 250 will offer you.  For general day to day use nither of the dual card setups will have any noticable gains- sli/crossfire is more for increasing fps in games.........for the most part.  This is assuming that the amd mobo has 2x pcie slots lol.

I have a 280 and a 250 instaled but the 250 is only used when a game that allows for physx is played.  For movies or music single cards will work well.
I do like what physx offers (lots more eye candy) but much like Nvidia 3d vision (which i own and love) its slow to take off also if your not a big gamer these "extras" will not be noticed anyways lol.

I dont mind answering your questions and they arent very numerous either

I just was hoping for you to get the most out of your system, not make work projects for you as we all have lots of those.

[soarwitheagles]

A quick look up shows that even though its an Intel mobo it only supports dual ati cards @ 8x  or single cards (ati or nvidia) @ 16x so NO it wont sli and nor will your amd mobo as its a crossfire board also (sorry my bad for not looking it up befor i opened my big mouth).   You can still use the amd mobo with two nvidia cards-one as the main card and the second dedicated as physx this can be done with different series nvidia cards ie.  450 main and 250 physx.  This set up would benifit you in games that use physx (mafia2-batman) but not for much else.  In the nvidia control panel you can choose which card does which OR you can set the cpu to run the physx calculations allowing you to keep a single gc.  I have done tests and the cpu (your cpu) will come very close (fps) that your 250 will offer you.  For general day to day use nither of the dual card setups will have any noticable gains- sli/crossfire is more for increasing fps in games.........for the most part.  This is assuming that the amd mobo has 2x pcie slots lol.

I have a 280 and a 250 instaled but the 250 is only used when a game that allows for physx is played.  For movies or music single cards will work well.
I do like what physx offers (lots more eye candy) but much like Nvidia 3d vision (which i own and love) its slow to take off also if your not a big gamer these "extras" will not be noticed anyways lol.

I dont mind answering your questions and they arent very numerous either

I just was hoping for you to get the most out of your system, not make work projects for you as we all have lots of those.

Cravin!  Wow, what an education!  Ok, thanks for helping me to become more up-to-date on the SLI, crossfire, and Physx bonuses.  I had only heard about them, but never really had much of an understanding about what they do to improve performance.

After reading your clear explanation, it seems that I should be ok with setting the 1055t to run the physx calculations allowing me to use a single card.

To be honest with you, I do not game much at all now.  When I did game, I played the Crysis demo, Delta Force [all versions], and a simple flying program.  It was so much fun and I was able to run each game at high settings using the GTS 250.  I did receive a free full version copy of Modern Warfare 4 in one of the GTS 250 boxes.  I am not sure how much GPU it requires, but I hope to play it soon.

I like first person shooter games esp. stuff that simulates destroying terrorists!  I'd rather be doing the real thing in Afghanistan right now, but my time there is over...I spent some years on/near the Afghan/Pakistan border....and if I was younger, I would want to be there now.

Lastly, I must limit my playing time due to much more important commitments...my wife does not like it if I play for hours on end...and I don't blame her!

Ok, thanks again for helping me understand this stuff...I always wondered about SLI, Crossfire, and Phsyx.

Have a good one!

Soar

PS

Thanks for the compliment on where i live,  it really is a special place.  I remember river rafting in the interior (movie: a river runs through it >brad pitt) and just above us was a place horses would be lost to quick sand.  A few hours after that run we were in the rain forests fishing while surrounded by 400f moss covered trees,  then we went to the ocean.   All that in a day.
    Most peoples here are very nice,  we are pretty layed back IMO.

Cravin, you are so fortunate to live around so much beauty and ruggedness and diversity!  Lots of BC is still unspoiled and pure.  Rain forests are like an entirely different world!  I enjoyed living 5 years in the Santa Cruz Mountains some years ago and we had the rain forest effect there...what made it most amazing was the 75-80 meter Redwood trees...these trees are the largest living things left on planet earth at the time.  It brings back good memories...we used to have contests on who could climb to the top the fastest!  It was excellent exercise and the views were spectacular!

Enjoy the beauty!

Soar