Is this a Soundblaster problem?

[ssilverm]

I have a system that has been running without any problems based on the following components:

- Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (overclocked to 3.0 GHz).
- Gigabyte GA-P35 DS3R motherboard
- nVidia 8800GT graphics card
- 4 x 1GB Corsair PC2-6400 XMS2 RAM
- Vista 64-bit.

I have been using the integrated sound capability of the motherboard until a week ago when I installed a new Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-Express card, together with the latest 64-bit driver. Since then I have been experiencing mysterious application hangs, the system grinding to a halt, and extended disk thrashing. I'm also occasionally seeing the CPU temperature rise by as much as 20 degrees without my having initiated any processor-intensive applications. If I reboot, the temperature returns to normal. I've tried refitting the heatsink (Coolermaster Hyper TX2) just in case I somehow dislodged it when fitting the sound card, but this has made no difference.

Bascally, I'm experiencing problems a couple of times a day. I find it hard to believe that it's all down to the sound card, but I can find no other reason.

Any ideas gratefully received.

Steve S.

 

[MichaelD]

Being that you're overclocked, are you sure your PCI and PCI-E busses are locked down to stock speed 33MHz and 100MHz, respectively)? The ability to run the busses out of spec is there; are you sure they aren't OC'd too?

Try putting your CPU back to stock speed and see if the problem goes away.

I'm betting it's just Creative's crappy drivers; new cards every year but same crappy software since the mid-90s. :roll:

What was wrong with your onboard audio? In a quality, recent MB like your GB board, the onboard audio is quite good.

 

[ssilverm]

Thanks for the reply.

I've checked the buses and they are clocked correctly. Setting the CPU back to 2.66 GHz doesn't seem to make a difference.

I upgraded to the Creative card because I'm just getting started in midi production and I thought the sound quality would be a step up from the integrated sound on the MB. I certainly wasn't bargaining for a hit in stability and perfromance though.

Steve S.

 

[tristanic]

Might be an obvious question, but did you disable the onboard audio?

 

[daw123]

Thanks Tristanic for the info, that's what I forgot to do on my GA-X48T-DQ6 when I installed the X-Fi PCI-E card in my PC. I was or may still be having system instability issues - I will see how it goes. It's certainly ruled out one other thing as a potential cause.

btw the drivers which come on the CD with the card - are they all for 64bit OS? I'm running Windows XP.

I don't remember being given a choice when I installed the drivers, although it may do it automatically. I just put the CD in and clicked install.

@ssilverm Sorry, I'm not trying to hijack your thread

 

[Ghouler]

@ssilverm
1. Revert back to 2.66Ghz or so from the OC to see if that is interlinked - the temperature hikes may suggest that is the issue here
2. Disable motherboard audio in Bios
3. Make sure you installed the correct driver - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Series for PCI Express Pack 1.03.0001 from May 2008
4. Make sure you are running the latest stable bios for your motherboard (F12 apparently, as the earlier versions had compatibility and OC issues)
5. Update chipset and graphics driver to the latest stable versions.

Hope this helps

@daw123
if you have the same card as ssilverm see the link I have pasted above, if this is an X-Fi Titatnium card that you have - there is a different driver for it (August 2008 release): LINK

 

[daw123]

Thanks Ghouler