Customer Ratings & Reviews

I just finished building my own rig, and the onboard realtek chip set claims dolby 8.1 sound. Nice claim, but most if not all motherboard sound is weak in terms of power output. For those that want to enjoy high quality sound from their speakers, whether 2.1/5.1/7.1 configuration an external sound card is the way to go. This is the second fatality card I've bought and put in my computer systems, the difference in output to my Logitech X-540 5.1 sound system is phenomenal. One note to all is that your system should have an a power supply that can support the additional power requirements that a sound card imposes on the system. Most stock systems have an underpowered power supply so one should look at its sustained power output which should be at a minimum 550watts. If not invest in a new power supply, they are easy to swap out, just follow the wires one by one and all the connectors are designed to be fool proof and they are well worth the $75.00 to upgrade and enjoy the sound from this most splendid card.

I got this card for under $50, due to it being on sale for $99 + $55 in reward certificates I had. And what a worthwhile purchase! Next to the Titanium Fatal1ty Champion, this is the top sound card you can buy. Okay, I'll spell it out for you all so you don't run circles around yourselves installing drivers. First of all, before you shut off your PC to install the card, disable Windows automatic update. Turn off PC, install card. You'll have no sound when you come into Windows. Put in installation disc and let it do its thing. After that's done and it reboots, you'll have sound. Now go to the Creative folder and open Creative Software AutoUpdate, and it will come up with around 300MB of updates. THIS IS IMPORTANT, only do about four at a time starting with the top going down. This is so Windows doesn't freeze up on you. Once you reboot and do this process about 3 times, and re-enable Windows Auto Update, you'll be all set up! Can't wait to hook this up into my Z-5500 5.1 digital surround system that's coming tomorrow!

I had gone through 3 other sound cards. I was trying not to spend more than $50, but the lower end cards had things wrong or did not work at all. I tried two PCI cards and one other PCI express card. No luck. So I decided to bite the bullet and go for the more expensive Creative Mutlimedia card. It was difficult to install because the motherboard had the cmos battery right next to the PCI-E slot. I had to take off the casing of the card before I could get it in. But, lo and behold, the card worked! No problems at all since the purchase. I have not tried all aspects of the card, but the sound is so much better than the onboard audio. I should have known better than to try something other than Creative.

Easiest install there is...PCI.... Why more folks don't build their own PC's is beyond me. This unit gives superb sound, clarity, and volume. I'm sure the gaming world loves it, though my application is an entertainment unit. Movies, even blue ray, are flawless. Enjoy

Best Sound in PC, this is a better choice for gaming sound cards, easy install and compatible with most games, BattleField2 now is another level of sound, music either

I have been looking for a sound card for a new build and came across this at 99.00. Looked at the specs and saw that it had a digital out using a tosslink connector. I bought it. Because my computer based sound system blew out yet another subwoofer, I decided that my next card had to have a digital out so that I could connect it up to a Denon receiver I had laying around. Worked perfectly (see review on Def Tech Pro Sub 800 subwoofer I purchased). The card installed nicely and I downloaded the Beta drivers for Windows 7 X64. As I mentioned, worked perfectly. I would have to say that if I had to pay 149.00, I probably would have purchased it. But, I had a reason due to the digital out. If I didn't have that type of application, I more than likely would have purchased something else. At 149.00 I feel it is a little overpriced for what you get, unless you have a special need to fill that this card provides.

My biggest reason I bought was for digital sound on my main pc at home. DTS 5.1 is great with this card and my current receiver. using a Denon AVR-1800 in DTS /w optical. Dolby Digital 5.1 had/has issues and decided to go DTS. Maybe i got lucky but it works fantastic. Dvd: all channels are heard correctly. Speaker panel : plays all channels correctly. Was using a Xfi extreme gamer for a couple years and the card has limiited digital cap's. Only game i really play is EQ so I havnt got to test it out on any surround enabled games. Best of luck hope this helps

Ok so i went in to bestbuy last saturday to buy this card and so i buy is and a pair of headphones only to find out that the card inside was a $40 doller PCI X-Fi card yeah i was pretty upset so i took it back and exchanged it and was happy. Moving on so when i finally got it installed it i was a little skepictical about onboard vs decated and was blown away the tools that come with is are great as well now i can here things that once only dogs could here i would buy this aegin it also glows do not know why but it dose for some reson white insted of red o well i am happy i like the tool that automatictly switches modes when you open a program that is the best. sound cards are so not over rated.

I have Windows 7, had to download the drivers from Creative, but no biggy. There are about 100 MB of files to download though :) The sound on this card is absolutely amazing. Be sure to get an optical cable to hook up to your receiver. The card has most DTS/Digital setups for about any newer stereo receiver. 5.1 and 7.1 work awesome. Even the audio cleanup to remove any hiss, etc. works well without detracting from the music source. I am absolutely pleased with this card, best 99 bucks I ever spent. Crystal Clear, even improves sound of recordings that may not be so good. I love it.

I have a Creative Sound Blaster card on my other desk top PC and it was great so I wanted to go all out on my gaming PC and get the best one made by Creative. This card was so impressive for games, music, and movies that I would highly recommend it to anyone. I play Champions Online all the time and immediately after installing this card I could hear things in the game that I never knew existed. I can hear so many sounds that my kids can sneak up on me while I am in the game. Its the perfect sound card if you want to hear the best.

As usual, Creative pulls out the stops with this card. As a long time SoundBlaster user, nothing else compares to the X-Fi when it comes to sound and gaming. I use 7.1 surround sound speakers and switching from the computer's onboard sound to this card is like upgrading from a Yugo to an Aston-Martin. You won't be displeased.

My onboard sound system could not cut it.So I got this card and it brought my games to life.Every sound can be heard from all around since I use 5.1 speakers.Its a must buy for those who game and watch movies on their computer.

Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. The sound through my Bose Companion speakers is pretty incredible with both music & games. I bought this for my desktop computer upgrade and wouldn't want to have any competitive product in my system, it's that good. In a little while I'll be upgrading more components in my system and I'll do all I can to keep this sound card....it's a standard I'm happy to use from here on out.

DON'T THINK !!!!! JUST BUY THIS SOUNDCARD EVEN IF IT'S NOT ON SALE. What a sound my system now has rivals my high dollar living room 5.1 system.

card is not worth the money it's the only pci express card out there got it for $99 instead of the $150 i guss its ok but not worth 150

I was torn between spending $150.00 for a sound card when my on board sound sounded pretty good until you played it load then it was not so great. The card went on sale for $99.00 so I jumped at the chance for this price. The sound is wayyyyy better now and it was worth the money.

Overall I'm happy with this purchase...No regrets.

Great card, Good value at the sale price. Works well in gaming mode.

Upgraded from a Audigy 2 ZS to this card. The card installed into the motherboard easily, however when I booted my system up I received an error message and a blue screen. My system then when into a non-stop rebooting cycle then crashed. Tried to reboot into safe mode and again my system went into an endless rebooting cycle. I was finally able to boot into windows and install the software. Once the software was installed, it would not recognize the card. I then deleted the software and took the card out and reinstalled it. The second time around, my system recognized that the card was pluged in, but the software still would not recognize the card. I went to the Creative web site for support and downloaded what I thought would be more current drivers only to find out that they drivers on the web site were older. I went through the process of installing and uninstalling the card and software several times. Each time ended with the same result. Giving up, I installed my old Audigy 2 card and everything works fine again. Still in search of a decent card with "optical out".

installed the card, alot of problems with it, had to download all the updates, still would not work after that, this piece of junk is going back to Best Buy