Gigabyte 965P-DS3 and X-Fi XtremeGamer

[Racer7]

I put together a new build last month with a DS3. I ordered a cheap Audigy SE to keep from using onboard sound, but it didn't occur to me that the card wouldn't have a header for the front headphone and microphone jacks on my case. I ended up using the onboard sound. After some searching around last week, I found what looked to be the Holy Grail for my problem, the X-Fi XtremeGamer.

Although the XtremeGamer doesn't have the X-RAM like the Fatal1ty, it does seem to be a real X-Fi card (unlike the X-Fi Xtreme Audio). It also has the thing I was looking for, a header for the front headphone and microphone jacks. My card arrived yesterday from the Egg. This is where the questions came up.

I went to turn off the onboard sound in BIOS on the DS3 so I could get XP to uninstall the drivers. I'm not saying it wasn't there, but I looked over each page in BIOS a half a dozen times and couldn't find anything to turn off the onboard sound. I also web searched and looked for info at Gigabyte's site. I even RTFM. The closest thing I found to turning off anything was that on the 965G-DS3 (integrated graphics), the onboard graphics turns itself off when a video card is installed. Is the onboard sound the same? If not, how do I turn it off on the DS3? Any tips for getting the old drivers off my drive or installing the drivers that come with the X-Fi?

Btw, I did read the problem about the DS3 with F6 BIOS and the X-Fi's. I'm currently using F4 and probably won't upgrade until I get ready to OC.

Thanks for any help!

 

[amenx]

Originally posted by: Racer7
I put together a new build last month with a DS3. I ordered a cheap Audigy SE to keep from using onboard sound, but it didn't occur to me that the card wouldn't have a header for the front headphone and microphone jacks on my case. I ended up using the onboard sound. After some searching around last week, I found what looked to be the Holy Grail for my problem, the X-Fi XtremeGamer.

Although the XtremeGamer doesn't have the X-RAM like the Fatal1ty, it does seem to be a real X-Fi card (unlike the X-Fi Xtreme Audio). It also has the thing I was looking for, a header for the front headphone and microphone jacks. My card arrived yesterday from the Egg. This is where the questions came up.

I went to turn off the onboard sound in BIOS on the DS3 so I could get XP to uninstall the drivers. I'm not saying it wasn't there, but I looked over each page in BIOS a half a dozen times and couldn't find anything to turn off the onboard sound. I also web searched and looked for info at Gigabyte's site. I even RTFM. The closest thing I found to turning off anything was that on the 965G-DS3 (integrated graphics), the onboard graphics turns itself off when a video card is installed. Is the onboard sound the same? If not, how do I turn it off on the DS3? Any tips for getting the old drivers off my drive or installing the drivers that come with the X-Fi?

Btw, I did read the problem about the DS3 with F6 BIOS and the X-Fi's. I'm currently using F4 and probably won't upgrade until I get ready to OC.

Thanks for any help!

Disable the Azlia Codec in the Integrated Peripherals section of the BIOS, that disables the integrated audio. But tbh, I found it made no difference and my sound card worked perfectly with it both disabled or enabled. I think new mobos switch off the integrated automatically when sound cards are detected.

 

[Gary Key]

Also, remove the Realtek drivers before disabling the audio in the BIOS, if not, the Realtek uninstall program does not do a complete uninstall.

 

[Racer7]

Thanks for the replies both of you. Gary, I've been reading your posts on the DS3 BIOS. Thanks for all the updates!

I had noticed 2 sound related entries in the Add/Remove programs section of windows. Realtek sounds familiar, but there was one other. I wish I had that computer in front of me now, but alas, I'm not home. I'm guessing I should uninstall both, right? (that was my plan anyway)

 

[Gary Key]

The other entry will be for the Intel/MS HDA interface. You can leave or uninstall it. I usually uninstall it when switching over to the X-FI. Be sure to download and run the October DX9 update. I use the SDK version. It seems to help with the latest X-FI drivers in the compatibility area.

 

[vailr]

http://www.drivercleaner.net/

 

[Racer7]

Now that the holiday is over and I'm getting a little time again, I just wanted to post a quick follow up. The card install and driver swap went off without a hitch. The Intel HDA driver had a nasty sounding warning about programs that would be affected, but I uninstalled it too. Everything installed and came up fine on the first try. It's all working great now, including the front microphone and headphone jacks on my case!

Thanks for the help Gary and everyone!