PCI bus saturation

[imaheadcase]

I have a X-Fi soundcard and according to creative they have PCI bus saturation problems, is there any way to fix something like that with software updates, or is there a lot more to it than that?

Im asking because i have a RMA request pending, but not sure if i should send it back for a replacement, or wait it out to see if they can fix it without replacement.

Anyone know how to check to see if this is my problem with X-Fi card with PCI bus saturation?

I have a decent system, nothing that draws mega power, network card is only other think in PCI slot besides X-Fi. 430Watt Powersupply from Enermax.

 

[byosys]

If its saturating the bus, then theres nothing that software is going to be able to do other than maybe give it priority over other PCI cards (which may cause even more problems...like if you have a RAID controler on the PCI bus)

Edit: thinking about it some more, Creative *should have* thought about this during the design phase. If this is a common problem, the you are likely outta luck. If this is a limited problem, RMA the card and see if that helps.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: byosys
If its saturating the bus, then theres nothing that software is going to be able to do other than maybe give it priority over other PCI cards (which may cause even more problems...like if you have a RAID controler on the PCI bus)

Edit: thinking about it some more, Creative *should have* thought about this during the design phase. If this is a common problem, the you are likely outta luck. If this is a limited problem, RMA the card and see if that helps.

although in theory the you can't fix PCI saturation in software because software can't added bandwidth that assume creative is making the most effective use of the PCU bus. The software could have an error making it send extra data.

 

[byosys]

Originally posted by: smack Down
although in theory the you can't fix PCI saturation in software because software can't added bandwidth that assume creative is making the most effective use of the PCU bus. The software could have an error making it send extra data.

Had not thought about it that way. Either way, software can't add more bandwith to a physical connection. It can, however, make more efficient use of that connection. Either way, this is a problem that Creative should fix baring any weird hardware problems on your end.

 

[Yeormom]

What was wrong with the card that makes you think you have this problem? I own an X-Fi as well and the worst I get from it is scratching at times, but then again, it is the very first fab of the card so it's almost expected for me.

 

[cross6]

Creative had this problem along time ago when the first via athlon chipsets came out. SB lives would screech like a banshee and/or blue screen.


Increasing the PCI latency either through the bios or a patch helped. Also check with your mobo book to see which ones are busmaster. Sometimes not all pci slots are.