SB Extigy - Yes or No?

[MrPabulum]

Hey all,

I have a Dell Inspiron 8000 and the specs are as follows:

P3 600
256MB PC100
32MB Geforce 2 Go
ESS Maestro 3

I'm interested in the SB Extigy, but have several questions:

1.) How much better would the sound quality be over the ESS audio? For games, mp3/cd?
2.) Would the CPU utilization overtax my P3 600, especially during a game of Q3, SoF2 or RTCW?
3.) Would getting a USB 2.0 PC Card help the bandwith? I'm assuming that the Extigy doesn't support anything beyond USB 1.1, but is there a definite answer to that?
4.) Wow, that was long-winded...


Thanks for any help!

 

[MrPabulum]

late night bump!

 

[MWink]

I asked about the Extigy a few months ago and I heard a lot of bad things about it. I wanted to use it with my Inspiron 8200 (for obvious reasons). Here is the old thread

 

[jaeger66]

1.) I don't know.
2.) Maybe
3.) No.

 

[MrPabulum]

Damn..I just read that old thread...I don't mind that its not portable...but if its going to have that many problems...at a $130, its too expensive to find out the hard way. Thanks so far for the replies guys! Anyone else with an opinion?

 

[jaeger66]

My opinion is that you should never buy a Creative card without a tube of K-Y Jelly to go along with it. Because you're going to get violated.

 

[MrPabulum]

Heh..I have an SB Live in my bro's comp...it hasn't been too bad actually... My ultimate concern is whether or not the sound quality will be vastly improved over the ESS that I'm using right now. I might just get it today and give it a shot. I can always return it if need be. Oh and big tub of K-Y. Almost forgot what I'm dealing with here.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: jaeger66
My opinion is that you should never buy a Creative card without a tube of K-Y Jelly to go along with it. Because you're going to get violated.

Audigy here never had a problem from day 1

had a Live Value + VIA KX133 a supposedly lethal combination 0 problems on that front either