screwed on soundcard

[macdawg]

I'm a Gateway employee & I know there is nothing Gateway can do for me on this, I reformatted & my soundcard drivers won't reinstall.

Here is what CREATIVE says:

>From our records, your soundcard is an OEM soundcard.
OEM products may have revisions or changes in either the hardware or the
supporting software and documentation. Such revisions are often made at
the request of the company (IBM, Dell, Micron, Gateway, etc) for which
the product is manufactured. Creative Labs is not made aware of these
changes and therefore cannot offer support. Because of this, some OEM
products are not supported under the Retail driver download.

Please refer to your computer vendor or motherboard manufacturer for
further assistance. They have experience with and full information
regarding your specific OEM card. In addition to being responsible for
support through the OEM agreement, they also would be able to
comprehensively address your support issues. Thanks.

You may ask why is there no driver for OEM cards?
Do understand that, there may be revisions or changes in either the
hardware or the
supporting software and documentation. Thus, there are
many variations to the software and hardware provided. It would be
difficult to provide drivers for all the different types of OEM
soundcards, thus we only provide the drivers for the retail version of
the soundcard.


WITH THAT SAID WHAT IS A GOOD NON CREATIVE SOUNDCARD, THAT IS CHEAP & GOOD FOR GAMES & MUSIC?

 

[macdawg]

I would buy this:

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?refer=cnet.com&id=1002398

but this quote makes me hesitant:

"Performance-conscious gamers should keep in mind, however, that the Catalina does not include a dedicated digital signal processor (DSP), relying instead on the system CPU to convert the audio signal from digital to analog and vice versa. During especially demanding gameplay, and even sometimes while watching DVDs on lower-end PCs, this lack of a dedicated DSP chews up CPU power, which can lead to problems, such as dropped frames and general system-performance drag."

Stupid question time, will this not matter since my speakers are analog, I just want a sound card cuz I have expensive speakers and I don't want sound to suck power from the CPU, I want a good budget soundcard, NOT FROM CREATIVE, will this do the trick for my needs? Counterstrike, DVD's, music, without sucking?

Thx,

Kris

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

That card is a good choice. They eat up a bit more CPU than creative, and sound nicer as well.

Your other option is M-Audio cards

 

[Jorsoft]

Fortissimo II or III cards are pretty good from what I've heard. Inexpensive, too.

 

[macdawg]

M Audio's cards start at $75 which will be too much for me I think.

 

[macdawg]

whaddya think of this card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829120103