I’m building a decent gaming PC for a friend (She’s paying for it). I don’t want her to spend too much. Performance benchmarks from X-bit Labs show that the Creative SoundBlaster XFi Platinum, despite its features, provides only a meager 7% improvement in display framerate and CPU benchmarks. Is it wise to invest $190 in it when the motherboard, Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 has an arguably good Realtek ALC888-DD audio that supports 32-bit HighDef audio and Dolby Digital. I’m ok to compromise the EAX 5.0.
Okay If you’re interested in the config.sys I planned , here it goes:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 processor
Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 board
PowerColor Radeon X1900XTX (Price slashed, improving Cost/Perf)
2x OCX 1024MB = 2GB
4x WD Caviar SATA (160G 72krpm 8MB buff)
A case of her choice
SMPS (Still lookin into a 600W)
Viewsonic VX9xx
Logitech wireless input
PowerColor Theatre 550 PCIe
Her own Bose speakers.