Do not use Creative sound cards with VIA chip sets

[mjkc]

Hi

I am going to put the cat amongst the pigeons here and flatly say
DO NOT USE CREATIVE SOUND CARDS WITH VIA CHIP SETS.

I say this with more than 3 years of experience.

I have used AMD chips with VIA chipset motherboards and have always had problems with dropped frames and Audio sync even with the latest 4in1 drivers.

These problems go away the moment you dump the Creative Cards and replace them with something like the SonicFury.

Even the new Audigy causes problems and is a pain to install under Win XP.

Take my advice and stay away from Creative.

[Valnar]

This is already old news, but I'll go one step further.

Don't use Creative cards period! That last good card they made was the SoundBlaster 16 ISA. In fact, they still don't know how to make a PCI card right. They had to buy the technology because their engineers couldn't figure it out on their own.

-Robert
[/i]

[dgraham]

What sound card do you guys recommend?

PCI vs. USB, etc.

-D

[energy80s]

I have a Videologic (Turtle Beach clone) and it is great. There are serious issues with Creative cards and VIA chipsets, even Creative themselves say this now. I still have an old SB16 ISA card which will run on anything. Ended up dumping my SB Live card as nothing would run it properly!

[Extra-Bit]

With AMD having so many "other" compatibility issues. Like Nvidia Video cards, DirectX 8.1 (Now fixed with a MS Patch) wouldn't it be easier to say, stop using AMD CPUs/Via and use INTEL, where at least you can use any sound card and video card with no where near the same amount of compatibility problems. I'm not trying to attack anyone, so please do not take this the wrong way, just get kinda sick if reading the same messages about hardware not working well, and it is all the same hardware i seem to use without issues for years now, and i VCD encode from TV, DVD and any other source available with the highest possible results.

I see it this way. Buy a cheaper CPU, and although in technical speed, it may be faster, what's the point of being the fastest when you don't work well with every other part. Spend as few extra $$ and get some piece of mind. I'm sure there are those who will disagree.

[energy80s]

Intel have their probelms too, you know!

[LanceSteel]

Even the new Audigy causes problems and is a pain to install under Win XP.
Take my advice and stay away from Creative.

I'm currently using a SB Live! Platinum, a Geforce4 4400, an AMD CPU on a VIA KT266A chipset and everything runs great. No problems at all. I've never had any capture problems or audio sync problems. My advice: Don't try to run the newest hardware on an old motherboard, buy quality motherboards and NEVER, EVER use the newest windows operating system (people complain about Windows XP yet they still use it even though Win2K is better and with half the bloat.) I started using Windows 2000 6 months ago. I usually give Micro$oft and the hardware manufactures a good 2 years to work the bugs out of the operating system and the drivers before I start using them.

[cchitson11]

I have been using and AMD cpu for a bout a year now without problem #1. I also have a soundblaster live which runs fine, but I have a SIS chipset motherboard. The way I see it this discussion was not at all about cpu and yes all processors are quirky with certian hardware, even your beloved pentiums!

[thxkid]

I have used nothing but AMD CPU's and Sound Blsater Live cards for the past 3+ years, never had any problems either, oh yes I always used Voodoo Video cards (currently 5500) also, I have seen nothing but problems since my son has switched over to those crappy Nvidia CPU Hungry video cards, maybe its not Creative labs but the piece of crap cards your forced to buy now that use Nvidia chips, I'll stick with my trouble free Voodoo 5500.
I also use the Happuage WINPVR capture card also without a hitch also, you know the card that no one seems to get to work properly. I use a EPOX VIA Chipped Motherboard also with a AMD 1600XP.

[kchilde1]

I Have Had Some Problems Before but not as bad as everybody else, but now i am running the creative external extigy sound card with surround sound and not a problem one on capturing.

System: Windows Xp
Cpu : AMD XP 2100+
MotherBoard: MSI KT3 Ultra ARU
Ram: 512 mb
DvD Recorder : Hp DVD 200I
Video Card: ATI All In Wonder Radeon 7500

Ken

[Bel]

Of course, take the most expensive AMD chip add in a new graphics and sound card if you're having problems, and you're still saving money over the cheapest Pentium 4.

For the record - AMD, VIA Chipset, SoundBlaster Live, and NVIDIA Geforce4 and not a problem.

Voodoo 5500... don't play many new 3d games huh?

[pixel8or]

I'm using the Abit KT7A mobo w/ via kt133a chipset (v 1.0), SoundBlaster Live MP3+ and Nvidia GeForce 2 MX 32 twinview.

I bought everything a year and a half ago. I built the system myself. After installing the components it started up and worked fine with no problems. I did have the crackling sound issue and the notorious lock up when downloading while playing CDs.

Since that time I have learned a great deal about how a computer works while looking for the fixes for my system. This board was originally made for Athlon 1.2 gig max. I just upgraded to an Athlon XP 1600+ after flashing the bios to a later version. I'm using WinXP Pro, the 4.38 4-in-1 drivers, the 28.83 detenator drivers and the WinXP default SoundBlaster drivers. My system runs smooth and is completely stable. I can cap at 640x480 huffyuv with zero frames dropped until my 60 gig hard drive bottoms out. I can crank the audio till my speakers distort with not a trace of crackling. DVD plays great with awesome Dolby sound!

I love my VIA/Creative/Nvidia combo. For people who want to get into it and really learn how to keep a computer happy, Abit/VIA rocks with a solid, scalable, tweakable platform. You just need to learn how to dance with it.

[Trader]

The PC I use for all my video and DVD work is a homemade Abit KX7-333 with a Via KT 333 chipset, AMD 1900+ CPU, soundblaster audigy, and Ati 8500 dv. To this point I have not had any compatibility problems. I'm able to capture full DVD quality 720x480 mpg without a single dropped frame (as long as I dont try to do any other pc works at the time). I also have never had one audio/video synch issue in the mpg's I capture. I have heard this via/soundbaster incompatibility forever but have never seen it myself. My previous setup was also Via/Amd/Soundblaster and never saw any problems either. If you use the current drivers and keep your system up to date, there is no problems in the Via/soundblaster combo.