Nothing but crackling and popping with X-Fi titanium Pro PCIE and TRI-SLI

B

btdvox

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 9, 2007
Messages
98
Hi guys, ive had my x-fi titanium in my system for abou t2 months now, and ever since I have had nothing but crackling and popping- I read somewhere before that this was a known issue with SLI that lots of crackling happens but was supposed to be allievated with PCIE. This has def not happened for me, anytime a video plays in a game or even sometimes in game, lots of crackling-

Any fixes yet?

I would take the card out of my system but my watercool build is pretty much blocking it in and I would have to undo the whole thing which takes a longgg time..
Thanks for any help.
 
luxolex said:
Does the crackling/popping only happen on an NVIDIA chipset? I went with an Asus Xonar soundcard just to avoid having this issue on a DFI P45 board.
Click to expand...

+90% of the threads I have seen with X-Fi crackling/popping there is an NVIDA chipset involved.

Some (a few) motherboard manufactors even released new BIOS updates that would fix this issue.
It's NVIDIA's implementation of PCI that dosn't quite match up to the standards, here is Creative take on it:
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=90200#M90200
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&thread.id=71962
NVIDIA never countered...so what do you think? ;)
 
Atech said:
+90% of the threads I have seen with X-Fi crackling/popping there is an NVIDA chipset involved.

Some (a few) motherboard manufactors even released new BIOS updates that would fix this issue.
It's NVIDIA's implementation of PCI that dosn't quite match up to the standards, here is Creative take on it:
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&message.id=90200#M90200
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&thread.id=71962
NVIDIA never countered...so what do you think? ;)
Click to expand...

But he's using a PCI-E soundcard. How would the board's PCI implementation affect that?
 
haha yeah its always easy to blame nvidia (trust me ive done it alot esp with my crap motherboard of a 790i) but its not the reason- the card is running on pcie and not PCI which has nothing to do with bandwidth.

Ive heard it really just with SLI , CROSSFIRE and this card...Makes me angry- im way better off using the onboard haha.
 
Ok..... I've been pulling my hair out with this issue for so long that I've basically given up. This issue does not just pertain to Creative, the issue occurs with some onboard audio cards and a USB Headset that I have tested..... And does not only occur in SLI enviroment but in single card mode aswell.

1.) Chipset effected mostly are Nforce based, there are some VIA boards aswell a small ammount of Intel boards effected aswell. Testing two different XFI cards an Auzentech XFI Prelude and the XFI Titanium Fatal1ty edition on an Asus Striker II Formula produces crystal clear audio with no distortion. Switching over the cards to 790i based board Asus Striker II Extreme and XFX 790i Ultra prodcuses massive ammounts of distorition, SCP etc etc. It also effects it while viewing streaming video, scrolling up and down sites while listening too MP3's.

2.) The issue does get worse by adding additional video cards. Right now I run 3x XFX 280 GTX's in my main system. Using a single 280 I get SCP, its there and annoying. Adding a second 280 the SCP's become even more severe, adding a third 280 and the SCP occur massively, even more so when I am playing graphically intense games, ala Crysis.

3.) Last week I switched out the XFI Titanium for the SupremeFX II that comes with the Striker II Extreme, the SCP was nearly gone but still there it presents itself only in real graphical intense situtations. Tested World Of Warcraft, FarCry 2, Crysis, C&C Red Alert 3. No as bad as an XFI.

4.) I also tested a Logitech USB2 Headset. This headset produced the same ammount of SCP as the XFI did.

The SCP's are either related too one of the following:

Nforce Chipset
or
Nvidia Video Cards

The fact is that it is most likely a bandwidth issue on the Nforce chipset as adding more video cards increases the issue. And not just with Creative cards but with ADI, Realtek, Logitech etc etc.

Recently some are in luck, EVGA and XFX recently releases a new bios update for the 790i series boards. The SZ13 bios from EVGA shows some promise. Alot of users are stating that the SCP issue is gone, also increasing the PCI latency fixes the issue aswell but could impact performance of the system. This is of course impossible on an Asus Striker II Extreme becauses there is no option to adjust PCI Latency...

All in all it points too compatability between Audio products and Nvidia, and no one is interested in a fix since its been around for so long....

Anyone running a Core i7 on a nice X58 chipset with SLI and an XFI Titanium willing too give us some good news??? ;)
 
Very unlikely as a single card has the same issue and using a 780i board the issue vanishes. Also I am using a 1200watt PSU and I am not drawing nearly that ammount of power.

It comes down to the fact that Nvidia either chipset or video cards have an issue with certain sound products, let it be PCI-E or PCI. Nvidia will never admitt too it and Creative just blames everyone else.

I would really like to see someone runn and XFI either PCI or PCI-E form on a X58 running SLI or Tri-SLI and see if the sound issues occur. That way it would identify either it being chipset or video.
 
It's good to see that Nvidia and Creative have mastered the concept of PCI Bus mastering :D
 
my x-fatal1ty & Sli has no issues on a p6t and i had them with a striker ii formula
 
I just upgraded my DX58SO from a 4870X2 to quad sli GTX295. I have an X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro PCIe card and now I have the dreaded SCP! I'm using the latest Creative drivers. Oh the humanity!

Update! The latest Creative Beta drivers fixed it!
 
#1 this has nothing to do with NVIDIA, this is all creatives fault.
#2 Creatives excuse is that its got something to do with the video card not releasing memory or something like that, google it and you will have your answer, absolutely nothing to do with nvidia.
#3 i have an X58 with 3s SLI and issue is here, So should i blame intel for making crappy chipsets now? :rolleyes:

The only reason the bame was being put on nvidia because they were the only ones who supported SLI.
 
It happens on non sli-motherboards too :(. I found that disabling X-fi enhancements in vista audio controls, but enabling eax/cmss etc in control panel fixes a lot of my snap crackle pop.
 
gar818 said:
#1 this has nothing to do with NVIDIA, this is all creatives fault.
#2 Creatives excuse is that its got something to do with the video card not releasing memory or something like that, google it and you will have your answer, absolutely nothing to do with nvidia.
#3 i have an X58 with 3s SLI and issue is here, So should i blame intel for making crappy chipsets now? :rolleyes:

The only reason the bame was being put on nvidia because they were the only ones who supported SLI.
Click to expand...

Wrong, NVIDIA never countered this:
http://forums.creative.com/creative...thread.id=71962&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Some motherboard manufactors relased BIOS opdates that adressed this:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2007/08/12/refreshing_the_nforce_680i_sli/1
Specific improvements in the P30 are as follows:
•Improved overclocking for Kentsfield 1333 FSB CPUs
•Additional 1333 FSB Support for future CPUs
•Fixes intermittent S3 Resume bug
•Improve S3 resume functionality
•USB flash key functionality improvements
•Overclocking and memory improvements
•WHQL-related HPET fixes
•Quad-Core OC Improvements
•Additional support for 1333MHz CPUs
•Wireless PCI card fixes
•Vreg fan header default set to on
•Memory performance improvements
•Vista WHQL Certified
•USB Floppy improvements for RAID installs
•Correct CPU temp and voltage system monitor displays in BIOS
•Correct default CPU multiplier setting
•Fix "Code 50" hang received under certain VGA configurations
•Fix for SATA disk drives
•Improvements to memory stability and overclockability
•Disabled spread spectrum tables for improved overclockability
•Improve POST screen CPU speed reporting
•Improves X-Fi and internal audio functionality
•WHQL Certified BIOS
•Improvements to overclocking
•Enhancements for quad-core CPUs
•Adds ability to enable splash screen
Click to expand...

Lets stick with the facts eh?
 
I have no problems on my Biostar TPower i45 with an X-FI XtremeMusic
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top