SScorpio wrote on 2026-02-13, 14:08:

gamefan_851 wrote on 2026-02-13, 13:22:

also sounds like a decent plan.

the only question remains how compatible such rig would be for early winxp games. Games from 2005 onwards should run like dream on such machine but how about earlier xp games from 2002 to 2004. This was still the single core area of gaming and maybe some renering featuers these old games support could lead to some troubles?

Anothe queestion of the sound blaster xfi cards. i agree that such card is the top pic for my rig. it is already on my wishlist. But there seem to ber more versions of he xifi cards? Are all versions equally good?

Stay away from the "Xtreme Audio" versions of the X-Fi. Those were fake budget X-Fi cards that use the same processor of the Audigy SE. Other X-Fi cards differed by how much X-RAM they have. Supposedly this can hold samples rather than streaming from system memory, it's not really something the average person would ever notice. You also need to avoid the Titanium HD, it was the latest X-Fi card and changed a few things and its drivers don't support XP.

https://support.creative.com/Downloads/search … PCDRV_LB_2_17_0

I have a never version running on my machine though - 6.0.240.8. I don't know why creative has the previous version, but if you end up needing it and can't find it you can always ask me.

Shagittarius wrote on 2026-02-13, 14:21:

https://support.creative.com/Downloads/search … PCDRV_LB_2_17_0

I have a never version running on my machine though - 6.0.240.8. I don't know why creative has the previous version, but if you end up needing it and can't find it you can always ask me.

Those are working on a Titanium HD? They are different cards from the Titanium ones. It was a limited release in 2010.

There are number of Titanium cards Titanium, Titanium Professional, Titanium Fatal1ty, etc. It's only the Titanium HD with the issue.

Titanium HD never got XP drivers. And Creative drivers a bit more complicated to just copypaste everything from Titanium driver stack.

Sorry I didn't notice the specific HD only model. My appologies.

gamefan_851 wrote on 2026-02-13, 13:22:

Anothe queestion of the sound blaster xfi cards. i agree that such card is the top pic for my rig. it is already on my wishlist. But there seem to ber more versions of he xifi cards? Are all versions equally good?

As others have pointed out, not all Creative Labs X-Fi models are the same nor even compatible with Windows XP.

The card I use in my XP machine is the Creative Labs Titanium Fatal1ty Professional. It fully supports EAX 5.0 and is Windows XP compatible.

There are also high end X-Fi cards like the Onkyo WAVIO SE-300 and Auzentech X-Fi Home Theater HD, though these will be harder to find and more expensive.

Onkyo SE-300 definitely not worth the asked price. It was never targeted for gamers, most features are excessive.

Thx for the warning that not all xifi cards work with windows xp. I will look for some xfi variants that are known to work well with XP.

gamefan_851 wrote on 2026-02-14, 16:20:

Thx for the warning that not all xifi cards work with windows xp. I will look for some xfi variants that are known to work well with XP.

Of the Creative Labs "Sound Blaster" cards. Only the Titanium HD doesn't work with XP. That card averages $150-200 and mostly ships out of Japan.

The "Extreme Audio" cards do work with XP. But they aren't real X-Fi cards. Other than that anything that claims to be a Sound Blaster X-Fi should work without issue.

SScorpio wrote on 2026-02-15, 00:24:

gamefan_851 wrote on 2026-02-14, 16:20:

Thx for the warning that not all xifi cards work with windows xp. I will look for some xfi variants that are known to work well with XP.

Of the Creative Labs "Sound Blaster" cards. Only the Titanium HD doesn't work with XP. That card averages $150-200 and mostly ships out of Japan.

The "Extreme Audio" cards do work with XP. But they aren't real X-Fi cards. Other than that anything that claims to be a Sound Blaster X-Fi should work without issue.

Okay, that's good to know what else to look for when choosing a Xifi card. It's very important to me to get an original Xifi model so I can enjoy my games with the best possible sound quality.