SB Live Value! or X-gamer?

[Wheeler]

I'm building a new system, and my system that I have now has a SB Live Value! in it, no problems ever with it.
But now I'm building a new system and wonder if I should buy another Live Value, or is it worth $50 +or- to get the X-Gamer?

Here is what I have for my new system so far.

P3 700E cb0
IBM 30gig 7200ATA/100
Corsair 128MB PC133 RAM
Pioneer 105s DVD
Geforce2 32MB video card
Asus CUSL2 or Abit SE6 Mobo, last thing to buy since the CUSL2 isn't out anywhere that I know of.

Thanks
Wheeler

 

[brian_riendeau]

The X Gamer and Value are the same card. They use the same drivers and perform exacly the same. The extra you pay for the the X Gamer gets you extra software and that is it. If the software is worth another $50 to you, get the X Gamer.

 

[|mpeg|]

Not true. The X-Gamer has digital cd input and the Value doesn't.

 

[Wheeler]

What does digital cd input mean?

 

[ghetto buck]

It means that if you actually still listen to cd's and not mp3's on your computer they MIGHT sound slightly better but probably not. Don't waste your money keep the live value, it's a sweet card.

 

[The Wildcard]

Well in the current market, there are many speakers are digital. That means they offer a more clearer sound than the traditional analong speakers. They are supposed to most noticeably, reduce the "hissing" that many analog speakers have when you set the volume at a moderate to high level.

So in order to use these digital speakers, you have to have a sound card that supports them. And both the SB Live Value! and X-gamer support it. BUT, the SB Live Value! doesn't have an output port so that you can directly connect your digital speakers into. You have to purchase a seperate " daughter " card, which has the digital output, and install it. The X-gamer, on the other hand, has a digital output port built in so you can directly connect your digital speakers into there. No need to buy a seperate "daughter" card.

 

[Killbat]

My Live! Value has a digital CD input...

 

[Tripleshot]

Will someone please lead me to those digital speakers?I want kick ARS surround sound home theatre rig type stuff.

 

[Erasmus-X]

|mpeg|: your statement is also untrue.

The REAL answer:

The Live! Value does in fact have a SPDIF CD input. The that the Value and the X-Gamer differ on the hardware side is that the X-Gamer has a digital output on the back of the card, and the Value does not. The retail Value (unlikely that you'd find one of these anymore) also differs with software. You get the LW1 (very old school) CD and some useless crap like Proddy Parrot and an EAX-enhanced Unreal demo. With the X-Gamer, you get a LW3 CD and three full-version games. The X-Gamer also has gold-plated contacts, and the Value does not.

 

[konichiwa]

I was under the impression that there is two revisions of the Value...the first does not have a Digital out and the second does. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

 

[Shifter25]

yup. i think the newer value will have a digital after it. my cuz's value on his dell pc came with a digital connector. i remembered when the value first came out, there was no such mention of it. i guess they might have upgraded it.

 

[Auric]

konichiwa I reckon you are right. However, the Live! Value classic can simply have a cable hooked up to the board. Methinks the latter Values are identical to any of the other newer cards except for the software.

 

[Sugadaddy]

yep, older live values had a connector on the card for a daughter card with spdif out (the daughter card came with my fps2000 speakers). The newer values have the yellow spdif out in the back, all you need if you have creative speakers is an adapter to plug your digital din into that plug(also came with my speakers).

 

[Prodigy^]

The Live! 1024 Player has digital Cd input.....but the OEM version (that I was stupid enough to get ) doesn't.......digital makes a big difference, so if your speakers support digital stuff, get that one (instead of the X-gamer)