SB Live! 5.1

[Paddy]

Is there a physical difference between the oem and the platinum cards 5.1 cards?

I cant afford to get the platinum right now, and if the only difference is the Live! Drive, well i can pick that up later...

Any clues?

[Pace]

Software will likely be one are where they cut back. Don't know about the Live!Drive

Paul.

------------------
Pace3000 Network: (early stages)
Computer Solutions | Arena | Seti | P3K | TechSupport | Portal | Pace Central
Matrox Users / SETI@MURC
Join the team! | Crunch faster! | View the stats!

[Paddy]

Would having a soundcard with an onboard processor improve my DVD playback?

[xortam]

Au contraire.

[DentyCracker]

The Dolby Digital decoding that the 5.1 does is by software AFAIK. Should get my DVD next week, along with two 128 MB sticks of PC133 SDRAM (or hopefully this week, damn Hallowe'en)and see if I can tell the difference.

PS All the 5.1 cards are the same with the likely exception of the Value 5.1 (if it even exists) Software bundle is the difference and yes, software is always "obtainable"
------------------
1° System
Inwin Q500 Case
Abit KT7 Motherboard
AMD Duron 700@850 MHz.
128 MB Micron PC100 Cas 2 PC100 SDRAM.
Maxtor 20 GB 5400 RPM UATA 66 HD
Quantum Fireball 4.3 GB UATA 33 HD
Plextor PX-W8432 burner
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1
Matrox G400 DH 32MB
Mag Innovision DX17T
Klipsch ProMedia v2.400 Speakers (yeah baby)
ATI TV Wonder*sigh*
Realtek 8039AS based 10Mbps NIC
Running Win98SE, Win2K SP1, BeOS 5.03,QNX RTOS Free and Mandrake Linux 7.1(xfree 4.0)


2° System
Generic Finger Slicer AT Case
FIC VA503+
IBM Cyrix PR 266 *brrr* (long story)
128 MB Generic PC100 SDRAM
Maxtor 10 GB 7200 PRM UDMA33 HD
Creative Labs Ensonic AudioPCI64 (es1371)
Matrox Millennium G200 AGP
Realtek 8019 ISA NIC
Win98 2222A
Win2k Pro SP1

3° System

PCChips M571
Intel Pentium MMX 233
128 MB EDO DRAM (SIMMS)
IBM 10 GB HD
Diamond Stealth S3 trio 64
Realtek 8019 ISA NIC

[This message has been edited by DentyCracker (edited 29 October 2000).]

[Paddy]

Software is always *obtainable*

[Paddy]

So there will be no difference on the outputs of the OEM card?

If there are, will the Live! Drive add them all?

[Greebe]

Anyone care to send me a scan of a SB Live! Platinum. If you would at 300dpi (16bit) componet side only and send it to greebe2@home.com I'd really appreciate it.

[SteveC]

Yeah - someone please do that for Greebe!!

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[Crazy_Bee]

Yes, there can be a physical difference between the retail, retail value, and value OEM cards.

For example, I have a regular SB Live! and so does my friend. Mine has the S/PDIF input on the card for digital in from a CDROM. His, does not. We both went to the same computer show and we both bought the "same" cards.

I was specifically looking for the digital in and he did not care so I looked around at other vendors for about an hour before I found the one I wanted. It was $5 more, though. I ended up acquiring a retail SB Live! value and he ended up with an OEM SB Live! value. Also, my card can take a Live Drive or the digital/midi interface card while his has a modified connector that can not accept midi.

I would strongly suggest looking at the card if at all possible and inspecting it for the features you want before you buy. The online price may seem cheaper but after you throw in shipping and handling it costs almost the same when you factor in the uncertainty.

Giving you scanned pics might help, but, all the connectors are clearly labled. AND, most importantly, the person on the other side of the phone probably will not know there is a difference or know what to look for or may not have access to the cards them selves.

[Greebe]

Crazybee, just scan the pics, I'll do the modifing

[Crazy_Bee]

Sorry, I have no pics handy and my camera crapped out. I'll try with my USB cam. It will be kinda hard since both cards are in comps right now.

Plus, you can not simply "reconnect" the S/PDIF. There are other components missing as well such as the interface circuitry as well.

Just look at the card pics or .PDF from Creatives web site and examine the ones at the show. All the connections are labled.

[DentyCracker]

The X-Gamer and the MP3+ are identical and are identical to the platinum. They can be upgraded with the Live! Drive IR. Get the model # of the OEM the X-Gamer 5.1 is SB-0060

[Paddy]

Cheers lads,

I'll want to buy the live drive later so i need them to be compatible. I also need an optical in/out for my minidisc player