Hi,

Recently I've been having some problems related to sound on my computer. Specifically when gaming. This includes sound distortion problems in certain games, sound crackling that seem to be associated with hardware acceleration in certain other games, and seemingly sound-related stuttering in some newer games. I don't really have anything concrete, but I think my old SB Live 5.1 card is on the fritz - though to be fair it is probably now by far the oldest component in my box.

Anyway, I just wanted some quick advice on a nice budget sound card for gaming, if indeed it would be recommended to get a new one. Apart from the fact that I have 5.1 speakers, my only real requirements are for decent sound quality and good performance in games. I'm not really willing to spend that much, though, and I'm no audiophile - I was already considering getting an Audigy SE or 4, but I don't really know that much about sound cards and in what ways the more expensive models improve over cheaper ones.

Thanks

I wouldn't be too fast about buying a new sound card just because you experience some problems with your current one. The fact that this stuttering specifically occurs during game-playing sounds pretty much like being caused by a software-side defect. A hardware failure is likely to be noticeable during a Winamp/WMP/foobar/InsertRandomPlayerHere session as well.

Well, I guess you already did so, but since you didn't specifically mention anything about the drivers installed on your system I simply advice you to completely uninstall the sound card's drivers, reboot your computer and install the latest drivers available on Creative's website. The audible crackling while playing games might be related to a lack of proper DirectX 9.0c support in the card's current driver version.

Otherwise, check the Windows Master Volume and this topic. You might be experiencing the same problem tgoose described there: Clipping due to a too high Master Volume level, hence, dependant on the drivers, your SB Live might be in serious need of a lower one. I can confirm this issue, my Audigy 2 tends to clip as well with the Master Volume slider being cranked up to 100%. Besides, the Wave one shouldn't matter because DirectSound games don't care for it.

A third option would be issues concerning the computer's graphics card (yes, no mistake, graphics). About two weeks ago I've been fixing a friend's computer who complained about stuttering graphics and sound in games as you did. In his case a broken graphics card driver was the cause, although the flawed sound playback also made me think the sound card was the evil being in the first moment. Nonetheless, it was the graphics card, its driver issue slowed down the whole computer, serious enough to cause both choppy graphics and incorrect sound. But a simple, clean uninstall of the graphics card's drivers, an ensuing reboot and the installation of the latest driver version worked like a charm in that case.