Welp....got an Audigy 2ZS soundcard....have a Live 5.1 installed and working just great....but us performance geeks gotta have the best.
That was my downfall. Lots say the Audigy2 can actually increase frame rates...how and why?...sounded goodame so I got the Audigy2.
Uninstalled SB drivers...correctly...even made sure by doing it in safe mode. Installed the Audigy2 ZS and the perverbial dung hit the fan. Installed the Audigy2....using cd drivers...nothing but trouble...sound hardly worked at all...when shutting down PC a loud screech was heard from my PC all the way to Nairobi.
So....went to creative site...got supposedly newer drivers there, did same as above....nada. Talked with tech support...found out audigy has problems with Via chipsets. Have the latest Hyperion 4 in 1s already installed.
Did so much installing uninstalling....had to use a registry tool to check registry and remove items that no longer had a link or reason to be there.
To shorten this....system was so corrupted that I had to reformat and begin again.
Here's a word to the wise....if you already have great frame rates, and can't get a frame rate increase no matter what driver you are using.....don't dload a newer driver in
hopes of boosting frame rates. If refresh rate is as high as it can be set...and you're matching it in frame rate....you're not going to do better unless you make a couple tweaks, lower resolution etc.
Don't fall immediately for the Vendors speel. We've just developed a high speed habenzacker that not only will increase your framerates, but has a fleen that can make your whites whiter! Same goes for any driver that you may wish to add to your system! Be it sound...or chipset drivers. READ THE FINE PRINT CAREFULLY! If there is fine print available to read.
To make this even shorter...
IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!
By the way....the Audigy2ZS that I have is now back in the box....and the 5.1 is working just fine.
Beware when purchasing new soundcards and video cards. There is no warning on the Box that it "might not work with blah blah blah hardware" You get to find out when you try to install it.
Not a newbie at this either....build my own systems, and for family and friends. Sold a few great gaming boxes also.
So....don't dload and install drivers if your system is doing great.
Chances are the drivers aren't going to help much. Usually if you read the readme files on newer drivers they usually are patches for existing games on the market. If the game you wish to play is not included on the patchlist then the new driver prolly ain't gonna help you a bit unless you're playing one or more of those games, or it helps by sheer coincidence. And that is a remote chance.
