PCI64 messed up my game :(((

Because many people recommend PCI audio over old ISA-soundblaster, I just got myself a SB PCI64 card. I downloaded the most recent drivers ( 4.05.00.1051) but I still can't get the card working as it should :( In Grand Prix Legends the sound is ok when I'm driving on my own, but as soon as other cars are around I hear distorted sound (cracking) and the game slows down. Quake 2 and Unreal (also WIN 95 games) both won't even start up.... I had no problems with my "Soundblaster 32 Pnp". Is this PCI64 card a rip-off or what??? Please help me.. if you can... PS: I got the soundblaster-emulation setup right, but the games I mentioned don't even need this emulation.

Do you have an AGP or PCI video card? Many video cards hog the PCI bus and cause this "crackling" etcetera. The PCI64 is the standard sound card used by Gateway and few other major PC makers so it myst be okay. Apart from the bad joystick port that is but Diamond are guilty of this as well.

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> Because many people recommend PCI audio over old ISA-soundblaster, I just > got myself a SB PCI64 card. > I downloaded the most recent drivers ( 4.05.00.1051) but I still can't get > the card working as it should :( > In Grand Prix Legends the sound is ok when I'm driving on my own, but as > soon as other cars are around I hear distorted sound (cracking) and the game > slows down. > Quake 2 and Unreal (also WIN 95 games) both won't even start up.... > I had no problems with my "Soundblaster 32 Pnp". > Is this PCI64 card a rip-off or what??? > Please help me.. if you can... > PS: I got the soundblaster-emulation setup right, but the games I mentioned > don't even need this emulation.

If you take a look at other newsgroups, especially the flightsim ng's, you'll see that all PCI soundcards are having problems with games. Why waste a PCI slot for a soundcard??????

>Because many people recommend PCI audio over old ISA-soundblaster, I just >got myself a SB PCI64 card. >I downloaded the most recent drivers ( 4.05.00.1051) but I still can't get >the card working as it should :( >In Grand Prix Legends the sound is ok when I'm driving on my own, but as >soon as other cars are around I hear distorted sound (cracking) and the game

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>slows down. >Quake 2 and Unreal (also WIN 95 games) both won't even start up.... >I had no problems with my "Soundblaster 32 Pnp". >Is this PCI64 card a rip-off or what??? >Please help me.. if you can... >PS: I got the soundblaster-emulation setup right, but the games I mentioned >don't even need this emulation.

You may want to try the following: Go to Control Panel - Multimedia - Audio tab - SB PCI64 Playback - Advanced Properties - Performance. Then move the Hardware acceleration slider one position to the left and OK your way out. Repeat if the sound is still distorted. In my system the slider is on the second position from the left. Bart Westra

>you'll see that all PCI soundcards are having problems with games. Why waste Funny, my SB PCI128 works well in Win95 (and NT) with Unreal, GPL, CMR, Viper, EAW ... Actually the PCI64 is ment to be a OEM card, that is to be installed by computer manufacturers. There is two versions of it around, one with chip ES1370 and the other with ES1371. Needless to say that they need different drivers. Check the chip and get the correct drivers. The SoundBlasters go novadays something like this: SB 16 Vibra = PCI64 SB 16 = PCI128 SB64 Value = Live Value SB64 Gold = Live -- Petri

I have a SB PCI128, which is a very similar card to the one that you have. When using GPL, I also noticed exactly the same problem you describe: distortion and sound break-up from specific cars. The problem is that some of the car sounds are sampled at a different rate, and the SB PCI cards seem to ***with this. Luckily, it's very easy to fix. First try this page for info and files: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Pit/6051/ You don't have to d/l the entire sound.dat file, just d/l the smaller waves files and place them in your C:\SIERRA\gpl\sound\ directory. You might also want to try some of the custom sound packages for GPL that are floating around. All that I tried work and sound great. -- Douglas Bollinger Mt. Holly Springs, PA 17065 A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.

> If you take a look at other newsgroups, especially the flightsim ng's, > you'll see that all PCI soundcards are having problems with games. Why waste > a PCI slot for a soundcard?????? I have a Sound Blaster PCI 128 card and it works fine with gpl. On my PII400,monster 3d II and 64MB of sdram, I get 36fps at 1024x768 and great sound with a four speaker setup. So maybe not all PCI cards are bad with games?

>got myself a SB PCI64 card. >I downloaded the most recent drivers ( 4.05.00.1051) but I still can't get >the card working as it should :( >Is this PCI64 card a rip-off or what??? >Please help me.. if you can... Did you try with the original drivers off the C.D.? I had the same problems AFTER I upgraded to the newest drivers. I went back to the drivers that came with the card and all was well again. Worth a try If you haven't used the originals. Cheers... Phillip..

PCI Soundcards are important as a lot of data, especially if ou use EAX or A3d or Directsound, is transmitted over the bus. ISA Soundcards adversely affect the frame rate you can get from a game. The problems with PCI soundcards are usually caused by badly implemented Video drivers where a video card hogs the bus. I have built MANY PCs for people with PCI soundcards and have never had a problem apart from poor Digital Joystick support with some new chipsets. There is no way something like the Diamond MX300 would be viable on the ISA bus! > If you take a look at other newsgroups, especially the flightsim ng's, > you'll see that all PCI soundcards are having problems with games. Why waste > a PCI slot for a soundcard??????