When compared to the graphics market, audio technology has been crawling along at a snail's pace. However, PC-based entertainment is under more intense competition thanks to next generation consoles and home theater systems.

For the music buff looking for a quality sound card delivering awesome sound this card is for you without breaking the budget. This card uses the same audio chip set used as in all of the X-Fi lines but does not have gaming capabilities and is meant for pure music.

Perfect for music; modest price and easy installation.

Basic features

Using a laptop gives you a level of freedom and convenience you simply can't get from a huge desktop PC. But in many respects notebooks lag far behind their desktop counterparts - processors are slower, graphics chips are older and sound cards are frequently dire.

Boost your laptop's onboard audio

Will enhance your laptops inbuilt audio with ease

More expensive upgrades could be better

This card is the gold standard 4 sound cards and multimedia audio. I use this card 4 everything from gaming to listening to music.

Easy To Install; Easy To Use; Quality Output; Reliable Performance

Vista support is lacking

What they did with this card was get a lower quality, and poorly supported chip and stick the X-Fi label on it. It's not a good card. Drivers are dodgy and completely non existent for Linux. The sound is OK, but not noticeably better than what you would get from an Audigy SE or something.

PCI-E

Deceptive name; bad drivers

Buying a sound card for a new PC isn't something many of us have thought about doing for many years. After all, motherboards have built-in audio that does the job just fine, right? Well, that's true to a point.

Excellent sound quality; intuitive mixer interface and equaliser settings

Some games may not run properly under Windows Vista; so it's best to check Creative's Web site for the games compatibility list

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

High Quality

Difficult To Install

Do not buy this product if you want to make music. Creative have crippled the soundfont support on Vista. Works on XP, but not drivers on Vista.

An excellent sound card that will deliver excelent benefits in the right environment

Sound quality; ease of installation

Perhaps not worth it for everyone