I've been using Unlocked frame rates and averaging in the mid 20's I replaced my Audigy sound card with an XFi fatality sound card yesterday and when left unlocked my frame rates ranged from 16 to 90 over the course of only a couple of seconds! This caused a noticable stuttering in all camera views. I locked the frames to 25 and all was rock solid again. I post this just for general information to those looking to upgrade their sound card.System:Home builtQuadCore6600 @ 2.8ocGeforce 8800 GTS SB Xfi Fatality2gig DDR2 @ 800mhz

Not unusualyour using more resources and the bus needs more time in latency so locking is needed to stabilizeIts the same 'phenomenon' some see when flying over very heavy urban and 'unlimited' is smoother than locked... and then locked is smoother than 'unlimited' when flying over low-load bush areas.. and then others report locked works better all the time, and still others report unlimited works better all the timeIts about the system and what is going on, along with the FSX scenery settings, and, where you may be flying in FSX.:)

'Unlimited' works way better for my system.I get around 47 fps in the Cheyenne sitting on a runway.

>Not unusual>>your using more resources and the bus needs more time in>latency so locking is needed to stabilize>Are you implying that the XFi Fatality uses more system resources than an Audigy?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

Im not implying anythingI can take both of those cards and install them in different motherboards and each may display different resource usesthe BIOS and the motherboard electronics play into all that as wellas do the chipset driversYou cant assume because a card may work perfect in one tower and not take up resources it will do the same in all othersThere is quite a bit more to it than the card or the device involved

>>There is quite a bit more to it than the card or the device>involved>>I'm aware of all of the variables with chipsets, boards, etc. My question was not one of yea or nay.How about this: Assuming all other variables are the same, I was asking if there was a known difference in overhead between those two classes of cards...If you do not know, that is fine, I just figured you might know more about modern sound cards than I do, based on your statement. I personally have not researched them in over 4 years. :(RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

Unlocked frame rate with V-sync set to off in Nvidia control panel is best for me. A lot less stutters at the expense of some very minor screen tearing when panning around views.

The reason I upgraded to the XFi is because it's "supposed" to take some of the load off of the cpu. I don't get the slight stutter when ATC speaks now and the in game music doesn't stop anymore. Once again I thought the XFI was less resource intensive. By the way..I MUST have Vsync on otherwise the view tears and stutters terribly..

No, I do not know the specifics of the card however the bus time in latency the device need has now gone up with the card in the system and that would account for why he went from unlimited to locked.unlimited with the new card is probably too much and locking the frames plays better with the latency being requested by the new cardThat does not mean it uses more resources per say either. If it corrected a sound issue then that is probably because the card/drivers demand the priority, which also is in line with increased latency too.

Vsync has been required locked for some time now with Nv driversSound cards are designed to demand the resources when they need them where the motherboard sound may be trying to play nice with the other devices.. can be several reasons why a sound card will fix things.. in the old days the Sound Blasters were a HOG and actually caused stutters if they were not in the right PCI slot.The bus must allow that card time on it which does not mean the card is a resource hog, it just means the time the card takes on the bus will effect things a bit.. so being forced to lock frames with the card added tothe system is not so surprising:)

>Unlocked frame rate with V-sync set to off in Nvidia control>panel is best for me. A lot less stutters at the expense of>some very minor screen tearing when panning around views.You can reduce or eliminate the tearing by uping your Texture_Bandwidth_Mult. Not much don't go all the way to 400 or you'll get stuttering. If you have a decent performing system, try somewhere in the low 100's (Mine is set at 100, and I get no tearing or stutters.)

>The reason I upgraded to the XFi is because it's "supposed">to take some of the load off of the cpu. I don't get the>slight stutter when ATC speaks now and the in game music>doesn't stop anymore. Once again I thought the XFI was less>resource intensive. That's great. The thing is, I use a 6 or 7-year-old SB Audigy that has survived 3 system builds, and it gives flawless performance in FS too. I mean it has no problems. So that just goes to show, there are many more variables at play than just the supposed "overhead" or lack thereof on the card.I remember having a Diamond MonsterSound MX200 about 10 years ago. It was supposed to take most of the load off the cpu. I didn't notice it being any better than my year 1992 Soundblaster in that regard. RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>I've been using Unlocked frame rates and averaging in the mid>20's >I replaced my Audigy sound card with an XFi fatality sound>card yesterday and when left unlocked my frame rates ranged>from 16 to 90 over the course of only a couple of seconds! >This caused a noticable stuttering in all camera views. I>locked the frames to 25 and all was rock solid again. I post>this just for general information to those looking to upgrade>their sound card.>>System:>Home built>QuadCore6600 @ 2.8oc>Geforce 8800 GTS >SB Xfi Fatality>2gig DDR2 @ 800mhz>---------------------------------------------I used to run FSX in unlocked and had a smoother run into turns. But, the scenery below the wing didn't come into as sharp a focus, as when I decided to lock down the FPS to 18. Then, everything below the wing was crisp and great to look down upon. So...I have decided to stick with the 18 figure (best for my computer system) and find this just fine.Mitch

On my Core 2 Duo I had to keep it locked to reduce blurries, but with my Quad I can either lock it or set it to unlimited and still get sharp textures, which was not possible on the Duo when comparing the same scenario. The quad loads textures much much better. Now that I have a quad and my blurries are essentially gone I just set it to unlimited and enjoy high framerates. From my experience with a quad locking it isn't all that necessary, though I always locked it on my Duo.