Jump to content

My latest upgrade- Sound Blaster Z soundcard.


Metal
 Share

Recommended Posts

So far I like it. The sound is definitely better (I was using onboard sound). Sounds are louder and much easier to hear. I can hear footsteps much much farther away than I could before. This is a good thing but also takes some getting used to. Sometimes the footsteps are so loud that I think they are much closer than they actually are.

Another good thing about it is the ability to easily switch between speakers and headset, which I didn't have before.

 

Overall, for a $120 upgrade I'm happy. I think the next upgrade for me will be a SSD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really?  I always wondered, but never used anything but on board.

 

For your next purchase get a hybrid instead of a full SSD drive they are almost as fast as SSD for a fraction of the cost.

 

The SSD was $140 for 120gig.

The hybrid was $140 for 750 gig.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148940

Thanks, i'll check that out. I was just reviewing SSD's on Tom's Hardware. I probably won't upgrade for a few months anyways. I already have 3 internal HD's and 3 externals so it's not like i'm hurting for space. I mainly just want faster boot and load times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just read up on Hybrids, basically they are normal HD's that contain about 8gb of SSD cache. The cache saves your most used data over time which causes it to load faster. Hybrid's are great for laptops or people that don't have space to add more hard drives. I think i'll go with a normal 120GB SSD as I still have plenty of room to add more HD's and I have lots of available space now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SSD's are awesome. I can't imagine going back to having a HDD as my OS drive.

You can boot into Windows in approximately 10 seconds. Can format and install a fresh copy of Windows from a thumb drive in under 10 minutes.

 

As far as my graphic design and editing OMFG the difference is even more noticeable. Applying filters on huge graphics is instantaneous, its great.

 

I got the Crucial M4 128GB because at the time the Sandforce controller was having some serious issues. There was so many horror stories blowing up everywhere online I completely avoided it. I imagine that is no longer an issue though. Just make sure you do your research on which one to get.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...