Creative Labs X-Fi Fatal1ty
TechReport have managed to get their hands on a new Creative Labs X-Fi Fatal1ty to see whether the bundled I/O ports and 64MB of X-Ram warrant the price increase over cheaper models in the X-Fi product line. Granted, this card features the same X-Fi architecture that impressed us when we reviewed the X-Fi XtremeMusic. However, it appears as though the I/O ports can be had in much cheaper X-Fi versions and the performance benefits of the 64MB of XRam were questionable at best.
Only Battlefield 2 and Quake 4 even support X-RAM, and neither's use of the X-Fi Fatal1ty's 64MB of onboard memory results in higher in-game frame rates or superior audio quality. That's a disappointing result, although since neither Battlefield 2 nor Quake 4 was developed from the ground up with onboard sound card memory in mind, our results are hardly a condemnation of X-RAM as a technology.
