X-Fi Crystalizer and Framerates

But the sound quality is not the topic here. The question is: Does my framerate suffer from having the 24-bit Crystalizer enabled or am I wasting processing power? To test this it would be ideal to benchmark some games with various Crystalizer settings and compare the results.

The first game for this test was supposed to be Quake 4, but sadly timedemos in Quake 4 don't come with sound. Battlefield 2 doesn't come with any benchmarking options at all and using FRAPS to gain results isn't the best idea either. One of the games that can be benchmarked with sound is Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. It is a bit older than Quake 4 or Battlefield 2 but that shouldn't worry us since Crystalizer works on any sound, old or new. All tests have been run three times.

Definitely no noticeable difference in framerates. Average framerates are 53.4fps with Crystalizer off, 53.1fps at 75% and 53fps at 100%. Let's try another game, this time Nadeo's recently released free game Trackmania Nations. Sound settings - Quality: High, EAX: ON, Speakers: 5.1. Also this time all tests have been run three times using the build in benchmark option.

Like in the previous test also here there are no significant differences. Average framerates are 47.8fps with Crystalizer off, 47.9fps at 75% and 47.8fps at 100%.

So does the 24-bit Crystalizer affect your framerates? Not one bit and the reason for that is probably the fact that the effect is being processed by your X-Fi soundcard and not by your CPU. Should you keep it enabled? Well, it's up to you. If you can hear a difference and like it - keep it. Either way it doesn't affect your system performance only your hearing experience.