Page 10 - RM3D

RightMark 3D v2.3

RightMark tests the DirectSound capability of a sound card and its drivers. There is a positioning accuracy test for various EAX modes, as well as the CPU utilization test for testing driver efficiency. Please note that at 128 buffers, RightMark would crash, and no data could be used.

The Device Info:

What RM3D had to say about the hardware depends on the mode the X-Fi is in, in this case Game Mode with EAX enabled.

It is tough to see clearly, but the X-Fi Prelude is just about even with the X-Fi XtremeMusic, which is what we should expect since the Prelude is essentially using Creatives drivers. The X-Fi Prelude drivers are quite stripped down, but the inner workings are looking pretty equal. Speaking of pretty, doesnt look so pretty for the X-Meridian.

Again, you can clearly see which sound cards are effectively using DirectSound acceleration.

Although the 128 voice mode is quite impressive, it does come at a cost, especially for the X-Meridian, which does most of its magic by using the system CPU.

While the stripped down Creative driver doesn't offer any performance increase, at least it doesn't hurt perfomance either. RM3D shows what's so good about Auzentech using Creative chips, it's about twice as efficient than the X-Meridian.