i was wondering if i need a sound card for playing games like crysis or fsx. right now i am just using the audio from my motherboard and the games keep freezing and locking up. i am not sure if this has anything to do with not having a sound card. the system requirements of these games say directx 9.0c sound card on it so does that mean a separate sound card or integrated sound from my motherboard?

intel q6700 quad core
zalman 9700 nt
4gb ram 800mhz
asus p5n-e sli
2x evga 8800 gt
ocz 600 watt psu
wd raptor 150 gb

you dont need a discrete soundcard to play games. Your lockups are more than likely due to another issue, considering your running SLI that would be the first place id check

what would u suggest?
i was thinking take one of the video cards out and then trying the games...

Heya,

Try without SLI first. Then check your power consumption. Your 600watts may not be enough for that rig during a full load like Crysis. You can test the sound by simply disabling it in windows or in bios. No need to buy a card to solve that question.

Very best,

Those two cards are only drawing ~13A in SLI, it's very unlikely that it's the PSU. It's also very unlikely it's the on board sound.

Try one card and look at drivers.

Unstable OC? Stress testing will dig out the problem.

On the side note, it's a good idea to have a discrete sound card. Dunno about your current onboard sound but when I upgraded my sound card, the difference was staggering. For the better of course.

i tried with one video card and everything seemed to work fine. the driver i have is 177.79 from nvidia. does anyone know the reason why sli isnt working?

Have you tried both cards seperately? There might be a problem wit hthe other card.

i tried using both of the cards individually and both of them worked fine. im still confused as to why they stop working in sli

Driver issue / mainboard / power supply?

well i have checked nvidias website and i have the latest driver, my power supply seems adequate seeing that the power supply calculator says that the max wattage i should need is around 360 with 2 video cards and 300 with a single card. so this leaves the motherboard. i have a p5n-e sli from asus. i have heard many issues about this board. from my point of view i have 2 options. 1 would be to get a high performance video card like gtx 280 and not use sli or get a different motherboard like asus striker formula and use the 2 video cards i have in sli. tell me wat u think the best option would be.

thanks

First off id check the bios version on your board , flash if needed. And if you have a 2nd psu handy (or friends) try it also. Other than that a single higher powered card would be your best bet 1. GTX280 will be faster than SLI 8800gt anywho. 2. You will rid the pain of SLI growing pains (driver issues etc.)

i tried flashing my bios to the latest version and now my computer wont even boot with 2 video cards in it. i think that ur right about getting a better video card and it would be nice to get rid of the sli problems. i am kind of debating whether to get a new motherboard though since im not sure whether i want to keep a motherboard that is giving me issues.