Well as many of us know directx has some problem with sound blaster live cards( and creative sound cards in general). i have an sb live and since i've gotten so many lockups because of this i figured id buy a monsterr sound mx400 card. i bought it and after some trouble trying to start windows 98 with 2 sound cards i removed the sb live and just kept the mx400. and my directx games didnt freeze at all!!! the next morning i started to play evolva and the dreaded sound skip lock up happened. man im mad!!! i wasted 80 on this card and lost the recept. its kind of funny though. Maybe im just doomed. by the way i can really tell the difference between the two cards. the sb live has a fuller richer sound to it and it is also a buit louder im taking back the mx 400. Im thinking amybe i need a better power supply. i dunno just posting what ive experimented with.