G74SX - Creative EAX Drivers - Yes or No?

[Bojamijams]

Right now I'm running just the Realtek audio drivers. I've heard people complain about the sound quality of the G74SX (is that attributed to the DAC/AMP or the actual speakers?) and I'm wondering if the EAX drivers make that sound quality worse or better?

Also is an external (USB) soundcard like the Xonar U3 worth it? Does anyone have it and can comment on it?

[fostert]

Not sure about the EAX driver over/above the Realtek, but I do like Creative's THx program: when set to external speakers it really turns the sound around on the G74. Although I think its just a specific set of band dialings of an equalizer, and I suspect similar settings on any equalizer would give you a quality boost for those G74 speakers, which are otherwise "flat" and "airy".