Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

[bahamut0]

Hi, I was going to upgrade my system for playing bf2 or 2142 (which uses the same hardware preformance anyway), I am not a gamer itself, but everytime I log on to battlefield 2 or 2142 I lag like crazy at the beginning, after 10-15s it became normal and most of the time I got kicked when I am at normal state...

Anyway, here's the spec I currently have right now
MB: Asus P5S800-VM
Memory: Kingston 2x512MB PC3200 400Mhz
Video Card: ATI AIW 9600PROXT 128MB AGP
Sound Card: SoundBlaster AUDIGY 2 ZS
HDD: 160GB PATA 7200RPM and 250GB UATA 7200RPM
PSU: Enermax EG465P 20/24pin 460W
DVD-RW, CD-RW and Floppy, thats about it for my system spec

Question was:
I just brought a motherboard (P5L-MX) and 1GB DDR2 667Mhz Since I would go for Core 2 Duo for sure.

1. I am still stuggle on getting a E6300 or E6400, which one you guys prefer? I don't think I would get E6600 since its way too expansive for me.
2. I am looking at Sapphire ATI X1650PRO PCI-e, BFG Nvidia GeForce 7900GS PCI-e and same Nvidia card but company would be EVGA. which one you guys prefer for using on bf2?
3. The Budget I am willing to spend on would be around 300 on the Core 2 Duo. and around 200-300 for the Video card. RAM is alway the same price: 200. Is it worth enough for an upgrade?
4. For the PSU, is that good enough to run Core 2 Duo Processor and the new video card I am getting? so that I won't need to spend another $100 for buying a new PSU.
5. Is the new motherboard I got good for gaming? or you guys prefer something else?

BTW, I live in Canada, although I don't mind for the UK pound as a references.

[megawhompertoo]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

CPU
E6400 is the sweet spot for price/performance. Costs about $200 USD.

GPU
x1950xt is the cat's meow for price/performance. x1950PRO, 7900 series following close behind. Costs about $250 in the U.S.

Case + PSU:
For $100USD, can't beat an Antec Sonata II--high quality, cool, quiet case with 2x120mm fans. It comes with an Antec 450W PSU, which is plenty of power for a fully configured system. Alternatively, you could just drop your new build into the case/psu you have now with a molex-to-pci-e adapter.

Motheboard:
P5L-MX=Not bad. It's only got two PCI slots, which means that you've really only got 1 slot after you plug in a video card that has a big fan on it. That should be ok, though since you've only got 1 pci card (audigy 2 zs) to plug in.

On the lag, what you're describing sounds more like a high ping than a hardware issue.

[cloakster]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

Evga 7950GT: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...A&promoid=1042
239.99 after m/r

E6400: http://canadacomputers.com/index.php...886&cid=CPU.84
263.99

The PSU you currently have should be enough to power the 7950GT+E6400. Buying an adapter like megawhompertoo said would work. The rest of the money i would suggest to spend on an extra 1gb of RAM(for 2gb in total)

[bahamut0]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

Thanks for the reply everyone, yeah, I will spend some money on RAM as well since I only got 1GB currently on my system.

They don't have x1950xt so far on my local store...the closest they have is x1950PRO, which is 289.95CAN, does it have any performance difference on this two video card?

for the 7950GT, they have both BFG and EVGA version on this chipset, and EVGA is cheaper for the price, does it have any performance difference on this two video card as well?

for the high ping issue, what kind of things I can do to lower the high pings? b/c I only open bf2 and nothing else running on the background that would use internet...except for the auto update...

I have 2 fans on my tower (one on the front, 8cm and one on the rear, 12cm), is it good enough for the cooling system on my tower or should I need another cooling system running on my system? BTW, my tower is CENTURION 5 BLUE 17IN ATX

Once again, thanks for everyone's suggestion in here:)

[megawhompertoo]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

7950gt will make you happy. You get a little more bang out of a x1950xt for the same price (usually), but I would take a 7950gt over an x1950pro for performance.

between the EVGA and BFG 7950gt models...if the prices are nearly identical, the one with the best warranty would be my choice

[signa]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

Case + PSU:
For $100USD, can't beat an Antec Sonata II--high quality, cool, quiet case with 2x120mm fans. It comes with an Antec 450W PSU, which is plenty of power for a fully configured system. Alternatively, you could just drop your new build into the case/psu you have now with a molex-to-pci-e adapter.

that is a good case. I currently have a Sonata I.

I just saw a Sonata II on sale for $40 after rebate: Expires 1/25/2007

link: http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4470276
rebate: http://image.ak.outpost.com/art/reba...276_011907.pdf

[megawhompertoo]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

that is a good case. I currently have a Sonata I.

I just saw a Sonata II on sale for $40 after rebate: Expires 1/25/2007

link: http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4470276
rebate: http://image.ak.outpost.com/art/reba...276_011907.pdf

I just upgraded from a sonata I w/the included 380W PSU to a p180 (best buy had them for $79 + free shipping during their new year's sale, no rebate necessary) and a antec 650W trio. Did the transplant yesterday, and I'm quite happy. The p180 is a little louder than the Sonata, but I've also got the fans turned up to medium. I uglied up my sonata (such a shame) by cutting a 120mm hole in the side and setting a fan to blow cold air over the gpu.

A sonata ii for $40 AR is great deal, though. Antec has me hooked on their products.

[signa]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

..The p180 is a little louder than the Sonata, but I've also got the fans turned up to medium.

oh really? I was hoping it would be more quiet. If you saw in the other thread I bought my P180b around the same time you did. I ended up getting the 550w Antec NeoHE since it was $49 ar. I'm waiting a couple months to start my new quad core build, when the prices drop.

[megawhompertoo]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

oh really? I was hoping it would be more quiet.

It was...then I put a vantec "stealth" 120mm in the front plugged directly into a molex, and set the top and interior bottom stock fans to medium. I also replaced the switchable back exhaust fan with one of these AC's:

http://www.svc.com/acf12.html

What I pro'ly need to do is junk the front fan, and use the switchable fan in front instead. Cabling isn't that stellar, either: I've also got 4 hd's at the moment, 2 of which are EIDE, and 2 EIDE opticals, so I'm creating alot of wind noise. Need to pare down to a single EIDE channel for 1xhd and 1 optical, ditch the floppy as soon as i get windoze reinstalled (couldn't quite figure out howto slipstream SATA/RAID onto my new install CD), and run the two SATA's in the bottom cage.

That'll take care of fan noise and drastically improve cable management. I'm sure it'll get much quieter; it's just going to take some tinkering.

'pologies to OP for thread jacking... :)

[bahamut0]

Re: Upgrade to a new system for playing BF2

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, time to assemble my new system for a whole week long...I guess....