PC upgrade

[tehpwnrer]

I am debating whether i should get 1 more GB of XMS ram to make 2gb or a creative X-FI xtreme music sound card, because right now i am running onboard. If anyone with an X-fi card or 2gb of memory could provide some insight it would be muchly appreciated.

AMD 3500+
2x 512 XMS 2-3-3-6
7800gt 450/1100

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: PC upgrade

Go for another gig of ram.

[Blak_Phoenix]

Re: PC upgrade

It depends how much you like good sound. The extra gig will allow smoother game play and less loading times, but the X-Fi card weill give you amasing sound, and should make the game play slightly better.

[claevade]

Re: PC upgrade

The X-Fi will not really improve your FPS, since when using the X-Fi you will select a higher quality sound in BF2, which makes the FPS diffrerence between a X-Fi and a Audigy 2 ZS (for example) non exisiting. Although the X-Fi will sound better ofcourse.

I would go for the stick of RAM, I will give you much better loading times and a good performance boost (FPS) as well.

[Blak_Phoenix]

Re: PC upgrade

Having an X-Fi will give him better game play, as at the moment he is using on-board sound, so it is using his RAM and his CPU to make the sounds, having a soudn card will help, by taking the load off those things.

[Hephaistion]

Re: PC upgrade

The X-Fi will not really improve your FPS, since when using the X-Fi you will select a higher quality sound in BF2, which makes the FPS diffrerence between a X-Fi and a Audigy 2 ZS (for example) non exisiting. Although the X-Fi will sound better ofcourse.

I would go for the stick of RAM, I will give you much better loading times and a good performance boost (FPS) as well.

Actually when I got my X-Fi my game performance did slightly increase, this card definately takes the audio load off your CPU.

[imported_Wreck]

Re: PC upgrade

Game performance > sound quality imo. Get the ram.

[Darksniper75]

Re: PC upgrade

You should be able to run at max settings anyway, go for the soundcard, and later if you aren't happy put another gig in it. But with the tweaksrus drivers and your system specs evrything should be smooth as silk. Mind you, most people swear with two gigs here. Personally spoken, after 100 pc's, great gfx card only needs 1 gig to play bf2 at highest smoothest levels. Of course, 2 gig will load faster etc. But It won't improve fps!

Cheers

[Hoppum]

Re: PC upgrade

Any sound card will take load away from the cpu. Get the ram, then get an audigy 2 zs.

[Darksniper75]

Re: PC upgrade

Any sound card will take load away from the cpu. Get the ram, then get an audigy 2 zs.

He doesn't need to get the load off his cpu and ram. His specs are more than enough. Besides that the audigy doesn't allow ultra high sound. It's not a performance issue.

Cheers

[imported_Wreck]

Re: PC upgrade

He doesn't need to get the load off his cpu and ram. His specs are more than enough. Besides that the audigy doesn't allow ultra high sound. It's not a performance issue.

Cheers

Having 1Gb of ram with a 7800 GT is a performance issue imo.

[Darksniper75]

Re: PC upgrade

Having 1Gb of ram with a 7800 GT is a performance issue imo.

For BF2 it ain't. He can run on ultra high at 1600*1200, what is the fukin problem? At 40-60 fps?

G-xtreme drivers
Bit overclock of the cpu and this baby can do anything in BF2 all AA and ****.

[imported_Wreck]

Re: PC upgrade

For BF2 it ain't. He can run on ultra high at 1600*1200, what is the fukin problem? At 40-60 fps?

G-xtreme drivers
Bit overclock of the cpu and this baby can do anything in BF2 all AA and ****.

I'm not going to get into this argument again, but to play without stuttering at those settings you need 1.5-2Gb of ram. If you don't have at least 1.5Gb then your PC will access the page file causing slowdowns and stuttering.

As a matter of fact BF2 is the only game I know of that requires 2Gb of ram for high resolution and settings.

Add to that the fact that 2Gb of ram will cut load times at least in half compared to 1Gb and it becomes a no brainer.

[Darksniper75]

Re: PC upgrade

I'm not going to get into this argument again, but to play without stuttering at those settings you need 1.5-2Gb of ram. If you don't have at least 1.5Gb then your PC will access the page file causing slowdowns and stuttering.

As a matter of fact BF2 is the only game I know of that requires 2Gb of ram for high resolution and settings.

Add to that the fact that 2Gb of ram will cut load times at least in half compared to 1Gb and it becomes a no brainer.

He can have all the best settings including sound (ultra high), compared to faster loads. I would opt for the extra quality in sound.

Cheers

[turkeybaggins]

Re: PC upgrade

i know for a fact the new X-Fi card will help the system but is needs the be the Fatality version cos that has the onbard ram, also adding the extra gig will really help cos i found BF2 uses just over a gig anyway. im no pro on these matters but i know that sound card is very very good