PC upgrade for BF2 - please help!

[teadaze]

so should I buy a LeadTek WinFast GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB DDR3/AGP/DVI/TV-OUT for $517
or a Asus AGP-AX850XTP/HTVD Radeon X850XT Platinum 256MB DDR3/DVI/VI/VO/TV-OUT for $527?

[SgtSoso]

Adding another gig of RAM helped me a lot....
Got rid of laggy play and really bad texture corruptions.

Your card is fine. You should be able to get an upgrade for your processor for not too much $. The XP line of Athlon's should bne very reasonable.

[Marloc]

I use a 128 9800 pro and have no problems what so ever. /shrug

[Berrern]

I use a 128 9800 pro and have no problems what so ever. /shrug

What's the rest of your system specs?

[HaXoRShunT3R]

Thing I would do to use your MB to it full potential,

get another raptor and set up your to drives in a raid set 0 (your mb has a raid controller)
You could use your sata 200mb but it not as quick as the raptor, you wont be able to use this drive as you will be using up the slot, but you can always buy an IDE drive for storage.

Get 2 sticks of 1gig ram and use the slots that give you Dual Channel

Get a 256mb Graphic card

Also what kind of connection have you got ISDN or ADSL ? might be a package loss problem.

[unknownman_007]

I have a fix for you

go to www.alienware.com

buy the most EXPENSIVE PC there with all the most expensive options you can get, then get the most expensive internet per month you can, then you'll never be complaning, now if we all had the money to do this....

*drools*

[Berrern]

Thing I would do to use your MB to it full potential,

get another raptor and set up your to drives in a raid set 0 (your mb has a raid controller)

Also what kind of connection have you got ISDN or ADSL ? might be a package loss problem.

First off, the D drive, which is "only" 7.200 RPM is only used for storage. BF2, WinXP and everything else runs off C:.
Will there still be a performance boost by setting up a RAID solution?

Also, I've got a 2.8MBit connection which gives me a ping of ~20-25, and I've never had packetloss or ping spikes problems with this connection.

[HaXoRShunT3R]

Running a raid set up is definately worth setting up , your board has it onboard but you need 2 sata drives of the same size and make,since raptors are the fastest on the market I would go for them

This will give you sata drives in a raid setup, thats quick, nearly a 50% seek increase over a single sata, you'll notice when you enter servers the rest get in about 2-3 sec behind you , means you can tag the planes and helis

You can raid your 200mb drive if you get another but it wont be as fast as the raptors, you decide speed over size.

Means flatening your computer and reinstalls and all the boring stuff but its worth it.

Just seems a waste to me to have a board with sata raid and not use it.

[Zerstorer23]

I belive that 1 gig of RAM is good. No need to go higher. Is 5 fps really worth $120?
I say upgrade your Video Card and CPU.

I have a XFX 6600GT 128mb OC'd @ 550/1.10 ($190), Pentium 4 3.2 ghz CPU, and 1 gig of RAM. I run it at 1024x768, mostly medium settings (Unit detail low, shadows high) with no AA/AF (I grew up without it, only useful for me in Sims 2 and Silent Storm) On maps like Strike and Stalemate, I get around 50-60 fps, larger maps like Oman and Kubra, I get around 40-50.

I say get a 6600GT or similar ATI equivalent with 256mb of memory ($100-150 after some eBay selling). And bring your CPU up a notch, too. (Atleast 2.8ghz)

[KHAN]

Good sale for cards at www.overclockers.co.uk. They have 6800 and 7800's reduced still methinks

[Berrern]

I say upgrade your Video Card and CPU.
[...]
I say get a 6600GT or similar ATI equivalent with 256mb of memory ($100-150 after some eBay selling). And bring your CPU up a notch, too. (Atleast 2.8ghz)

Well, I've already got a XP2800+ CPU, which is overclocked - so it's closer to a XP3200+. This should be more or less equivalent to a 3.2GHz CPU, so I HOPE I wont have to upgrade that.

Next time I go for a CPU upgrade I'm going to buy a 64-bit one w/ a new motherboard, but I was hoping to wait with this for about 6-9 months.

Thanks for the advice anyway, but I'll try a stick of RAM and a gfx card first - just need to wait for my paycheck to arrive, shouldn't be more than about a week now!

[Berrern]

Running a raid set up is definately worth setting up , your board has it onboard but you need 2 sata drives of the same size and make,since raptors are the fastest on the market I would go for them

Well, the problem is that my computer can't support 3 S-ATA drives, and I've just recently bought the 200GB one. Also, I HATE the thought of climbing down from the beloved S-ATA throne and install a slow, inefficient IDE drive for storage :p

It wouldn't be a problem if the Raptor drives were a bit bigger, but at 37.5 or 74GB you wont be able to fit much stuff on them :/

However, if it's as much as a 50% seek time boost, then I have to consider my options!

[Hocky27]

Yes, that is a (bottle neck) so to say with the 128MB video cards, although it is a Pro version, the smaller amount of RAM will affect game play somewhat, if you can afford it i would suggect an upgrade of that too... If both the RAM and the video card are upgraded I see no reason for you to be able to run everything on high..

May I recomend the following cards for your system:
ASUS ATI X800PRO 256MB, $636 (Aussie dollars)
Or if that is too expensive then the ASUS GF6600 256MB would be a good try at $235

Good luck with whatever you choose to do :)

Sorry to kind of " hijack " some one elses thread, however where did you see the GF6600 for $235 ? I am also from Aus and i am considering uprgrading so i have more then the bare minimals to run the game.

[HaXoRShunT3R]

Well, the problem is that my computer can't support 3 S-ATA drives, and I've just recently bought the 200GB one. Also, I HATE the thought of climbing down from the beloved S-ATA throne and install a slow, inefficient IDE drive for storage :p

It wouldn't be a problem if the Raptor drives were a bit bigger, but at 37.5 or 74GB you wont be able to fit much stuff on them :/

However, if it's as much as a 50% seek time boost, then I have to consider my options!

I know hard choice your gonna lose a raptor or your 200mb sata drive you use for storage think about it, also I think you can get sata raid cards to fit in pci slots then you could have 4 raptors in a raid and 2 x 200 sata drive for storage........If your minted that is :cry:

[Berrern]

you could have 4 raptors in a raid and 2 x 200 sata drive for storage........If your minted that is :cry:

4 Raptors! If only I were a millionaire

Gonna have a look for prices on S-ATA controllers, but this seems to be a project of such size that it has to wait until next months' paycheck. Most important now are appaerently RAM and GFX.

Thanks again everyone :)