CAN'T DECIDE

[jmecor]

I’m planning to upgrade my computer,
but I don’t know what’s the next best upgrade I can do.
I can’t decide!

Here’s The Original PC I bought:

300 Watts Power Supply
ASUS P4S333-M Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.0A GHz
128MB PC2100 DDR266 SDRAM CAS2.5
Integrated On-board Audio
2-Piece Ordinary Speakers
15” LG CRT Monitor
Nvidia RiVaTNT2 M64 32MB AGP4X
HP DeskJet 810C Printer
D-link Conexant 56K v.90 Internal Modem
Asus CD-ROM 52X
Genius Internet Keyboard and Mouse
Microsoft Windows ME


Now here’s the current specs (includes all upgrades):

300 Watts Power Supply
ASUS P4S333-M Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.0A GHz
<font color=red>256MB PC2100 DDR266 SDRAM CAS2.5</font color=red>
Integrated On-board Audio
<font color=red>Creative Inspire 2.1 Speakers w/ Subwoofer</font color=red>
15” LG CRT Monitor
<font color=red>Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 64MB AGP4x</font color=red>
HP Deskjet 810C Printer
D-link Conexant 56K v.90 Internal Modem
<font color=red>Asus CD-Writer 40X-12X-48X</font color=red>
Genius Internet Keyboard and Mouse
<font color=red>Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1</font color=red>

My mind tells me that a sound card upgrade will be decent enough.
Specially since I listen to lots of mp3, but I don’t want to spend to much on buying a Creative Audigy 2 Platinum card. I’ve seen other creative alternatives, but they are very rare in my place. I’m looking for a decent Sound card upgrade from creative which don’t cost too much (maybe $90-$110) and has 6.1-channel support. Then I can decide later the upgrade for my speakers and dvd player.

Purpose:
Listening to lots of Audio CD’s and MP3
Playing VCD’s for awhile.
Playing some 5.1 enhanced games like Ut2k3 or the upcoming doom3.










-J<font color=red>//\</font color=red>ECOR™ -
-J<font color=purple>//\</font color=purple>ECOR™ -

 

[cleeve]

Hercules has some cheap soundcards available with up to 7.1 specs.

The only thing beiong, if you buy anything onther than an Audigy 2, your CPU will take a hit when processing audio and you'll lose up to 5 frames per second in your games.

Also, I doubt that your 5200 is not up to snuff for running Doom3 at a decent resolution. But if you want to buy a video card for Doom3 you shuld wait until the game is finalized so that benchmarks are released. Besides, better video cards will be cheaper then...

------------------
Radeon 9500 (modded to PRO w/8 pixel pipelines)
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
3dMark03: 3529

 

[ufo_warviper]

That GeForce FX 5200 will be too slow. Don't get it! If you are a low-end user, get a GeForce 4 Ti4200 instead. If you are sort of a mid-range range user and got more money to spend, get a Radeon 9600 Pro either built by ATi or Hercules.



My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!

 

[sargeduck]

Agreed, don't get the fx 5200. Just to reinforce what UFO_WARVIPER said, get a GeForce 4 Ti4200 for low end, and a 9600Pro for mid end. That said, I would save up a little more and try to get the 9600. It is dx9 (and can actually run it, which Nvidia seems to have a problem doing), so it is "more" future proof than the geforce 4/

 

[ufo_warviper]

Hold on jmecor, now that I remember, it seems like you've mentioned an FX5200 you have already owned for a while in the Games forum, didn't you? Now that I thing about it, I'm quite sure you already owned an FX5200.

My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

UFO, yes the FX5200 is listed as CURRENT specs.

This is not really a graphics solution, but I understand people like their own little groups they are familiar with.

Anywho <b>jmecor</b> the thing is that if your main focuse were audio quality I'd say go with the M-Audio revoluion 7.1, i has the second best audio fidelity out there (behind RME). However the main problem is a lack of EAX support on these and other cards. This causes a bit of slow down and also a bit less features when gaming. However the Audigy(s) don't have as good sound quality as the M-Audio solutions. I have an original Audigy, but it was released long before the M-Audio and RME solutions, and it's mainly for a gaming rig (I have a great hi-fi).
So the main question is a slight difference in fidelity for te advantaes of EAX. The M-Audio and Hercules solutions are usually cheaper (and thebase audigy is 5.1 only) but the Audigy 2 does have some nice 'tweaks'. Unfortunately none have 'native' DTS support, but the Audigy 2 does come with DVD-Audio support (a nice feature).

Just my 2 decibels worth.



- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK

 

[jmecor]

yeah i've just bought it last 3 weeks ago. And it runs fine for my needs.
My Score in 3dmark 2001:

TnT m64 - 850

GeforceFX5200 - 5010.



-J<font color=red>//\</font color=red>ECOR™ -
-J<font color=purple>//\</font color=purple>ECOR™ -

 

[jmecor]

There are many versions of audigy 2.
I'm quite confused to this.
I'm aiming for the MP3+ Audigy 2. Is this has major differences in sound quality between the platinum edition of audigy2?

-J<font color=red>//\</font color=red>ECOR™ -
-J<font color=purple>//\</font color=purple>ECOR™ -

 

[cleeve]

All audigy 2's are identical as far as the cards themselves go. I think the only difference is the software in the package.

The platinum version comes with the LiveDrive, which sits in a CD-ROM bay and offers more connection options and a remote. But the sound card itself is the same one.

------------------
Radeon 9500 (modded to PRO w/8 pixel pipelines)
AMD AthlonXP 2000+
3dMark03: 3529

 

[jmecor]

now that's a relief,
I'm going to get a audigy 2 card.

-J<font color=red>//\</font color=red>ECOR™ -
-J<font color=purple>//\</font color=purple>ECOR™ -

 

[Willamette_sucks]

Thats pathetic.
With my ti4400 I was pullin over 13k.

"Mice eat cheese." - Modest Mouse

"Every Day is the Right Day." -Pink Floyd

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Whoa wait there is a difference in PLATINUMs if you get the Platinum EX. Performance is muh beter the sound is better and the SNR is higher. But the MP3, Gamers, etc are all the same except for the software/bundles,and you can even download the drivers for the other (if you by one) at creative's site.

In a recent review (can't find it now but I was reading it a week ago) of the Platinum, the Platinum EX and 2 other cards (from the same maker) the EX was well ahead of all others, an the RegularPlatinum actually came in below all others, with a sig. difference in the spectragrams.

And here's the XbitLabs review of the M-Audio;

<A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/revolution71.html" target="_new">http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/revolution71.html</A>

However the Audigy2 will be fine for most stuff.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK