A wierd Sound Issue

[Dragon.Star]

Ok, lets hear from the sound experts on this one.

Problem: Sound comes in choppy and goes in and out.

Troubleshooting: Been tossing emails back and forth with turbine for a couple weeks now and this I what I found out.

If I try and play the game in Windows mode resolution 1280 x 1024 the sound problem is there. This is the way I always played the game in the past with no issues.

Any other lesser mode and my sound ends up being ok.

My question is what is causing this as this does not happen in any other games and I also didn't have issues when running XP or Win 7 RC.

I'm currently running Windows 7 Home edition.
Sound card: Soundblaster X-fi XtremeGamer
Video Card: Geforce 7300 GS

Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Wizitdry]

Did you update any drivers around the time this problem started to occur? Otherwise it sounds like your system may be choking at high res. If this is just since last update there is a possibility that your graphics card or other hardware is struggling; there were quite a few graphical changes made in the last update.

If you have onboard sound try disabling your sound blaster and enable the onboard see if the sound card is having issues.

[Dragon.Star]

Did you update any drivers around the time this problem started to occur? Otherwise it sounds like your system may be choking at high res. If this is just since last update there is a possibility that your graphics card or other hardware is struggling; there were quite a few graphical changes made in the last update.

If you have onboard sound try disabling your sound blaster and enable the onboard see if the sound card is having issues.

I started having the problems after I went Windows 7 before update 3. I've already checked out the sound and video card, I've also reinstalled and loaded the latest drivers also. What I can't understand is why video setting is affecting sound.

Definately can't try onboard sound as they never played well with DDO when it first came out, that is when i bought this sound card :)

[Wizitdry]

As a guess I would say that your system is using alot more resources at the higher resolution, this may not leave enough proccessing power for your sound. If this is right a better graphics card which should be capable of handling the graphics processing on its own would help.

If you know someone that would be willing to lend you a better graphics card you could test this that might be good, i'm reluctant to say go buy a new graphics card because I don't want to cause you spending money only to not have the problem fixed. With that said a 7300 gs is a lower end card and a better card would net you improvement in gameplay either way.

[Dragon.Star]

As a guess I would say that your system is using alot more resources at the higher resolution, this may not leave enough proccessing power for your sound. If this is right a better graphics card which should be capable of handling the graphics processing on its own would help.

If you know someone that would be willing to lend you a better graphics card you could test this that might be good, i'm reluctant to say go buy a new graphics card because I don't want to cause you spending money only to not have the problem fixed. With that said a 7300 gs is a lower end card and a better card would net you improvement in gameplay either way.

I totally agree with the card being low end, especially considering that I bought it over 3 years ago - lol.

As for buying a new card, I am already lining that up but it will be going into my new system once I get some tax bucks back :) Building a brand new rig with plenty of power :)

I wonder if I drop using the Hi-Res files down to the lower one if that would solve the problem. Would I have to reinstall to do that?

[Wizitdry]

I do believe that the hi res textures don't kick in until you have your settings on Ultra. The best thing you could possibly do is try to disable as many background items as you can, this may free up some extra resources helping your game play.

Once you get your new system you'll wonder how did I ever get by :D

[Dragon.Star]

Yeah I won't know what to do with myself, especially since I plan on going with a 2 monitor setup, 1 for gaming and the other one for stuff I'm working on. :)

So far here is what I have picked out (https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=17438188), what do you think.

[Wizitdry]

Hmm, your link is taking me to newegg's login page, you may need to find the pc listed on the site and link to that, if it's a custom build you might have to copy and paste.

[Dragon.Star]

hmmm, sorry about that, I thought making the list public would make it available to you.

Wish List:
Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price
1 https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/9241/30d/images1.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/13-128-411-03.jpg GIGABYTE GA-MA785GT-UD3H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128411)
Item #: N82E16813128411
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$94.99
1 https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/9241/30d/images1.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/22-136-075-04.jpg Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136075)
Item #: N82E16822136075
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$39.49
2 https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/9241/30d/images1.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/20-145-251-02.jpg CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model TW3X4G1333C9A G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820145251)
Item #: N82E16820145251
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy -$10.00 Instant
$239.98
1 https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/9241/30d/images1.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/22-136-040-02.jpg Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000KSRTL 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822136040)
Item #: N82E16822136040
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$69.99
1 https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/9241/30d/images1.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/19-103-809-02.jpg AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HDX945WFGMBOX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819103809)
Item #: N82E16819103809
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
$150.99
1 https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/9241/30d/images1.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/11-119-196-02.jpg COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811119196)
Item #: N82E16811119196
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy -$10.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate (http://images10.newegg.com/uploadfilesfornewegg/rebate/SH/CoolerMaster11-119-196Feb11Feb2810cd12.pdf)
$99.99
1 https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/9241/30d/images1.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/14-150-447-04.jpg XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814150447)
Item #: N82E16814150447
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
$169.99
1 https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/9241/30d/images1.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/27-106-335-06.jpg LITE-ON Black 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16827106335)
Item #: N82E16827106335
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$31.99




https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=17438188 (https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=17438188)

[Wizitdry]

Looks pretty good, you'll need to add a power supply in there. Go for something with a good brand name seasonic is good, 650w - 700w will give you upgrade room should you want to add a 2nd or better graphics card later.

I would look at 1600 ddr3 for ram though, faster ram means better performance; AMD can't currently make use of anything faster than 1600.