Snap! Crackle! Pop!

My new RAM came the other day. I popped them in no problem, except that my behemoth 8800 GT rested nearly flush alongside the RAM banks and made it a surgical effort to remove and replace the modules. I wanted Wifezilla to stand next to me and hand me instruments while I barked out things like, “Scalpel!” or “I need 1,000 ccs of compressed air, stat!” but she didn’t get back from work in time. Hallie eagerly offered to help, but I envisioned her pulling out gobs of wiring so I wisely placed her in front of SpongeBob instead.

My 64-bit OP recognizes all 4 gigs. And let me tell you, I’m gaming in flavor country now. Coupled with my monster 8800, games load lightning fast and render smoothly. Fps is simply not an issue any more at current games’ highest settings.

For now.

I had one snag though. I’ve got a Soundbaster X-Fi, mostly because the integrated sound that comes on mobos suck. After installing the RAM and rebooting, I noticed significant popping and crackling coming out of my speakers. I’ve read lots of people having this problem with the X-Fi series. I think it’s particular to Vista. Something about the new RAM sparked the crackling. Whatever the cause, the problem was a deal-breaker for gaming as the noise feedback is too pronounced to ignore.

I first downloaded and updated the X-Fi drivers. No effect. I next downloaded and updated my mobo drivers. That did the trick. Which is good because I love my X-Fi card, but not enough to put up with CB radio crackling.

I’ve been playing some Age of Nanoc these last few days and plan to write more about my adventures after the Memorial weekend. I haven’t played long enough to judge whether AoC will permanently pull players away from WoW, but I’m having fun with it so far.