Inconsistent load times...

[FPS[VT_NERD]]

I know the long load thing has been covered to death, but I haven't been able to find this issue in my searches.

Sometimes when I join a server, it will load very quickly (less than a minute) and I'll be the first person in the game. Other times it will take so long that I miss the entire first round on a map.

I used to have just 1GB of RAM and loading always took me forever (think 5+ minutes) so I got another 2GB and everythign was great. I was always one of the first people in the game, etc.

Then I wanted to fly jet and helo so I got my old joystick (I know that I can use keyboard and/or mouse, but I tried it and I was horrible) and it still uses a gameport so I went and got a soundcard (Audigy value....basic 5.1 w/ a gameport). The sound of that thing was horrendous, but load times at this point were good. Next I disabled the sound card because my onboard sound was better and left only the gameport in device manager. Now I get all these weird loading times. Do you think the two things are related or is something else going on here?

My system specs are in my sig for the most part. If you need to know anything or have me run a test or whatever I will.

Thanks.

EDIT: Should I remove the new sound card and see if my situation changes at all?

[Gamerguy X]

EDIT: Should I remove the new sound card and see if my situation changes at all?

Yes. Whenever trying to diagnose a problem, try as many things as possible (without damaging any parts, if course).

Tell us what happens after you remove the sound card.

[Xlano]

Make sure your settings in bf2 are on "Hardware" ( audio ) . I Get lag if it goes on software

[FPS[VT_NERD]]

Make sure your settings in bf2 are on "Hardware" ( audio ) . I Get lag if it goes on software

Yep, it's on hardware. The rest of my video settings are all maxed out. I don't have a lag issue when I'm playing (at least not more than anybody else), just really inconsistent load times.

Yes. Whenever trying to diagnose a problem, try as many things as possible (without damaging any parts, if course).

Tell us what happens after you remove the sound card.

I'm going to load the game a few times and record the length of time it takes and then do the same w/o the card. I'll have results in an hour or so probably.

EDIT:

BTW, I did a defrag a couple of days ago hoping that would help some. Things were fairly fragmented, but it didn't help the issue I'm having.

[Gamerguy X]

Alright. You m ay also want to try the BF cleaner.

http://files.filefront.com/Battlefield+Cleaner+v2/;5050807;/fileinfo.html

[FPS[VT_NERD]]

Alright. You m ay also want to try the BF cleaner.

http://files.filefront.com/Battlefield+Cleaner+v2/;5050807;/fileinfo.html

What does that program do exactly?

[FPS[VT_NERD]]

Well removing the sound card didn't help things. After I had it out, loading was the same as it has been. I tried to quit while it was loading (via the Esc key) and the computer froze.

I just finished uninstalling and reinstalling BF2 and SF. I'm going to put the sound card back in and get that set up again. Then I'm going to pray that this magically fixed things.