severe performance hit with EAX/2/3 enabled

[fieryavenger]

What is the typical performance hit when running games with EAX/2/3 enabled? When I run Call of Duty with EAX enabled, my average framerates are dropping 45%. Creative tech support tells me this is normal, but I tend to disagree with such a huge performance hit. I don't think any of my components are a bottleneck. Any thoughts?

P4 2.4C
ATI 9800 AIW
512MB DDR
SB Audigy 2 ZS

 

[Brian48]

There is always a performance hit with EAX enabled. How much, depends on how well the API was implemented by the game developer.

 

[htmlmasterdave]

I had a very similar setup to you, only a slower card, and although I didn't compare, the frame rate was never very bad at all... are your drivers up to date?

 

[obeseotron]

Id get the latest patch and drivers, 45% is big, if it was 15-20%, I wouldn't be shocked.

 

[fieryavenger]

All my drivers are up to date. I went as far as to reformat and reinstall WinXP SP2, then upgrading to the latest drivers immediately after.

 

[Nickel020]

In Jedi Outcast I got a 30%+ performance for enabling EAX with my old Athlon Xp 1800+ GF 4Ti 4200.