Guidance needed to choose new PC

[Dessellion4]

<p>I have had my PC since well before the launch of EQ2.  You can tell its age by the presence of a Geforce FX5200.  I bought it with 512Mb of memory but had to upgrade to 1Gb simply to be able to move around in places like QH.  Indications like the monitor flickering on switch-on tell me that the machine is nearing the end of its useful life, particularly if I continue to spend so much time playing this darned game.  EQ2 for the moment, however, is the only game I play or want to play.  This brings me to my problem.  I'm not a techie and there seems little official guidance given by those who should be in a position to know of what to look for when buying hardware to run EQ2.  These forums are full of helpful suggestions on what works and what does not, often contradictory, rather than any researched opinions from the very technical staff at SOE in the best position to know what hardware in actual fact they're designing the game for.  When the game launched we were informed that it would be years before the hardware was available that would let us experience the full range of what EQ2 was capable.  Well years have passed, hardware has improved in leaps and bounds, yet most of the changes to hardware seem to cause more problems rather than less, or at the least are ignored.  </p><p>To help me with choosing a new PC I would appreciate help with the four main areas where choices seem to matter to EQ2.  Any guidance that saves me wasting money on state of the art hardware that is not needed to run EQ2 at high quality would be much appreciated.</p><p>1.  Processor - my present PC has a single core P4 Pentium processor.  It seems to be virtually impossible now to buy anything less than a dual-core, even this is quickly being superseded by quad-core.  Yet from what I pick up on these forums the game does not, or ever seems likely to, address much more than the first core.  What then should I be looking for when choosing a processor?</p><p>2.  Memory - how much memory does EQ2 need to run at its best?  Obviously 512Mb was too small.  Some people say the more memory the better, but then there seem to be problems with choosing the right software to address it, XP or Vista, 32 or 64 bit etc.  </p><p>3.  Graphics card - does EQ2 benefit sufficiently to warrant buying a top end card such as the 8800GTX or will it run perfectly well on something cheaper?  Should I be looking at an SLI configuration, are 2 cards really better than one, and if so, which cards?  From the lack of information given out I can only conclude that SOE are not interested in making the best use of SLI.</p><p>4.  Operating system - a problem linked to number 2.  Does EQ2 run well under Vista or should I be holding to XP?  Will EQ2 make use of more memory if a 64 bit system is used?</p><p>To sum up, the only game I really play at the moment is EQ2, and other graphic intensive games seem to have no problems using the very latest technology.  I'm not wealthy, I need a new PC, but have no idea what to look for in the bewildering options available.  Is a little official information and guidance too much to ask for?  Did SOE really mean it when they said that EQ2 would come into its own some years up the line or was that just an excuse for sloppy programming?</p><p>So grateful for all comments but really I would ideally like someone from SOE to clarify what works and what doesn't, what they are working on and what we should just forget.</p>

[BungFoo]

I'll try to answer your questions in the order you asked them.Even though EQ2 only uses one core of a multi-core processor, these days video card drivers and threaded to take advantage of multiple cores and windows itself will use other cores and run other applications on those cores. It's a good idea to buy at least a dual core cpu.EQ2 runs very well with 2 gigs of ram. I would not put less than 2 gigs in any system I was building today that was intended for gaming. Beyond that it really depends on what operating system you are going to use. WinXP will be fine with 2 gigs, 32bit vista is the same. Both can use up to ~3.2gigs (If there are physically 4gigs in the machine). 64bit winxp and vista can use a lot more memory but are problematic from the driver and application support perspective. Bottom line, 2 gigs will do you just fine for EQ2.EQ2 really benefits from everything; fast processors, fast graphics cards, lots of ram and fast hard drives. If you can afford it buy the gtx. If you can;t shoot for an 8800gts preferably the 640meg version but a 320 meg version will do you ok if you run at resolutions of 1680x1050 or less.EQ2 runs very well for me in 32bit vista. It runs slightly better in 32bit windows xp. I would avoid 64bit operating systems for the time being.I play eq2 on:core 2 duo E6400 (2.13 Ghz)2 gigs of ddr2 8008800gts 320mbI run it at 1680x1050 with 2xFSAA and 16xAnisotropic filtering. In game settings are on the balanced preset because I prefer to keep the frame rate reliably above 50fps. I can run it in high quality but the frame rate drops too low for my comfort (gives me headaches).You should really also consider the hard drives and power supply as well. You want a power supply with a lot of amps on the +12v and probably a minimum of 550 watts total, you will need more if you get a gtx, say 650 minimum.Buy the fastest hard drives you can. EQ2 hits the hard drives a lot and faster loading = faster zoning and more time playing. Also, less hitching over all.Hope that all helps.