Hardware upgrade, what to do

[JohnBarleycorn]

I've been thinking about upgrading my computer before RoK comes out, but with EQ2 as the only resource intensive app I use it for at the moment, I'm not sure if the performance gain is worth it.Current system:AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (s939)ASUS A8N-E2GB PC3200 RAM (Corsair TWINX2048-3200C2)XFX GeForce 7900GT eXTreme 520MHz/256MBSoundBlaster Audigy 4Windows XP Pro 32-bitUpgrade I'm considering:ASUS P5KIntel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (should hopefully clock to about 3GHz with stock cooling, which basically gives the performance of 2xE6850)MSI GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB OC2x2x1024MB OCZ PC2-6400 (Gold GX XTC Rev 2)Sound: Keeping my old card, using the onboard one, or getting a decent card that wasn't made by Creative.Windows Vista 64-bit in some formThe upgraded specs should crush my current pc performance-wise, but EQ2 is as far as I'm aware not exactly known for it's efficient use of up-to-date hardware. I don't really *need* to upgrade right now, but with the huge zones in RoK, all the pretty details I'm missing, and no indication that the game engine will be tweaked to utilize modern hardware more efficiently, I may have to, to be able to keep enjoying the game.Afew pros:"Access" to all 4GB of RAM.Even in games that don't support multiple cores, optimized graphic drivers should still give a small boost (unverified).80-150% system performance increase = good.Probably more. At least I hope so.A few cons:No more DirectSound 3D hardware acceleration.Still tons of incompatibility issues with Vista  and various games, apps and hardware.Even with 4GB of RAM, EQ2 most likely won't be able to utilize more than 2GB (I may be wrong, and EQ2 also may not have any use for that much).Vista thinks I'm a kid that needs to be nannied.Probably more of these as well..----Would you recommend an upgrade now?Would you recommend this upgrade?Has anyone tried both with EQ2, and noticed any differences in performance between E6850 and Q6600?Any thoughts and comments on the matter are appreciated.

[kjfett4]

I wouldn't bother personally. What you have now should have no problems playing the game in any form that comes out. Heck, you should be playing on nearly all max settings at the highest resolution anyway. That 3800+ can OC (you seem to be interested in that and thus why I mention it) up to 2.5Ghz with stock gear and little stress. Now, if you just had to spend money, upgrading the current PC's chip to a stock 3.0 Ghz AM2 chipset is easier and cheaper than buying a core2 quad and personally, I prefer the architecture of the AMD over the Intel chip. Not to mention the stock 3.0 Ghz AMDs can be pushed up to 3.5 Ghz or so with stock gear. As for the RAM and the upgrading to Vista64, I would recommend reading another current topic thread that discusses both as well as containing a couple links to some good reading. <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=383807" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=383807</a> If all you do is run EQ2, and you don't multi-box the game, run a vent server and surf the web all at once, I really don't believe you are going to see a performance boost nearly close to what the "numbers" are saying you will. I am sure some will argue otherwise, but I have a system very similar (extra gig of RAM and little better Vcard) to what you have now and I have pushed the game to the max and anything I would do now would net little or no gain on the game. That's just my personal opinion though.

[JohnBarleycorn]

Thank you for the reply.I've been through the guide for optimizing EQ2, and I can't say I'm satisfied with how my computer handles EQ2.From what you're saying it sounds like it should be doing a lot better.I'll go over everything, possibly give the CPU a tune-up, and hope it helps.

[antwar]

<p>one of the most overlooked computer tune ups would be to blow the dust out of your system. generally, you want to do it about every 6 months or whenever you change the filter on the furnace in your house (if you have one). if you have pets, consider doing it more often, because pet hair can block the air openings on the outside of the case and as such, act as its own filter, which catches more hair and dust and debris, which further chokes the airflow in the system. </p><p>whenever you "tune-up" your system, this should be the TOP priority before you do anything else, because depending on the level of dust buildup, it could be the major speed boost you were looking for.</p>