Need video card advice

[NeverMynd]

<p>Hello all. Getting back into the game after a 1 year plus layoff due to RL issues. I need help on deciding which video card to buy for my new PC. In the past I ran an X800 card at Balanced settings and the game ran very smoothly. Balanced just doesn't cut it anymore for me though<img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /> What card gives the best performance for this game at about $200.00? I can go a little higher if need be to get something decent but I really can't afford to do more than $250.00 right now.</p><p> Thanks</p>

[asmiro]

<p>right now, nvidia 9800GTX's are between 200-250. these are second from latest generation top-end cards. one of these should do you just fine for the game.</p><p>that said, as the game sits now, you are going to notice a FAR larger performance increase by upgradeing the CPU to something like an intel E8400-E8600, and overclocking it using an after-market heatsink. hell, an E7200 will overclock to ~3.8Ghz on air with the right CPU heatsink/fan unit. an E8600 will get you to ~4+Ghz easy with the same heatsink. </p><p>i do not mention quad cores, because unless you multi-box (not to be confused with botting, which is against the EULA), you really dont see much benefit to having a multi-core CPU. even a dual core CPU does not help much, unless you overclock it higher.</p><p>EQ2 is so CPU bound still, its not even funny. this is why getting a dual core (dual cores generate less heat than quad cores) and overclocking it higher makes a bigger difference than having 4 cores at a slower speed.</p><p>i HIGHLY suggest you head over to the performance support forum and check out the hardware guide for EQ2 and get ideas for motherboard/CPU combos within your budget.</p>

[NeverMynd]

<p>Thanks for the advice, although I'm not building my own machine. I'm running an HP box with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core @ 2.61Ghz and 2 Gbs RAM. I'm considering getting a Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512mb. It's $175.00 on Newegg. Is this a decent card?</p><p> Thanks again.</p>

[Smirk]

the radeon 4850 is a very good choice for that price!

[Cassea]

If all you are concerned with is EQ2 then why upgrade at all? There is little or no difference between an X800 and the new cards in EQ2. If other games are a concern then so be it but EQ2 does not use 2/3 of modern video cards features. They are working on multi-core support right now (it's on test) and rumor has it that they are working on some video upgrades but if the time comes in which EQ2 ever will use a modern video card... well upgrade then and not now.My 2 cents <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />P.S. Being able to run the game at higher settings depends on your CPU currently... not your video card. The x800 is still a decent card and enough for EQ2 in it's current state.P.P.S. You might want to wait a bit. I'm getting some nice performance increases on test with my AMD x2 now that the game will use the second core. Once this hits live soon and you will not have to upgrade anything.