A machine I think could give more.

[Saucep]

<p>I've had my computer for a little while now (Guess about 2-3years ish), but I still think it can give me more (For EverQuest 2 purposes). I think it may be the graphics card holding it back, but would like some opinions that are a bit more professional that my guess work <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" />.</p><p>The stats are (From memory):</p><p>P4 3.8 GHZ HT processor</p><p>4 gig Ram</p><p>Oodles of HD space (2 x 250gb from mem)</p><p>Replaced the Power supply about 6months ago, so that should be ok.</p><p>ATI Radeon X1650 (PCI Express)</p><p>Running XP Pro (I think, might be Home).</p><p>Getting about 11-12FPS in raids with profits Raid settings. So I am thinking its the 1650 thats the bottleneck? If it is, any reccommendations on what could be replaced/improved and what with?</p><p>Thanks <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>I really don't see anything that would be bottlenecking the system for Everquest 2.  You might want to remove any background applications that are loading up into your memory.</p><p>To disable background programs:1. Select the START button.2. Select RUN, then type in "msconfig" (for Vista, type msconfig in the search bar at the bottom of the Start Menu)3. Press OK4. Select the STARTUP tab.5. In the list, uncheck all boxes EXCEPT for SCANREGISTRY and SYSTEM TRAY. If you use Windows XP, please note that SCANREGISTRY and SYSTEM TRAY will not be listed - just uncheck the entire list.6. Hit apply and then OK. Restart the computer and try the game again.</p>

[asmiro]

<p>i would agree with the TSR, however, i would recommend you disable the dual core support thingy in the in-game options. you have a single core processor, so enabling the dual core "support" is a moot point, and might get you a little better performance, i dunno.</p><p>as far as the video card, with the 1650, you wont be able to get much more than ~20FPS at most, with it dipping alot moving around to different areas.</p><p>i have heard the new GTX2xx series nvidia chip cards actually make a suprising ammount of difference with EQ2. you can get a GTX260 for around 200 bucks US. you can try that if what the TSR and i said doesnt help.</p>

[Cassea]

<p>The problem with the x1650 is that it just does not have the memory bandwidth to support the higher resolutions. We all know that EQ2 does not really use modern video card tech but the x1650, while a great "cheap" video card, chokes on higher resolutions because it only has 128bit memory that is not clocked very high.</p><p>Look at "memory bandwidth" between the x1650 and the cheap 9600GT:</p><p><a href="http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=557&card2=504" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards...7&card2=504</a></p><p>12 vs 57!</p><p>Your video card is only as fast as the slowest part and teh junk memory on teh x1650 limits your framerates. You have to turn off everything that takes bandwidth in order to even play. The x1650 is not a bad card but it's the slowest of the x1650's...</p><p>Look at the x1650 Pro vs the non-pro:</p><p><a href="http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=447&card2=504" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards...7&card2=504</a></p><p>Pro = 22 vs 12 on the non-pro!</p><p>This is double the bandwidth!</p><p>Maybe you have the Pro version</p>

[Cassea]

<p>If you want a "cheap" upgrade check out the ATI 4670 at newegg.com or the Nvidia 9600GT - both can be had for under $100 and should do nicely. Yes you can get much better but for EQ2, until they do something about the vastly out of date graphics engine, all that extra power is basically wasted.</p>

[asmiro]

<p><cite>Cassea wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>If you want a "cheap" upgrade check out the ATI 4670 at newegg.com or the Nvidia 9600GT - both can be had for under $100 and should do nicely. Yes you can get much better but for EQ2, until they do something about the vastly out of date graphics engine, all that extra power is basically wasted.</p></blockquote><p>i agree, however i would recommend the 9600GSO over the 9600GT, because the GSO has the same chip as the 8800 cards, and the 9600gt has a slower chip. you can get an xfx 9600GSO from newegg.com right now for ~$70 bucks US.</p>