Thoughts on running max setting with this setup.

[Margulis]

<p>Hey all, I'm working on getting a new rig together with the following setup.  My goal is to be able to run EVERYTHING maxed in this game, but what are your thoughts?  Here's the specs:</p><p><strong>Processor</strong>: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8MB Cache <strong></strong><strong>Power Supply</strong>: 1000 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply <strong>Graphics Processor</strong>: Single 1,792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 <strong>Memory</strong>: 6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 3 x 2048MB <strong>Motherboard</strong>: Intel® X-58 Motherboard- Socket 1366 Core i7 Ready, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Memory <strong>Operating System:</strong> <a>Genuine</a> Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1</p>

[Birn]

<p>What I have seen no rig will ever seem to run at max without any problems and I don't think yours will either, sorry <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Margulis]

<p>Yeah that's what I thought.  I know I haven't talked to anyone running everything max but was still hoping I could achieve it.  ugh. </p>

[Gungo]

<p>You should be able to run on max settings in most situations with that rig.</p><p>The problem arises in certain situations you will need to dial it down.I can run at max settings in most group instances with about 30fps. But I need to go to high quality settings in raids.</p><p>I built my system a year ago on a Intel 8500o.c. to 4.0mhz, but i would like to know how that system will do. Because I am seriously considering doing an overhaul to the i7 series.</p>

[Queen Alexandria]

Dont think EQ2 takes advantage of SLI... and multicore support is new... the game is totally outdated as far as what it can do with hardware.

[Armawk]

<p>That thing will run EQ2 on max (definitely once the new shadow engine goes in, prior to that you would need to turn off the environment shadows on any pc at all).</p><p>the 2.66  speed on the i7 is misleading, it wil run faster than that in practice.</p>

[Margulis]

<p><cite>Gungo wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>You should be able to run on max settings in most situations with that rig.</p><p>The problem arises in certain situations you will need to dial it down.I can run at max settings in most group instances with about 30fps. But I need to go to high quality settings in raids.</p><p>I built my system a year ago on a Intel 8500o.c. to 4.0mhz, but i would like to know how that system will do. Because I am seriously considering doing an overhaul to the i7 series.</p></blockquote><p>Well I'm going to go ahead with the system so I'll update here once I put it through some tests in game.</p>

[DiatribeEQ]

<p>My machine:</p><p>Intel Core 2 Duo 3.33ghz</p><p>8 gig Ram</p><p>ATI 4850 w/1 gig ram</p><p>Samsung 22" Widescreen Monitor</p><p>Between that setup, I am able to run EQ2 at 1680x1050 resolution with all the goodies turned on with the sole exception of Shadows as it's still being rendered off the CPU.  Once that is offloaded to the GPU, I'll be able to have them on at all times and run in the 45-60 fps that I currently hover around in.  Prime reason why I don't bother with shadows very often is they're such a framerate pig in heavy areas.  At times, I've seen a 90% framerate reduction.</p><p>It'll also get better for me as well as I get a 4890 w/2gig ram later this year.  rawr</p>

[Lethe5683]

<p><cite>Margulis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Hey all, I'm working on getting a new rig together with the following setup.  My goal is to be able to run EVERYTHING maxed in this game, but what are your thoughts?  Here's the specs:</p><p><strong>Processor</strong>: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8MB Cache <strong></strong><strong>Power Supply</strong>: 1000 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply <strong>Graphics Processor</strong>: Single 1,792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 <strong>Memory</strong>: 6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 3 x 2048MB <strong>Motherboard</strong>: Intel® X-58 Motherboard- Socket 1366 Core i7 Ready, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Memory <strong>Operating System:</strong> <a>Genuine</a> Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1</p></blockquote><p>I have almost the same thing as you but slightly more ram and a core 2 duo 4.0 GHz (which is superior in eq2), I can run on fully maxed settings without any problems in 99% of situations. In raids all I have to do is limit particle effects to 1 per person and certain parts of towns have glitchy shadows that use more processor than they should but I've never had it go below 30 fps,  (which IMO is perfectly fine).  And wow that is one OP power supply, hehe.  That setup only requires 650w minimum.</p>

[Windowlicker]

<p>90% of the game still won't use more then one core.  So you're likely not going to see any better performance then someone with a lesser system.</p>

[Rashaak]

<p><cite>Margulis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Hey all, I'm working on getting a new rig together with the following setup.  My goal is to be able to run EVERYTHING maxed in this game, but what are your thoughts?  Here's the specs:</p><p><strong>Processor</strong>: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8MB Cache <strong></strong><strong>Power Supply</strong>: 1000 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply <strong>Graphics Processor</strong>: Single 1,792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 <strong>Memory</strong>: 6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 3 x 2048MB <strong>Motherboard</strong>: Intel® X-58 Motherboard- Socket 1366 Core i7 Ready, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Memory <strong>Operating System:</strong> <a>Genuine</a> Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1</p></blockquote><p>It's not always a matter of the rig you have,</p>

[Armawk]

<p><cite>Zahne@Mistmoore wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>90% of the game still won't use more then one core.  So you're likely not going to see any better performance then someone with a lesser system.</p></blockquote><p>There is a lot more to performance than clock speed. the fundamentals of an i7 system are faster, a lot of optimised pathways etc. ram performance is better (and thats very significant for eq2). Sure the other cores arent being exploited much, but the new stuff intel are doing also includes big optimisations specifically aimed at single core speed.</p>

[thajo]

<p>This game at max settings allows you to just set rediculous settings in place.  like max spec lights and max player torches on 30, with 8 spell cast results per character.  I mean that is just stupidly too much graphics to render for almost any game...its really not optimized very well at max settings and the difference between putting this game to max visuals and max settings are two different things.  Increasing the lights from 7 to 30 doesn't really make it look that much better, you just lag out in towns or areas with lots of light sources.  Off-screen shadows?  Theres a lot of really unnecesary stuff they allow you to turn on, to just blindly max them without noting what your cranking up is just foolish.</p>

[Lethe5683]

<p><cite>shaunfletcher wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Zahne@Mistmoore wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>90% of the game still won't use more then one core.  So you're likely not going to see any better performance then someone with a lesser system.</p></blockquote><p>There is a lot more to performance than clock speed. the fundamentals of an i7 system are faster, a lot of optimised pathways etc. ram performance is better (and thats very significant for eq2). Sure the other cores arent being exploited much, but the new stuff intel are doing also includes big optimisations specifically aimed at single core speed.</p></blockquote><p>Reguardless of how efficent it might be 2.66 is still <em>very</em> slow and even if thats off 500 mhz or more it's still slow.</p>

[LezerdTZ]

<p>I run a GTX 290, 6gb ram with the Intel extreme processor. I can handle it with no hiccups up to small groups so far. I am sure when it comes to raiding you wil have issues though. It is inevitable.</p>

[Novusod]

<p><cite>Gungo wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I built my system a year ago on a Intel 8500o.c. to 4.0mhz, but i would like to know how that system will do. Because I am seriously considering doing an overhaul to the i7 series.</p></blockquote><p>Your Intel e8500 would distroy the i7 running eq2.</p><p>I have an e8400 over clock to 3.6mhz and I never have low frame rates and load twice as fast as players using expensive quad cores. There is no better processor than the Intel e8400 e8500 e8600 series for running eq2.</p>

[M0rticia]

<p>I run with max settings with</p><p>Intel i7 940 (EVGA mobo), 12 gigs of RAM, dual EVGA Nvidia GTX 280 video cards, running Windows Vista 64 bit</p><p>Yes, it runs perfectly on max settings in 99.9% of situations. The ONLY time I see a little tiny stutter is when I am in cities, but that always happens no matter what graphic settings you have. Cities have always caused slow-downs on any machine with any settings and I doubt that will ever change. </p><p>On max settings, I can group, raid, etc and I have no issues. I built this machine about 2 months ago and I LOVE IT! Every game I play now is on max settings and it is GORGEOUS! I haven't overclocked anything, simply because I see no need to.</p>

[Lethe5683]

<p><cite>M0rticia wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I run with max settings with</p><p>Intel i7 940 (EVGA mobo), 12 gigs of RAM, dual EVGA Nvidia GTX 280 video cards, running Windows Vista 64 bit</p><p>Yes, it runs perfectly on max settings in 99.9% of situations. The ONLY time I see a little tiny stutter is when I am in cities, but that always happens no matter what graphic settings you have. Cities have always caused slow-downs on any machine with any settings and I doubt that will ever change. </p><p>On max settings, I can group, raid, etc and I have no issues. I built this machine about 2 months ago and I LOVE IT! Every game I play now is on max settings and it is GORGEOUS! I haven't overclocked anything, simply because I see no need to.</p></blockquote><p>If the i7 series is like most intel processors there's no reason not to overclock it since you should be able to get a significant boost without changing any heatsinks or anything.</p>

[Margulis]

<p><cite>M0rticia wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I run with max settings with</p><p>Intel i7 940 (EVGA mobo), 12 gigs of RAM, dual EVGA Nvidia GTX 280 video cards, running Windows Vista 64 bit</p><p>Yes, it runs perfectly on max settings in 99.9% of situations. The ONLY time I see a little tiny stutter is when I am in cities, but that always happens no matter what graphic settings you have. Cities have always caused slow-downs on any machine with any settings and I doubt that will ever change. </p><p>On max settings, I can group, raid, etc and I have no issues. I built this machine about 2 months ago and I LOVE IT! Every game I play now is on max settings and it is GORGEOUS! I haven't overclocked anything, simply because I see no need to.</p></blockquote><p>Hhmm, your post gives me some hopes.  I just got the system set up today and have been testing my fps in Kelethin running around.  So far It hangs around 30 but can dip to the teens randomly, resulting in my dismay.  I'll try it outside of town and see if it runs better.  I've been super disappointed so far.</p>

[TSR-DanielH]

<p>Greetings,</p><p>You should be able to run the game at max settings using that PC, at least most of the time.  You may need to scale back the graphics a little during raids depending on what framerate you're comfortable with.  That PC should be able to keep the game maxed out 95% of the time, though, depending on your playstyle.</p>

[ilucifer6]

<p>My sincere apologies for bumping this thread but I just gotta ask. When you guys mention max settings, does that mean with shadows on?</p><p>Also....</p><p><strong><em>shaunfletcher wrote:</em></strong></p><blockquote><p>That thing will run EQ2 on max (definitely once the new shadow engine goes in, prior to that you would need to turn off the environment shadows on any pc at all).</p><p>the 2.66  speed on the i7 is misleading, it wil run faster than that in practice.</p></blockquote><p>Any idea when this new shadow engine will be implemented?</p><p>Thanks for your replies. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p>

[Wingrider01]

<p><cite>ilucifer666 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>My sincere apologies for bumping this thread but I just gotta ask. When you guys mention max settings, does that mean with shadows on?</p><p>Also....</p><p><strong><em>shaunfletcher wrote:</em></strong></p><blockquote><p>That thing will run EQ2 on max (definitely once the new shadow engine goes in, prior to that you would need to turn off the environment shadows on any pc at all).</p><p>the 2.66  speed on the i7 is misleading, it wil run faster than that in practice.</p></blockquote><p>Any idea when this new shadow engine will be implemented?</p><p>Thanks for your replies. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>It's on the test server, you can log in there and check it out</p>

[Slackerson]

<p>i7 920</p><p>gtx 285</p><p>6gb ram ddr3 2000</p><p>caveir black wd 1tb hdd</p><p>windows 7 RC clean install from technet download</p><p>Runs EQ2 on extreme quality performance profile and yes shadows are on by default in that profile. In a full group environment running around nektolus, FPS may drop to 40, but anywhere else I go, it is usually 60+.  No idea on raids or beingaround large amounts of other players as I haven't raided in EQ2 and have jus been leveling up away from city areas since this build was made.</p>