New Computer Advice Needed

[Spontz]

I'm about to build a new computer, and I need to make sure that it will handle EQ2 as well as possible.  I want to see everything -- every last bit of detail the devs have included.  I'm willing to accept that I may not be able to max out every setting in the game (I'm sure showing 500 characters at once, all with dynamic shadows, would require a setup that's likely to evolve into Skynet before I finish installing Windows), but I want to come as close as possible on my budget.

As it stands, I have: Intel Core2Duo E8400 3.0 GHz; 4 GB DDR2 1000 RAM; Asus P5Q-E motherboard; 2 x 1 TB hard drives (RAID 0).

What sort of video card should I get?  And is there anything I desperately need to change from my current selections?

[Smirk]

radeon 4870/4890 or a gtx260/275/280/285 depending on how much you want to spend.

my e8400@4ghz, 4gb ram and gtx280 can pretty much play the game at max without shadows in groups.

[TSR-DanielH]

Vissna@Splitpaw wrote:

radeon 4870/4890 or a gtx260/275/280/285 depending on how much you want to spend.

my e8400@4ghz, 4gb ram and gtx280 can pretty much play the game at max without shadows in groups.

Any of the graphics cards listed above would be a good choice and they cover a fairly broad price range.  I would look for the card that best fits your budget and go with that.

[Spontz]

Thanks for the advice.

What about the Nvidia GTS series?  I can get a 1 GB GTS 250 for under $150, whereas anything decent in the GTX range will cost $200.

[Smirk]

the 165$ radeon 4870 is a better deal, you can also get the gtx260's for 175$, though if you cant afford one of those the gts 250 is still a nice card that will play eq2 well.

[eq]

Talking about Vcards I picked this one on my new build with hopes of being a 1 card solution any thoughts...

Brand	SAPPHIRE
Model	100269OCSR
Interface
Interface	PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer	ATI
GPU	Radeon HD 4890
Core Clock	1000 MHz (4.0Gbps)
Stream Processors	800 Stream Processing Units
Memory
Memory Size	1GB
Memory Interface	256-bit
Memory Type	GDDR5

[eq]

Dont know why my paste didnt show but anyway heres the card...

Brand	SAPPHIRE
Model	100269OCSR
Interface
Interface	PCI Express 2.0 x16
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer	ATI
GPU	Radeon HD 4890
Core Clock	1000 MHz (4.0Gbps)
Stream Processors	800 Stream Processing Units
Memory
Memory Size	1GB
Memory Interface	256-bit
Memory Type	GDDR5

[Detor]

Ilmarinen@Lucan DLere wrote:

Thanks for the advice.

What about the Nvidia GTS series?  I can get a 1 GB GTS 250 for under $150, whereas anything decent in the GTX range will cost $200.

Keep in mind nVidia took the 9800GTX+ made it slightly faster, draw a little less power, and run a little cooler then renamed it the nVidia Geforce GTS250.  Basically it's just the 9800GTX+ on a 55nm process.

Personally I'd stick with ATI, probably something like this: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produ...=10010240  .  I'd wait and watch for a better deal though, just last week a similar card was $135 after rebate.

[Spontz]

Detor wrote:

Keep in mind nVidia took the 9800GTX+ made it slightly faster, draw a little less power, and run a little cooler then renamed it the nVidia Geforce GTS250.  Basically it's just the 9800GTX+ on a 55nm process.

Is that a good or a bad thing?

And does ATI really make better cards these days?  My current video card is an ATI, and I loathe it.  I had to exchange it about six times to get one that didn't hiss constantly due to some weird problem with the capacitors (this one still hisses under load).  It has never performed as well as I would have liked, and it has serious issues with graphics glitches -- bits of objects extending across the screen, pieces of scenery turning into huge sheets that cover half the screen, and so forth.

[Detor]

Ilmarinen@Lucan DLere wrote:

Detor wrote:

Keep in mind nVidia took the 9800GTX+ made it slightly faster, draw a little less power, and run a little cooler then renamed it the nVidia Geforce GTS250.  Basically it's just the 9800GTX+ on a 55nm process.

Is that a good or a bad thing?

And does ATI really make better cards these days?  My current video card is an ATI, and I loathe it.  I had to exchange it about six times to get one that didn't hiss constantly due to some weird problem with the capacitors (this one still hisses under load).  It has never performed as well as I would have liked, and it has serious issues with graphics glitches -- bits of objects extending across the screen, pieces of scenery turning into huge sheets that cover half the screen, and so forth.

Well, I just know I had a TON of problems with my last nVidia card - I had to have it RMA'd multiple times and there were many internet articles written about the excessive number of failures nVidia was having with the 8800GT(S)s.  My next one will definately be an ATI one because of the hardware problems nVidia seems to have.  (really, same graphical problems as you, only with my nVidia cards the problem would get worse and worse until the card just stopped functioning altogether)

Here's a good deal on one:

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showth...t=1333729 

$86 for a 4850 512MB.  That's ATI's counterpart to the nVidia GTS250.

Here's a review comparing the Radeon HD4850 to the Geforce GTS250

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...adeon,2274.html

[Smirk]

you cant go wrong with either ati or nvidia, pretty much random or bad luck if you get bad hardware.

i do however strongly recommend the 4870 in that pricerange as its a supperior graphics card in pretty much every way.

[TSR-DanielH]

The ATI vs Nvidia discussion these days usual gets down to who had a bad experience with what brand.  If I had to compare the brands then I would say that Nvidia has the better top-end cards but there isn't much difference in the low to mid range cards.