> > My understanding is that GeForce based video cards are state-of-the-art
at
> > the moment - but I haven't done much research lately as I don't plan on
> > upgrading in the immediate future.
>
> I use a Pentium II 450 with 128MB RAM, a 32 MB GeForce card and a SB Live.
> I can weave three songs on dragon raids at 1024X768 resolution if I turn
off
> all the chat spam and turn off particle density. Given that, I would say
> the MOST important factor in playing EQ is the video card...
Correct and correct. GeForce is the state of the art. But NVidia has a new
chip based on the GeForce chip called the NV15. It's not live yet but it's
projected for release either late summer or early fall. The chip is,
currently, roughly 2-4x faster than the GeForce. Impressive technology to
say the least. I use a TNT2 Ultra with a PIII 550. The special graphics
components of the PIII chipset do help with video a great deal (and in some
ways fill in for the lack of the GeForce card) which is why I'm holding out
for the NV15. For $200-$300 I expect a lot more performane enhancment than
I will get from a GeForce. On a PIII 550 the increase is there, but it's
not really worth $300 bucks ;) On a non PIII system (ie: Without Intel's
graphics architecture introduced on the PIII chip) the GeForce is a
significant improvement.
There are some really awesome sites out there that detail the pro's and
con's of the GeForce card. It's a GREAT card on ANY system. It's just not
$300 great to me (I'll wait for the next gen cards coming out later this
year ;)
And yes: EQ's performance (once you're past a certain processor speed) is
entirely handled by the Video card (and any video boost from the processor).
Sound affects it as well though. The game is faster if you turn off sound
effects and knock realism back to 0. But it is REALLY boring without sound
;)
Kev aka Lyrnia