Cheapest PCI-e card to run EQ2 (low settings) smoothly?

[Jaxidian]

Anybody have any recommendations for a card that can run EQ2 (lowest settings) smoothly? To give you a comparison, a TI4200 CAN run it but not smoothly. A TI4600 has a chance at running it smoothly though I don't know for sure.

I'd love to see if I could get one for around $50 or so - just need a cheap card until I can later afford a nicer card (aka when prices drop after next-gen is more common).

And another comment, I won't consider this $50 a waste even once I upgrade as I would love to have a spare PCI-e card laying around for testing purposes.

Thanks!
-Jax

 

[berkut7]

anything that's PCIe and close to Ti4600 performance is Geforce 6600 vanilla, but that's at least 100 dollars..

 

[mwmorph]

6200 used with a gurantee it can unlock from the seller shouldnt cost too much more than a ti4600. a used 6600 isnt a bad deal easier.

 

[cbehnken]

No card at that price range can run EQ2 smoothly. DO NOT get a 6 series nvidia card. Here's just one link : http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?show...=591&mode=threaded&show=&st=&#entry591

There are thousands of reports like that. When I was playing EQ2 on my 6800(s) the whole game would pause for about 5 seconds and you'd think you'd gone link dead. I've had 4 6800s and every driver release since 66.91 and they all did this. Switched to x800 and no problems.

I'd suggest a 9700-9800 Pro as bare minimum. I was running a 9700 Pro for a time and it was playable at 1600x1200 on the high performance setting.

 

[mwmorph]

6200 and 6600 use a completely different chip. it seems only 68xx chips are affected.

 

[imported_Rampage]

6200 or 6600.. SLI capable and have DirectX 9C hardware

 

[Jaxidian]

Originally posted by: cbehnken
No card at that price range can run EQ2 smoothly. DO NOT get a 6 series nvidia card. Here's just one link : http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?show...=591&mode=threaded&show=&st=&#entry591

There are thousands of reports like that. When I was playing EQ2 on my 6800(s) the whole game would pause for about 5 seconds and you'd think you'd gone link dead. I've had 4 6800s and every driver release since 66.91 and they all did this. Switched to x800 and no problems.

I'd suggest a 9700-9800 Pro as bare minimum. I was running a 9700 Pro for a time and it was playable at 1600x1200 on the high performance setting.

That stutter problem is no issue for me. I actually have a 6800 vanilla (unlocked and OCd) that runs great. The stutter problem is due to some settings (see here). I had already turned down the appropriate settings before I ever knew there were a problem with them. I usually tweak my perf settings myself by starting at max everything (looks purty!) and then turning things down one-at-a-time until I see what the differences are that particular setting makes. Some settings are still at max and some settings are at min.

As for the 9800pro comment, I used to run it with some customized settings at 16x12 on a 9800 pro before I bought my 6800 vanilla. I'm sure I could get something much weaker than that and still be fine for this second account I'll be 2-boxing.

 

[Rock Hydra]

SLI is a plus

I think dual VooDoo3's can handle it.

 

[Jaxidian]

Originally posted by: southpawuni
6200 or 6600.. SLI capable and have DirectX 9C hardware

Comments on the following cards?

Aopen 6200TC, 128MB, 32-bit - $64
Aopen 6200TC, 256MB, 64-bit - $73
Chaintech SE6200, 128MB, 64-bit - $89
Chaintech SE6200, 256MB, 128-bit - $102


Seems to me that the 32-bit and 64-bit cards would be awefully slow. Also looks like most/all of these cards have DDR1 for their RAM. I'm comparing these to the 9800pro which was 256-bit with something like DDR2 or 3. Anyways, I'd appreciate your thoughts on these cards as well as any recommendations on other manufacturers to consider for the same(ish) cards (XFX, MSI, Gigabyte, eVGA, etc.).

Thanks!

 

[mwmorph]

anything with Tc you should avoid like the plauge. it saps system ram(it really has only 32-64mb onboard, the rest it takes from system ram)

256mb is worthless on a 6200 or 6600. not a wide enough memory bus to take advantage of it. see if yuo can get a used 6200 128bit 128mb from a knowledgeable seller that has confirmed the remaining quad of pipes will be unlockable. it will cost less and you will ahve a gurantee it unlocks. new cards only have around a 75% unlcok rate.

XFX has really bad customer service
MSi has a nice cooler for some models
Gigabyte has a very quiet cooler
Evga has great Quality Control and a step up program should yuo want to upgrade
BFG has a lifetime warranty and most BFGs have ocs fresh from the factory. BFGs also have good quality control, almost as good as EVGA
Leadtek has best quality control but no step up program

 

[cbehnken]

Originally posted by: Jaxidian

Originally posted by: cbehnken
No card at that price range can run EQ2 smoothly. DO NOT get a 6 series nvidia card. Here's just one link : http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?show...=591&mode=threaded&show=&st=&#entry591

There are thousands of reports like that. When I was playing EQ2 on my 6800(s) the whole game would pause for about 5 seconds and you'd think you'd gone link dead. I've had 4 6800s and every driver release since 66.91 and they all did this. Switched to x800 and no problems.

I'd suggest a 9700-9800 Pro as bare minimum. I was running a 9700 Pro for a time and it was playable at 1600x1200 on the high performance setting.

That stutter problem is no issue for me. I actually have a 6800 vanilla (unlocked and OCd) that runs great. The stutter problem is due to some settings (see here). I had already turned down the appropriate settings before I ever knew there were a problem with them. I usually tweak my perf settings myself by starting at max everything (looks purty!) and then turning things down one-at-a-time until I see what the differences are that particular setting makes. Some settings are still at max and some settings are at min.

As for the 9800pro comment, I used to run it with some customized settings at 16x12 on a 9800 pro before I bought my 6800 vanilla. I'm sure I could get something much weaker than that and still be fine for this second account I'll be 2-boxing.

I'm aware of many of the "fixes" they recommend. In the end it doesn't work for everyone and most definently seems to be an Nvidia only issue.

 

[Jaxidian]

Originally posted by: cbehnken
I'm aware of many of the "fixes" they recommend. In the end it doesn't work for everyone and most definently seems to be an Nvidia only issue.

Guess I was lucky.

 

[Jaxidian]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
anything with Tc you should avoid like the plauge. it saps system ram(it really has only 32-64mb onboard, the rest it takes from system ram)

256mb is worthless on a 6200 or 6600. not a wide enough memory bus to take advantage of it. see if yuo can get a used 6200 128bit 128mb from a knowledgeable seller that has confirmed the remaining quad of pipes will be unlockable. it will cost less and you will ahve a gurantee it unlocks. new cards only have around a 75% unlcok rate.

XFX has really bad customer service
MSi has a nice cooler for some models
Gigabyte has a very quiet cooler
Evga has great Quality Control and a step up program should yuo want to upgrade
BFG has a lifetime warranty and most BFGs have ocs fresh from the factory. BFGs also have good quality control, almost as good as EVGA
Leadtek has best quality control but no step up program

Thanks a ton man! Sounds like some good advice! Only reason I was looking at the 256mb ones were because they had the larger bandwidths, not the larger RAM. Time to hit FS/FT!

 

[Jaxidian]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
see if yuo can get a used 6200 128bit 128mb from a knowledgeable seller that has confirmed the remaining quad of pipes will be unlockable.

Those work in SLI?

Edit:
After some snooping around, looks like the answer is "nope".