Need sub-$500 comp for Everquest

[ThreeEagles]

Hi folks-
A friend of mine needs to buy a computer for Everquest for < $500 (not including monitor). Unfortunately building a machine is not an option. So far all the computers he's found have crappy onboard video (emachines, etc.) Anybody here have any suggestions? Does anybody make PCs based on Nforce motherboards with the decent on-board video?

FYI, here are EQ specs:
Required Specs:

* Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP
* Pentium® III 400 equivalent or greater
* 256 MB RAM
* ATI Radeon 7500/NVidia GeForce 1 equivalent or greater
* DirectX Compatible Sound Card
* 28.8k + Internet Connection
* 4X Speed CD-ROM
* 500 MB Hard Drive Space
* DirectX 9.0
* EverQuest Classic and a valid EverQuest account

* Note: All Direct 3D cards not supported. (See complete list on
www.everquest.com)

Recommended Specs:

* Windows® 98/2000/ME/XP
* Pentium® 4 equivalent or greater
* 512 MB RAM
* NVidia GeForce 3/ATI Radeon 8500 equivalent or greater
* DirectX Compatible Sound Card
* 56.6k + Internet Connection
* 16X Speed CD-ROM
* 1.5+ GB Hard Drive Space
* DirectX 9.0
* EverQuest Classic and a valid EverQuest account

Thanks in advance!

 

[dexvx]

If its prebuilt, then wait for a Dell deal. For around $600, people are getting 2.6C systems with Radeon 9800 Pros.

 

[nick1985]

i would love to see EQ run on that min spec. machine...lol :beer:

 

[rek075]

Everquest Classic (1998) ran well on specs below those listed for minimum.

 

[Tab]

I liked how you say, he needs a computer for EverCrack. Peronally, I'd wait and save up atleast 1k. Thats just for the box

 

[Markfw]

Based on what some of my friends that play this all the time, this is what I see as the minimum:
Athlon XP2000 or P4 2.0b or better (they have a Athlon 1.2 and it does OK, but not great)
512 meg memory (minimum, this is important)
Radeon 9100 128 meg (they have 8500's, same core and speed usually.) 9600 something would be great

 

[JackBurton]

Dude, you don't need it. Put down the crack.

 

[ThreeEagles]

So nobody has any suggestions? I'm still looking, and I realize that the solution will probably be sub-optimal. I would have thought people here would have some good ideas.