Now what should I upgrade??

[BoboKatt]

This is starting to get to me... I am running an AMD64 3200 (939) on a Neo2 Plat, and a nice BFG 6800GT AGP card. I am using 1 GIG of PC3200 RAM. I love this setup for everything, my web work is smooth, I can surf till my heart is content, all my graphics work rocks... BUTTTT... the only real game I play with any sort of conviction is EQ. I have not bothered with EQ2 and I hear the graphics and CPU requirements are even steeper. Anyhow I have a 21" monitor so I play and work at 1600x1200 (16 bit for games -- 32 for work). I also have a FAST DSL connection which never disappoints. I cannot really find any benchmarks that even closely relate to games such as EQ as you have the online issue and all its lag problems.

My point is that I built this system about say 4-6 months ago and is still is a pain the butt in any large raid in EQ -- I freaking have most of my graphics turned down on all accounts which kinda defeats the goal of that video card I bought . Anyhow, anyone who actually plays this game or games like it that can comment on what hardware improvement would or might benefit me? Dual cores are useless for what I read for my needs... would an AMD64 4000 with the 1 MEG cache be of any improvement? Would a crazy Nvidia 7800 GT make a dif.. I know.... I know.. it's just one game... but the things we do!!

Thanks

 

[John]

I'd recommend selling your 6800GT and picking up a 7800GT or GTX. You can probably squeeze several hundred MHz out of your cpu if you overclock it. 😛

 

[Bona Fide]

Another 1GB stick of RAM wouldn't hurt either. I hear EQ is murder on your memory.

If you're looking for a complete overhaul...

Mobo - EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra
CPU - Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (believe me, dual core helps in graphics and you'll be amazed at how much you can do at once)
GFX - eVGA 7800GT
RAM - Another 1GB stick at least

 

[BoboKatt]

Wow.. more RAM eh? Ok that's easy. And yeah OC'ing would be a for sure just worried about stability with EQ.. it's SOOOOO picky.

I was actually thinking of getting an AMD64 4000 but the MHz increase is not "that" huge (about 400 MHz I think) and was not sure just how much "noticeable" improvement I would notice with said increase. The prices of that CPU have dropped immensely but with that being said... dual cores are the way to go and make sense but I just was worried there were issues with EQ and dual cores.

Since I have 2 X 512 alrady and if I add another 2 sticks.. (that whole dual channel thing).. my Neo2 says if I stick in 4 sticks of ram I will have to drop the speed of the ram.. as it will not run at 400Mhz.. but rather 333. Argh I need a board J

I am totally in getting a nice 7800 GT or GTX and will sell my 6800GT although it still is an awesome card. Or hum.. I have seen ATI 850?s on sale lately? argh.. choices.

thanks for the help thus far!

 

[theMan]

umm, you cant get a 7800 gt with your motherboard. right now they are pci-e only. more ram cant hurt. start overclocking everything like crazy. ram, cpu, video card. what core is that cpu?

 

[NINaudio]

Like said above, you are limited to AGP cards and can't get a 7800 unless you get a new mobo. I would try oc'ing your cpu and gpu first and see if that helps. I have the same card and I was able to increase my clocks from 370/1000 to 420/1120. More ram also wouldn't hurt. If you play with antivirus and firewalls running, then dual core might not be a bad idea for you either if you don't want to switch mobos just yet.

 

[stevty2889]

EQ would benifit from going to 2gig of ram, a lot of MMORGP's can use more than 1 gig of ram. I was getting some lag in SWG when large areas were loading due to using the page file, but it went away when I went to 2 gig of ram. A 7800GT would be helpful too at that resolution, but as others have said, it's PCIe only.