video computer experts.. help? in regards to eq2

[Harkoliar]

okay here is the thing.

i just got nforce 2 Asus mobo... and i have been anticipating the release of everquest 2 sadly (just found out now) that it was postponed until next year . but the video requirements is very high for such a good game. i just want to play it and hoping my nforce2 can handle the heat.

the video system requirements for everquest is
Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible. Pixel shader and vertex shader compatible hardware with 64 MB of texture memory

whatever that means. you can tell i dont know a thing about technical stuff.. i checked the everquest forum and they are suggesting all those fancy video cards that is totally out of my price range.. ranging 200-700 (AUD) for the video cards. ack

well can my nforce handle the heat?

[andrewas]

The onboard graphics chip in the Nforce2 IGP southbridge is a Geforce4 MX, AFAIK identical to the GPU you would get on a sperate G4MX but it shares your system memory through the AGP bus instead of having its own dedicated memory. (I assume your Nforce2 has onboard graphics, if you do have a seperate card post it)

Now, this is a bad thing because its not DirectX9 compatable. Its missing most of the advanced shaders you find on the real Geforce cards like the Ti series. MX has always been mostly for office applications and other non-demanding tasks, although it is a capable enough polygon shifter that it is usable enough for gaming.

I would think it will run though, shaders are supposed to supplement a graphics engine, and every engine Ive seen that uses them can run without them. You lose the fancy effects of course, but it should work.

And if it dosent a DX9 compatable card should be available at a pseudo-reasonable price by next year. The original GeforceFX cards are not worth touching (The place for heat pipes and >40Db fan assemblies is in an *overclocked* rig, not stock hardware) but the ATI radeon cards are worth a look. I'm not as familiar with that line though, but I think the 9600 Pro would do the trick. The newer varieties of GFX look better as well.

www.tomshardware.com is worth a look, their benchmarks are done in depth and the review should mention DX9 compatability and everything else you need to know.

[Harkoliar]

I would think it will run though, shaders are supposed to supplement a graphics engine, and every engine Ive seen that uses them can run without them. You lose the fancy effects of course, but it should work.

i really hope so! and mine is onboard nforce 2 ..

and i checked the toms hardware as well.. but i didnt understand a zip about though ...

BUT

also after a more thorough search in toms hardware

NVIDIA's nForce 2, however, may be a viable option for a game now and then, as long it is of an older vintage. However, new games are off-limits even for the nForce 2, because it's too slow. The same goes for image quality enhancing features, such as FSAA and anisotropic filtering.

[img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img]

edit: the website url
http://www17.tomshardware.com/graphi...aphics-20.html

[ 09-13-2003, 08:39 AM: Message edited by: Harkoliar ]

[Harkoliar]

hmm... i also wonder.. isnt ps2 video having the same or similar specs as a gforce 2 on a pc? and it can play everquest 2as well. maybe just maybe my nforce still has hope [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Harkoliar]

another question rather than putting a new thread about it:

in regards to dual DDR RAM... in my motherboard.. because i just bought a 256 kingston 266 mhz ddr ram. so since my mother board has more than one slot for ram... can i put other rams with different mhz like 333mhz in the other slots? i dont understand the dual channel rams very much

my mobo is Asus A7N8X
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherbo...force2-02.html

[andrewas]

You have to run all your RAMchips at the same speed. If you put 333s in there, they will run at 266.

I would save up for two big sticks of 333 (fastest you can run on the dual interface, 400s will run in single interface) and put them in, junking the 266.

[Harkoliar]

alright! thanks alot andrewas!!! you have been a big help!