Video card question for some Everquest players

[Methos]

I have a friend who recently had to rebuild his PC (his old one got fried after a power surge). Right now he doesnt have a whole lot of money to spend but he is curious what kind of graphics card he would need to be able to play Everquest with the settings all the way up. The rest of his system should be able to handle the highest settings (2600+ Athlon XP, 512MB ram).

I myself do not play EQ so Im not up to date on the graphics of the EQ game engine. Anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking a Geforce 5600 Ultra (the new one with the 400/800Mhz settings) but that might be a little pricey.

Can EQ run with full settings on a Geforce 5200 Ultra? Or will the game be too much for that?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Methos]

I thought I should add that this is more of a temporary solution, in about 6 or 7 months he will be buying a much better high end card but doesnt have the budget for it right now.

Unfortunatly it will also have to be a Best Buy purchase since he will need the new card by Sunday. His old TNT2 just isnt holding up well anymore.

He also has all the EQ expansions, so if that helps.

Also, are there any ATI solutions that would be acceptable (acceptable meaning low-cost versions that offer decent performance, again they will have to be available at Best Buy, so the 8500/9500's are out of the question) Thanks again.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Go with the cheapest GF4ti you can find. Spending anything more for any other card will be a waste for EQ when you are buying another card so soon.


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[Methos]

unfortunatly the Best Buy around here does not sell Geforce 4ti cards anymore, the only geforce 4 line they have is the MX line. Thats why I was curious about FX 5200 Ultra if it could work, or should he go with the 5600 Ultra.