8800 now or wait?

[aaronjb]

AF x8 and x16 isnt a huge difference in performance hit. AA is a different ballgame.

True. But I always prefer higher AA over AF.

A lot of people talk about Oblivion for stressing their rigs to the max. I have Oblivion and it doesnt touch the demands EQ2 does. EQ2 simply isnt mainstream, so it doesnt have instant recognition on the graphics front. Ask any player though, and they will tell you exactly what I have said.

I'll have to check this out. Are the visuals that much better than Oblivion, or is it a case of poor optimization on the developer's part?

 

[Surfrider77]

BF2 has much more taxing visuals than EQ2, especially when playing on huge custom maps. Thats why I chose that game to compare to your ignorant assumption that an 8800GTX couldnt play EQ2 at only 1600 x 1200 reso.

Point is, I have done extensive research on jumping ship on my 7900GTX OC SLI config to a single card 8800GTX. It would have been soooo much easier avoiding the 680i chipset headaches if I didnt need SLI. The fact of the matter is that there are marginal (at best) increases and in some cases slightly less performance in a single 8800GTX over my SLI'd 7900 GTX OC cards.

I am not a naysayer of single card solutions. I am all about the latest and greatest tech; my rig history and wallet confirms that. There is simply no justifiable reason to drop $600 on a card that has not exactly been proven to yield better results than what I currently own. PERIOD.

As soon as the 8900 is releaed, I will be first in line for the most pimped out OC version available.

 

[Surfrider77]

I'll have to check this out. Are the visuals that much better than Oblivion, or is it a case of poor optimization on the developer's part?

Thing is you have to know the history. Everquest (original) was around from 1999-Present. There are something like 14 expansions for the game. During the time, there have been multiple optimizations and one major graphics overhaul.

When the designed EQ2 for 2004 release, they went all out from the beginning. They purposefully made the game impossible to play max at the current tech when it was released. They did this for longevity. Rather than have a dated looking game years down the road and be forced to update, they chose to have it bleeding edge and make it extremely scaleable. So, when the tech came in the future it would allow players to upscale their gfx settings (or down to nothing if playing on old hardware). There are literally multiple pages of gfx options under the video settings. Everything from 4 (or 5) levels of texture resolutions, to multiple lighting options, complex shaders, pixel shading, water refraction / lighting, an entire spell engine of itself using particles, cloth simulation program, flora / fauna that move when you and others brush by, and the list goes on and on. If you really are that curious, I can post screens of all the option pages when I get home to give an idea.

They have since done minor optimizations, but the game doesnt look to need a graphics overhaul anytime soon. Job done on the developers side. They can focus on content rather than trying to keep the aesthetics fresh 3-5 years down the line.

 

[aaronjb]

As soon as the 8900 is releaed, I will be first in line for the most pimped out OC version available.

Lowered, with 20" chrome spinners?

 

[aaronjb]

When the designed EQ2 for 2004 release, they went all out from the beginning. They purposefully made the game impossible to play max at the current tech when it was released. They did this for longevity. Rather than have a dated looking game years down the road and be forced to update, they chose to have it bleeding edge and make it extremely scaleable. So, when the tech came in the future it would allow players to upscale their gfx settings (or down to nothing if playing on old hardware). There are literally multiple pages of gfx options under the video settings. Everything from 4 (or 5) levels of texture resolutions, to multiple lighting options, complex shaders, pixel shading, water refraction / lighting, an entire spell engine of itself using particles, cloth simulation program, flora / fauna that move when you and others brush by, and the list goes on and on. If you really are that curious, I can post screens of all the option pages when I get home to give an idea.

Gotcha. I remember (now) reading about the EQ2 release, and about the unusual number of options.

The 8-series would be put to good use to accelerate some of those calculations (cloth simulation, moving trees, etc.). I imagine that the time invested would far outweigh the potential benefits, however.

 

[Surfrider77]

The 8-series would be put to good use to accelerate some of those calculations (cloth simulation, moving trees, etc.). I imagine that the time invested would far outweigh the potential benefits, however...

My point exactly. The 8900 just sounds far too close to release to hassle with the 8800s at all. While I am skeptical on the cost vs performance upgrade with an 8800, I feel confident the 8900 will meet my needs.