Originally posted by SDFrost What really concerns me is whether or not framerate issues, or missing pixels/polies would affect gameplay.
Yes, you will have framerate issues that will ruin your gameplay. If you had a ram upgrade and video upgrade you could probably squeak by with the processor. The game is absolutely NOT playable on your rig, it will start but you're looking at an average fps of well under 10 with freezes that will last 10-15s frequently... on the highest performance setting.
Realistic minimum for this game is 1G of ram, 6600GT/6800GS, & a modern processor... my recommended specs would be 2g of ram, mid-high range 7x series card, and either a core two duo or x2.
If you don't upgrade you can't play more or a less. Everything but your video is "reasonable" but at the age of your system it wouldn't be a good idea to just upgrade the video as far as you can... you need to get a new motherboard that supports pcie instead of agp... agp has went the way of the dodos.
It does play *alot* like eq1, they brought back all the greats... training, mobs that chase you forever and a day, nasty adds, nasty death penalty at higher levels, etc.
Originally posted by mwbreur I haven't seen this game yet, but the screenshots aren't that "amazing" to me it looks like EQ2 but "less pretty"? Can anyone post a screenshot of how it looks like for you? I can play EQ2 at almost maxed setting with : Amd 64 -(2.4Ghz) 4000+, 2048Mb DDR400, Radeon X1900XTX, if this can run EQ2 (Gothic3/Elderscrolls4) at good quality and still playable why would V:SOH be any different? or is it just a piece of shit coding job?
Vanguard subscribes to the "more real" catagory in appearances, it looks more real than eq2... if your preference is realism its better looking, if your preference is performance or a bit cartoony it's far inferior.
You won't be able to play maxed with reasonable frame rates. I've got a slightly slower processor than yours and an equivalent nvidia video card to your ati... I can run oblivion and gothic at decent frame rates almost completely maxed out (~20-40fps). Completely maxed out vanguard runs at about 8fps with dips that "pause" me for a few seconds at a time when I hit new stuff that isn't already loaded. You could comfortably play on balanced though with decent frame rates... and if you nixed the grass a bit and the shadow quality you could probably get all your settings onto high otherwise. Highest however is out of reach unless you've got a screaming top end system (or don't mind sub 20 frame rates).
Edit: Since my rig is so close to yours I took screenshots of what the world looks like on various settings... yes they're dark. It was night time and I didn't wanna wait till daytime... it takes... a ... long ... time... (I hate the night in the game.)
(Your browser will probably resize the pictures, they're at 1600x1200, if the stuff on the settings box isn't readable try clicking the picture to change it to a full view.)
Fair warning the HIGHQ/HIGHESTQ pics have frame rates that are reversed from what they should be... this is because on my system they fluctuate massively from about 5-18/1-13 ever few seconds... and spike down every time I take a screenshot *rolls eyes*. In the day time at the high end settings the frame rates are worse because of the shadows falling through the trees.
Originally posted by SDFrost Those are nice screens. You say you have only one 7800GT? After reading some of the earlier posts here, I was thinking of starting off with a single 7800GT instead of 2 running SLI, and pick up another gig of RAM in place of the other. Not sure which would benefit me more for this game, though. Truthfully, I'm not sure how much benefit running 2 vid cards SLI is over a single card of the same type period. I've checked out a few bench charts and have also considered dual 6800GS' to save a bit of cash. Anyway, I still need to do a bit more research before making a decision.
You're better off with a single faster video card than two slower video cards.
I'd suggest skipping the 7800GT and going with a 7900GT... or if you can wait a month or so pick up a mid range 8600/8500/8700 whatever they decide to bring it out as. Those are coming out this month/early next month.
Originally posted by SDFrost Those are nice screens. You say you have only one 7800GT? After reading some of the earlier posts here, I was thinking of starting off with a single 7800GT instead of 2 running SLI, and pick up another gig of RAM in place of the other. Not sure which would benefit me more for this game, though. Truthfully, I'm not sure how much benefit running 2 vid cards SLI is over a single card of the same type period. I've checked out a few bench charts and have also considered dual 6800GS' to save a bit of cash. Anyway, I still need to do a bit more research before making a decision.
You're better off with a single faster video card than two slower video cards.
I'd suggest skipping the 7800GT and going with a 7900GT... or if you can wait a month or so pick up a mid range 8600/8500/8700 whatever they decide to bring it out as. Those are coming out this month/early next month.
Yeah, a few people have told me this, and I've taken their advice and changed my upgrade plan to include a single 7950GT instead of two 7800GT's. Someone commented earlier about my system being a socket 939, yeah, its true. I'm looking to switch over to AM2 primarily for future upgradablility, but also because 939 x2 processors are difficult to find at a good price. Also, my current mobo uses AGP 4x/8x video, and is rather old and doesn't support dual core processors, which I'd like to upgrade to. Therefor, since I'd need a new mobo anyway, I figure I may as well make it an AM2. Unfortunately, all AM2 boards utilize only DDR2 RAM, otherwise I'd stick with DDR1 since the difference in performance between the two is negligable.
I've been keeping a lookout for some good specials from Newegg, but if anyone knows of any other place online that has some decent prices, by all means please let me know.
It does play *alot* like eq1, they brought back all the greats... training, mobs that chase you forever and a day, nasty adds, nasty death penalty at higher levels, etc.
Unlike many of the gamers who entered the genre with WoW, this makes me happy. Dont get me wrong, I'm not putting down WoW, it's a good game for what it is, it's just not my cup of chowder. I miss the depth, challenge, and sense of adventure that EQ had, and yes, even the massive timesink. Really looking forward to seeing for myself if VSoH delivers.
SDFrost, you may want to double-check your processor socket. I had an Athlon64 2800+ and it was Socket 754, and I don't think they made them for the newer Socket 939.
Also, in a game like Vanguard that has soooooo much information to relay around the system, you will almost surely see a boost in performance by going with a dual-channel DDR2-800 setup. I'd recommend 2GB. Also, the 7950s are a hell of a deal right now but honestly I'd wait to upgrade your video card in a month or two since ATI will be coming out with their DX10 variant (which is supposed to challenge the 8800 series) and by then you'll be able to find an 8800 GTS for around $300. I bought mine in December for around $450.
Also, I'm not an expert or anything, but I usually recommend going with an AMD setup for gamers on a budget. Good Intel motherboards are usually about $50-75 more than a comparable AMD one, and right now AMD processors on the socket AM2 are a pretty good deal. Granted, the Core 2 Duo performs better, but generally speaking the processor only needs to provide "enough" performance so it's not the bottleneck. In other words, when a game dips into the low FPS it's always because of another bottleneck in your system (usually graphics card), well, Vanguard is the exception to that. As long you have a dual-core you should be ok.
SDFrost, you may want to double-check your processor socket. I had an Athlon64 2800+ and it was Socket 754, and I don't think they made them for the newer Socket 939..
Hmm, just checked my mobo's documentation. You're right, it's a 754, I could've sworn I remembered buying a 939. I guess it was just that long ago. Hah, what an embarrasing mistake to make.
I was also thinking of getting 2GB of DDR2 533 instead of DDR2 800 to try and save some cash, as well as a slighly slower X2 CPU. I'm still trying to find a good balance of price and performance in my upgrade scheme. Newegg seems to be the best place pricewise thats actually trustworthy. Parts in local stores, as usual, suffer from terrible markup prices, and many of the places I've found through Froogle and Yahoo Marketplace I've never heard of and hence dont trust. So as I mentioned before, if anyone knows a good place to buy from other than Newegg, I could use some more sources.
Ok, well I've ordered my parts online now, about a month earlier than expected (I have no willpower, I couldnt wait for my tax return). Thanks to all those who povided me with advice. I always seem to fall out of the PC hardware loop until it's time for me to upgrade again; this thread helped me decide what to go with. Here's the verdict on what I ordered...
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0 GHz Socket AM2
2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2 800 Dual Channel RAM kit
XFX GeForce 7950GT w/ 512MB VRAM Factory OC'd to 570MHz core, 1460MHz mem
Guess I'll be seeing you all in Telon within a week.
No, you won't be able to run the game and you will want more than 1 gig of ram in your new rig. I had 2 gigs of XMS ram (top notch premier stuff) and added another 2 gigs so 4 total and the game runs fantastic. Infact my Vista experience is better.
Ok, well I've ordered my parts online now, about a month earlier than expected (I have no willpower, I couldnt wait for my tax return). Thanks to all those who povided me with advice. I always seem to fall out of the PC hardware loop until it's time for me to upgrade again; this thread helped me decide what to go with. Here's the verdict on what I ordered...
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0 GHz Socket AM2
2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2 800 Dual Channel RAM kit
XFX GeForce 7950GT w/ 512MB VRAM Factory OC'd to 570MHz core, 1460MHz mem
Guess I'll be seeing you all in Telon within a week.
Comments
Yes, you will have framerate issues that will ruin your gameplay. If you had a ram upgrade and video upgrade you could probably squeak by with the processor. The game is absolutely NOT playable on your rig, it will start but you're looking at an average fps of well under 10 with freezes that will last 10-15s frequently... on the highest performance setting.
Realistic minimum for this game is 1G of ram, 6600GT/6800GS, & a modern processor... my recommended specs would be 2g of ram, mid-high range 7x series card, and either a core two duo or x2.
If you don't upgrade you can't play more or a less. Everything but your video is "reasonable" but at the age of your system it wouldn't be a good idea to just upgrade the video as far as you can... you need to get a new motherboard that supports pcie instead of agp... agp has went the way of the dodos.
It does play *alot* like eq1, they brought back all the greats... training, mobs that chase you forever and a day, nasty adds, nasty death penalty at higher levels, etc.
Shadus
Vanguard subscribes to the "more real" catagory in appearances, it looks more real than eq2... if your preference is realism its better looking, if your preference is performance or a bit cartoony it's far inferior.
You won't be able to play maxed with reasonable frame rates. I've got a slightly slower processor than yours and an equivalent nvidia video card to your ati... I can run oblivion and gothic at decent frame rates almost completely maxed out (~20-40fps). Completely maxed out vanguard runs at about 8fps with dips that "pause" me for a few seconds at a time when I hit new stuff that isn't already loaded. You could comfortably play on balanced though with decent frame rates... and if you nixed the grass a bit and the shadow quality you could probably get all your settings onto high otherwise. Highest however is out of reach unless you've got a screaming top end system (or don't mind sub 20 frame rates).
Edit: Since my rig is so close to yours I took screenshots of what the world looks like on various settings... yes they're dark. It was night time and I didn't wanna wait till daytime... it takes... a ... long ... time... (I hate the night in the game.)
Highest P
High P
Balanced
High Q
Highest Q
(Your browser will probably resize the pictures, they're at 1600x1200, if the stuff on the settings box isn't readable try clicking the picture to change it to a full view.)
Fair warning the HIGHQ/HIGHESTQ pics have frame rates that are reversed from what they should be... this is because on my system they fluctuate massively from about 5-18/1-13 ever few seconds... and spike down every time I take a screenshot *rolls eyes*. In the day time at the high end settings the frame rates are worse because of the shadows falling through the trees.
Shadus
You're better off with a single faster video card than two slower video cards.
I'd suggest skipping the 7800GT and going with a 7900GT... or if you can wait a month or so pick up a mid range 8600/8500/8700 whatever they decide to bring it out as. Those are coming out this month/early next month.
Shadus
You're better off with a single faster video card than two slower video cards.
I'd suggest skipping the 7800GT and going with a 7900GT... or if you can wait a month or so pick up a mid range 8600/8500/8700 whatever they decide to bring it out as. Those are coming out this month/early next month.
Yeah, a few people have told me this, and I've taken their advice and changed my upgrade plan to include a single 7950GT instead of two 7800GT's. Someone commented earlier about my system being a socket 939, yeah, its true. I'm looking to switch over to AM2 primarily for future upgradablility, but also because 939 x2 processors are difficult to find at a good price. Also, my current mobo uses AGP 4x/8x video, and is rather old and doesn't support dual core processors, which I'd like to upgrade to. Therefor, since I'd need a new mobo anyway, I figure I may as well make it an AM2. Unfortunately, all AM2 boards utilize only DDR2 RAM, otherwise I'd stick with DDR1 since the difference in performance between the two is negligable.
I've been keeping a lookout for some good specials from Newegg, but if anyone knows of any other place online that has some decent prices, by all means please let me know.
Unlike many of the gamers who entered the genre with WoW, this makes me happy. Dont get me wrong, I'm not putting down WoW, it's a good game for what it is, it's just not my cup of chowder. I miss the depth, challenge, and sense of adventure that EQ had, and yes, even the massive timesink. Really looking forward to seeing for myself if VSoH delivers.
SDFrost, you may want to double-check your processor socket. I had an Athlon64 2800+ and it was Socket 754, and I don't think they made them for the newer Socket 939.
Also, in a game like Vanguard that has soooooo much information to relay around the system, you will almost surely see a boost in performance by going with a dual-channel DDR2-800 setup. I'd recommend 2GB. Also, the 7950s are a hell of a deal right now but honestly I'd wait to upgrade your video card in a month or two since ATI will be coming out with their DX10 variant (which is supposed to challenge the 8800 series) and by then you'll be able to find an 8800 GTS for around $300. I bought mine in December for around $450.
Also, I'm not an expert or anything, but I usually recommend going with an AMD setup for gamers on a budget. Good Intel motherboards are usually about $50-75 more than a comparable AMD one, and right now AMD processors on the socket AM2 are a pretty good deal. Granted, the Core 2 Duo performs better, but generally speaking the processor only needs to provide "enough" performance so it's not the bottleneck. In other words, when a game dips into the low FPS it's always because of another bottleneck in your system (usually graphics card), well, Vanguard is the exception to that. As long you have a dual-core you should be ok.
Hmm, just checked my mobo's documentation. You're right, it's a 754, I could've sworn I remembered buying a 939. I guess it was just that long ago. Hah, what an embarrasing mistake to make.
I was also thinking of getting 2GB of DDR2 533 instead of DDR2 800 to try and save some cash, as well as a slighly slower X2 CPU. I'm still trying to find a good balance of price and performance in my upgrade scheme. Newegg seems to be the best place pricewise thats actually trustworthy. Parts in local stores, as usual, suffer from terrible markup prices, and many of the places I've found through Froogle and Yahoo Marketplace I've never heard of and hence dont trust. So as I mentioned before, if anyone knows a good place to buy from other than Newegg, I could use some more sources.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0 GHz Socket AM2
2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2 800 Dual Channel RAM kit
XFX GeForce 7950GT w/ 512MB VRAM Factory OC'd to 570MHz core, 1460MHz mem
Guess I'll be seeing you all in Telon within a week.
So get at least 2 gigs of ram!