With each expansion I can have less and less options checked for gameplay (graphics-wise). Could someone give me some advice on what I should upgrade? I have a 1.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB hard drive, RADEON 9600 vidoecard with 128 MB. The only thing I have updated was the video card (to the one now). I get more enjoyment out of the game with the race graphics on, double layer sky, spell graphics on, and social graphics on - but with this latest expansion I cant really have any of that on. Thanks! 
hmmm our systems are not that different. I have a 2.0 ghz pentium 4, 512 mb ram...only differences are video card ( I use a gforce 4 with 64mb) and I am not sure what connection you use...mine is cable modem.
I run high res, all the race graphics, double sky etc. only time i really get lagged is in PoK.
wish I could help more, but theoretically, you should be running as good as me, or better with that video card. So maybe it's something that can be adjusted...drivers, etc.
Do you ever check the everquestlive website? They've been discussing this problem, and there is supposed to be a major "fix" coming soon...
(Which probably means major bugs.)
They're working on designing a whole new graphic engine, and you'll need to download the newest drivers for your video card, and DirectX9.0 for it to work....
I thought I'd give it a try, but DirectX9 really didn't like my old video drivers (I haven't tried it with new drivers yet) -- it fixed it so that at night there was NO light reflection in the game. It was like playing a human character in a cave without any lightsource. /shiver
I did a /bug and /feedback on it, and was told that they should have the problems fixed by the release date in the next few months.
Sooo --- before you go spending any $$$ on upgrading your hardware, you might want to wait and see if their "fix" fixes things for you. I'm sure hopeing it will for me too. 
PB - your 'lighting' problem sounds very similar to what has been affecting Addamiss lately. Things just too dark.
Cilara - your graphics card should be more than capable of handling the load, so I doubt that is the problem area. Though I suspect it has a lot to do with the EQ graphics engine (as PB alluded to), i think the bottleneck on performance also might be your processor. 1.8 GHz Pentium is no slouch, but might not be fast enough to have all the game options running. Effectively it cannot feed data to your graphics card fast enough.
I'd recommend the following:
1) Make sure your graphics drivers are up the latest ones available, especially if you are running DirectX 9.
2) Increase your system memory. You could probably get another 512mb of memory for under $100. The performance boost would probably be minimal, but if your looking for the cheapest option to increase any amount of performance, upgrading memory is the best place to start. Check www.pricewatch.com for some good online sources.
3) Upgrade your processor. Depending on your motherboard, this could mean essentially getting a new system. But if your MB allows it, you might think about swapping out for a faster Pentium proc. Faster processors alone would run $200-300.
But before going out and spending any money, it might be better to just wait for SOE to put their own fixes in.
I really don't think it's processor. I have a lesser video card and only a 2.0 processor....so hers should be capable of what mine is capable of.
that .2 CAN'T be that much difference lol
Masin wrote:PB - your 'lighting' problem sounds very similar to what has been affecting Addamiss lately. Things just too dark.
The fix I found for my lighting problem was to do a system restore and go back to DirectX8 -- for some reason, version 9 doesn't want to work at all for me atm. It's something about how EQ handles the gamma settings...
When I /bugged it and talked to a GM, they said they were working on it and that the problem should be fixed by the time the new graphics engine goes "live".
(I've got one of the Nevida video cards -- those are the ones that EQ seems bugged with atm. If you use something different, then you might want to go ahead and try the Directx9.0 upgrade which they're pushing so hard.)
Thanks guys! Gonna update my drivers tonight and see what happens. I am embarassed to say I can't remember the last time I did that - plus I have not been using direct x 9.0 yet because I had heard it was buggy - so I didn't update that one 
Here's a few useful links for you:
EQ's link to updated drivers:
http://eqlive.station.sony.com/support/tech_support/ts_video.jsp
The link to Directx 9.0:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx
I'd save my current settings for a system restore, just in case they're all buggy for you after the update, but you might find the answer to your problem with one of those links. I just updated my video driver, and so far, my machine does seem to be running quite a bit faster in EQ.
I'm still kind of "iffy" about going to Directx9, but I might even give it a try in a few days. If I do, I'll let you know if it makes any more improvements, or if it's still buggy on the gamma and light reflection.
I did install Direct x9 and the only problems I have is, if I have my graphics turn on(not the old settings) The people look nude and lots of lag. I have tried changing the settings but they wont go back....So if I use the new graphics, I get huge amounts of lag plus I see the Nude toons. Still think thats funny.
As daft as this may sound, it can be surprisingly effectve and you DON'T have to spend any money.
I am assuming you are runing windows in some form.
1. Run the disk check, scandisk or whatever the hard drive checking program is with all teh checking options on. A minor data error here a cross linked index on the tables can slow things down very nicely.
2. Find your swapfile/virtual memory control appilet and make a notw of teh entries, then resize the file to zero and turn it off.
3. Reboot
4. Turn off all teh background tasks and run teh disk cleanup tool that comes with windows.
5. Perform a FULL defrag, all the bells and whistles turned on.
6. Reboot
7. Find your swap file/virtual memory appilet again and turn teh file back on and NOW, assuming it was not set to a fixed size, we fix the size of teh swap file to reduce teh amount of disk accessing.
To do this is fairly straight forward, as you have 512MB of RAM, all you do is multiply that number by 1.5 and enter the resulting valus as you minimum and maximum swap file size.
8. Reboot
9. While all this is happening finish reading that novel, writing that thesis or go outside and do some yardwork or even help MUM around the house.
As an afterthought
10. Find your EQClient.ini file in your EverQuest folder and edit it in notepad to make sure that teh following lines are in place under the [Defaults] section :-
LoadVeliousArmor=FALSE
LoadArmor17=FALSE
LoadArmor18=FALSE
LoadArmor19=FALSE
LoadArmor20=FALSE
LoadArmor21=FALSE
LoadArmor22=FALSE
LoadArmor23=FALSE
LoadArmor24=FALSE
LoadArmor25=FALSE
LoadVeliousArmorsWithLuclin=FALSE
ShowGrass=FALSE
Log=FALSE
Thank you Kasi! I'm going to print this one (no way Ill remember all that stuff) and give it a shot. I did update my drivers (what a joy THAT was) but still suffer from long load times and lag in zones no one else has any (??). If money ever comes available I'll try more memory.
Kasilii's advice is something worth doing, however, beware defraging a disk takes MANY hours if you haven't done it recently. Never actually used the other disk option--cleaning it--tho I sense my system needs it badly as well LOL.
More RAM is a cheap and easy way of speeding up the comp, but make sure you buy more of the same kind of Ram. For example, I have DDram...which costs about twice as much, if not more. Stupid me. It is better, but I question whether its THAT much better. Anyway, if I added regular RAM to my DDram, if anything, I could probably slow down my system, or something. I don't understand how they work, I'm no computer expert, but friends that know more than I do said they don't mix.
/sigh I need a new video card.
That said, I run most of the settings you have just fine with 512 Dram and 2.0 processor, etc. Another thing is maybe your internet has for some reason been slower than normal. With Ethernet at school, I notice that for weeks my internet flies, but then for at least a week it will go at a snail's pace. /sigh.
Thank you Lion. It gives me something to think about. And luckily for me I defrag semi-regularly I may run out and price RAM for my puter here soon but it depends on the finances. I just want to play with the beautiful graphics on again :cry:
Kasi - I did all the stuff you recommended - but found a couple of lines missing in the EQClient.ini file. All the rest were set like you said. The ones I was missing were: LoadVeliousArmor=FALSE; LoadArmor24=FALSE; an LoadArmor25=FALSE. Is this something to worry about?
OOPS! Apparently I forgot to log in before posting my last
I forgot about RAM types.
Those two extra lines came from a talk with a couple of Devs on the Test Server some time ago. They cover some graphics that were added later and are more there to assist in preventing conflicts with luclin era graphics.
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I did all the free ones so far and that, with the new graphics engine, have solved a lot of my lag problems. I may still buy more RAM because I want great performance.
Just wanted to make sure I told everyone thank you - and to let you know it seemed to work!
