I've never taken the time personally to sit down and test how much better the 2D client performs with each subsequently more modern video card I have use throughout my time in UO. As such I have no idea just how much (if any) real gain there is as every video card upgrade has been coupled with other things that definitely did increase UO's performance. The first card I ever used to run UO was a 4mb Triton card (who remembers Triton?), then onboard video, then a S3 "Savage" or "Verge"..I can't remember, was POS anyway..then a Matrox G400, then a Hercules 3D Prophet II (the goofy Kyro chip)...you see the progression.

So, the looming KR aside, how big of an impact on the 2D client's performance can be felt by using say, a current ATi or Nvidia card with 12 or however many pipelines and 256mb to 512mb of very fast memory, opposed to a more basic card from UO's lifespan..say a TNT with 16mb?

I imagine KR will make it all moot anyways. Likely a DirectX 9 or even 10 based game... Yay, multi-thousand dollar SLI core rigs for the PvP win.

Who needs a speed hack if you have a 5k computer vs. a computer running windows 98 in PvP.

LOL Amen to that.

To OP:

As far as upgrading your video card goes, Its not like to do much for the current 2d client, though it would likely help some. Enough to notice, but not necessarily enough to write home about.

However, Kingdom Reborn is using a new graphics engine that would likely greatly benefit from a 128mb Nvidia or ATI video card or better. Its a 3d graphics engine, pushing 2d images.

128 Mb is considered run of the mill Low end these days. Windows Vista due out in January will have alot of features that wont run unless you have a 256 Mb. You might as well upgrade to a 256 MB now, you can get decent ones for UO from either ATI or Nvidia for around $120 to $150 without too much trouble.

Since we r talking about video cards which brand has good 128MB video cards?

There are soo many different video cards the price range various alot. I dont mind spending good money on a video card i just want to make sure its worth it!

Im running a nVidia 7300GS (256Mb PCI-e) by eVGA and I get nice framerates even in more graphic intensive FPSs and such. I believe that on newegg this card goes for less than 100 bucks, or maybe slightly over.

In my expirience, the current 2d client is alot more CPU intensive than GPU. 3d has alot more benefit to a better GPU but again, I see alot more dependency on your CPU and amount of RAM.

From the little weve sen of the screenies from KR, I really doubt that the minimum requirements are going to be much higher than current reqs for 2d. As always, min reqs will let you play, but not optimally. My suggestion for UO reqs:

2 Gig processor
1 Gig RAM
128Mb vid card, preferrably PCI-e or 8x AGP

I too recommend Newegg.com. Check out their selection of Nvidia-based cards from XFX. XFX is a great company with a lifetime warranty on their cards. eVGA is also a good, solid reliable line of Nvidia-based cards. BFG seem to have a good reputation as well though they tend to be pricey.

Stay away from Sapphire..Jaton..any of the lesser brands. You'll have a poorly made product with short life. Stay away from Crucial's line of video cards as well as they're made by Sapphire and nowhere near the quality associated with Crucial's line of memory.

thx for info guys

I always have and will forever reccomend GEforce video cards. I started UO with a GEF2TI and then to a GEF/4600, and now a GEF6800. You can find soo many levels of each type. I chose to stay away from the 3 model tho, as it sucked and crashed alot. I was in Japan, and we always got them a bit earlier than those in the states, and tested them out and let our friends know back home how they worked.


Man we could have ran a serious racket on that one.... We could buy the new vid cards for half of what they cost in the states....Those and the stupid pokemon cards....I could have left Japan a very rich man...

Oh also, I would never ever reccomend PCI vid cards anymore. If your computer only has pci slots, then its time for a new one...

Funny how everyone thought Nvidia would never be able to surpass 3DfX in that market...so Nvidia simply bought them.

Voodoo5500 4tw vendorbuy!

Poor ATi. Maybe if they didn't have such a bad reputation from all the OEM brands out there using their chips, and maybe if they're own good cards were a little more serious and a little less expensive, they'd be more acceptable.