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Hail,

The first question I have is what settings you are running EQII on? You might want to try dropping all the way down to low settings on graphics and then work your way up incrementally. Also, make sure your screen resolution in the game isn't set too high. Try starting 800x600, then 1024x768, and so on until you find the rez that runs best.

Your processor and RAM are fine. I run the game on a P4 3.2 GHz and 1 gig RAM. My only concern is your video card. At the risk of starting yet another ATi / NVIDIA forums war let me say this: Geforce 6600 w/256 meg is cheap and runs the game extremely well. It comes in AGP and PCI-E. That is not to say that I have any problems with ATi per se, only that I think a newer card with at least 256 megs and as many of the newest DirectX 9 features would benefit you.

That said (awaits flying objects) also make sure you have downloaded the newest version of DirectX 9 and the most recent Catalyst driver for your video card.

Next make sure you don't have any other background applications running that don't present with a tray icon in Windows. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL to brind up your task manager, click Processes and see if there is anything running there that shouldn't be. It can be a bit of a pain recognizing the names of .exe's and .dll's but if you know your program environment you'll probably notice if something doens't belong there fairly quickly. If you'd feel more comfortable taking a screen of your Task Manager and posting it here I can identify things that do not belong (spyware, adware, etc.).

Good luck and let me know if anything I suggested helps at all. Oh, finally, never underestimate the power of defrag...

Is this your computer here?

http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Dimension_4600/4507-3118_7-30529709.html?tag=sub

In your previous post you mentioned having a 3.4 GHz processor, 1 gig RAM... I'm assuming you've done some upgrades to your machine. Either that or there were several runs of the 4600 and I just overlooked yours.

In any event, lets try this: if you've upgraded your memory on your computer and actually stuck with PC2700, that isn't helping you. PC2700 runs at 333 MHz versus PC3100 running at 400 MHz. While the difference on paper looks negligable the actual performance going between the 2 types of RAM is quite notable. This is most evident when messing around with the Doom 3 engine, and given it's less than friendly engine, Everquest 2.

Secondly, the on-board video card. While you are using an AGP card instead of the stock video card you absolutely need to make sure that the stock card is completely disabled in the Dell BIOS. Cards such as these 9/10 times use shared system memory, ergo even if you're not plugged into the output for the stock card if BIOS doesn't disable it then Windows is going to be short whatever about of memory the stock card uses as it's own.

I've been doing system repairs for a number of years now and people with Dells that intend on gaming with their machines seem to always run into issues, be it PSU limitations, RAM type, or those blasted Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics cards. As far as you being able to "fix" the issue without spending more money I'm afraid that might not be an option. However, try running the game in a windowed mode to see if the lag is cut down at all. While in the game press ALT+Enter to switch to windowed mode. You can resize the window to suit your needs. I tend to do this when I'm in Qeynos Harbor or a busy city zone and the lag is cut down quite a bit.

I wish I could be of more assistance. Hopefully someone else can point out something completely obvious that I've overlooked. In the mean time keep me posted on your progress.

Well, if you upgrade the RAM and the video card on that machine you might stand a chance of running it, certainly better than you can now. You have AGP video, so be sure to purchase the appropriate card. Be careful when buying the card though. The Geforce 6600 will not require attachment to your power supply in most cases whereas the 6600 GT will... and I'm fairly sure you are using the same 250 watt PSU as the OP.

If you were able to run it with the stock specs of your computer in the first place you'll be able to run it with the aforementioned upgrades. You'll need to spend quality time tweaking the performance settings so that you can find the settings that work best for your current machine. Remember that the engine for EQII was intentionally developed to be one the highest of the high end, meaning that as technology improves the game will look and play better. This is the complete opposite of the EQ Live engine that, in hindsight, looks downright silly these days. In other words while the game may not run to your expectations now the next computer you buy will fuel it to look leaps and bounds better... gives you something to look forward to.

In my case that something to look forward to is next month when I get my Geforce 7800 GTX 512m and 4 gig RAM :)

Video card, then RAM make the biggest difference in gameplay. Get at least a 256MB card, just review the forums on the main SOE page on viedo cards to stay away from.