mettech,
Part of the answer you're looking for is that no matter what hardware you buy TODAY, you probably can't get sustained 30 fps in AH2 under all situations with all sliders set to max detail/range, 1024 textures, 1600x1200, 8xFSAA, and 16xAnsio Filtering. Unlike an older bit of software like quake3, there is no combination of hardware on the market that will let you turn up every graphics option to the max at the highest resolution with the highest level of image quality, and still get smooth framerates.
Anyone who claims they can do so will get $50 from me if they can prove it at a con, otherwise they're just embellishing the truth, talking smack, flat-out lying, whatever you want to call it.
I personally don't consider anything below 40 fps to be "smooth" anyhow since I can see stutters at any fps below 60, but everyone has their own personal level they consider to be smooth and mine is heavily biased by reflexes I gained flying a real fighter. Most people aren't quite as picky about framerate and stutters as I am
FWIW, I run 1280x1024 with the sliders turned down to get me 40-70 fps most of the time, but FSAA turned up because I am using a really fast graphics card matched to a relatively slow cpu (nvidia 6800GT and athlon XP 2000+). Turning down the graphics detail and range sliders dramatically increases my framerate so I can run a high resolution and then my graphics card can also run FSAA with only a tiny drop in framerate. I also run 512 textures because even though I get no framerate decrease at all running 1024 textures, my cpu/FSB/memory/mobo/AGP/overall system is slow enough that I get an annoying pause when the textures transition to higher detail levels during fights.
I guess the lesson is that there is no achievable "max" for AH2 with current hardware, so you have to buy whatever hardware you can afford and then decide what graphics details are important for you and adjust the settings appropriately. A guy running an ATI 9600 may be perfectly happy running settings that get him "smooth" graphics without as much detail, while a guy with the most modern system in the world might be dissatisfied no matter how he sets up the game, because their priorites are different. If you want image quality and FSAA above all else, you will need to include a current generation video card into your system budget. If you really like the trees and don't mind running a lower resolution with smaller textures and no FSAA, spend your money on the fastest cpu you can buy instead of spending more on the graphics card. Or just buy the best you can afford and upgrade whenever you become dissatisfied. That's sort of what I do, and it's why I am using an old cpu and new vid card, because that's where my priorites led me.
