Just bought a desktop PC from Ebay.

[DaveJ]

Bought this PC off ebay yesterday:

IBM IntelliStation M Pro 
Intel Pentium 4 551 HT 3.4GHz Processor
73.4GB SCSI hard drive @10000 RPM. (Small, but fast HDD)
2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 Memory
nVidia Quadro FX3400 256MB PCIe Video

Cost me $145 + Shipping. I thought it was a pretty good deal for a system like this.

Keep in mind that I am on a student's budget and this is the only thing I can realistically afford to buy.

What kind of FRs can be expected with that RAM and video card?

[AirFlyer]

Good question, if I remember correctly the Quadro series is geared more towards CAD and things of that nature more then gaming. I'm curious to hear what kinda of FRs you get out of that card once you get a chance to try it.

[Dragon]

I'm gonna guess somewhere between 10 and 20.

[BaldEagl]

I'm gonna guess somewhere between 10 and 20.

Heck, I'm getting 15-70+ with my old Dell (25-45 typically) but thats with no detailed terrain or water.  But, yeah, I wouldn't expect much.

[DaveJ]

I'm gonna guess somewhere between 10 and 20.

I get more than that currently with 64 mb integrated graphics on my PC.

[Fulmar]

Quadro's don't do gaming well period.  They're not designed for it.  That machine was designed for CAD or 3D modeling.  It supports DDR2 (dirt cheap) and a PCI-E slot.  Throw in a new video card and maybe 2gb more of RAM and you'll be getting playable frame rates. 

[DaveJ]

Quadro's don't do gaming well period.  They're not designed for it.  That machine was designed for CAD or 3D modeling.  It supports DDR2 (dirt cheap) and a PCI-E slot.  Throw in a new video card and maybe 2gb more of RAM and you'll be getting playable frame rates. 

I get playable FRs (30-45) with 64mb integrated video and all detail turned off. Anything would be an improvement over this.

I am not expecting to run this game on full settings at all. Just wanted to see if I could run some minor details on it.

[Fulmar]

I dunno, you might?

[Dragon]

My estimate was with graphics on and sliders maxed.  You'll have to let us know how it works out.

[Skuzzy]

The Quattro cards are designed for OpenGL and highly optimized for that API.  They are also optimized for high poly counts.

The hardware pipeline structure is very different from DirectX based video cards and so they end up running DirectX applications very badly.

[DaveJ]

The hardware pipeline structure is very different from DirectX based video cards and so they end up running DirectX applications very badly.

Thanks, Skuzzy. What sort of gameplay can I experience from this though?  I am just looking for passable frame rates with medium to low level detail on. Surely it will be able to run AH at a decent level.

[Skuzzy]

Well, I would be surprised if it ran the game at all, but then again, you never know until you try.

[DaveJ]

That is disheartening, to say the least..

[Skuzzy]

Don't let me rattle your cage.  Give it a try and see what happens.

[llama]

Don't let me rattle your cage.  Give it a try and see what happens.

Who are you going to believe: your eyes, or Skuzzy?

Give it a try before panicking.

-Llama