What is absolutely the lowest-end computer and video card you can use for GW?

I have a pal with a pretty new (Intel Core Duo-class) laptop, and who LOVES RPGs. So naturally I was thinking I would get him a copy of Prophecies or Nightfall for Christmas this year. The problem is that I don't have any way to find out what kind of graphics card he has on that thing. He's got plenty of RAM I know, and the game runs very well on nearly any hardware anyway.

Now, I KNOW it's not like an awesome video card, but I just wanted to throw out the question to you guys who have maybe below-par hardware. What is the worst computer you can use to run GW and actually play?

Regards,
Earley

have him run microsoft utility DXDIAG and tell you what the graphics are

RUN

DXDIAG

ENTER

alterate is go to control panel and click display>settings>advanced>adapter

or system>hardware >device manager

All computers you buy in the stores today (not second hand) should have more than enough power for Guild Wars.

The minimum specifications on the box of Prophecies are
800Mhz, 256MB ram, graphics card with 32MB memory on board.
Recommended is 1Ghz, 512 ram, 64MB graphics.
That is the minimum for Nightfall, btw.

The first time I played GW Prophecies was on a system that probably has the minimum specifications for that chapter or slightly above. It's a friends system, so I don't know the exact specifications.
It only had some minor problems when entering crowded area's.

Thinking back about that experience, with a little tweaking you can probably run Prophecies on a system with lesser specifications than the specified minimum. That's perhaps a 500/600Mhz cpu, 192 MB ram and the 32 MB video card ). Windows operating system cut back to absolute minimum (no additional services or programs started, even those that windows starts without you knowing it).

I don't think you will really enjoy it, but I think it's possible.
Just cut back screen resolution and all other graphic features.

The game requires at least a directx 8 capable graphics card to run properly and I assume it will run playable on every such card (with low/lowest graphics settings, mind you). I know from personal experience that Guild Wars will even run under directx 7 (with a GeForce 2 GTS graphics chip), however you'll experience graphic glitches and a very low frame rate with that.

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the replies.

Now if I can just get him to walk away from that computer so I can check it's specs!

Earley

A while back, just for shits and giggles, I installed Guild Wars on a way old PC I had sitting in the corner.

PIII ~700MHz
448 PC133
GeForce4 Ti4400 128MB
Sound Blaster PCI 128
Windows 98SE (my own very highly tweaked and stripped down version)
Generic 15" CRT

At 1024x768x32 and with 2x AA I could get GW:P running at a constant and playable 25-30fps. Obviously I had to turn some settings down, but it didn't look too bad at all.

Interesting that a good video card made up for an old CPU. My RL brother is in a similar situation.

On my computer, which is a fairly new Intel Core Duo with 1.5GB of RAM and a 128MB Radeon X1600, the game runs at FULL BORE at any setting I choose (1440x900).

His computer is an old 1.8GHz P4 with 1GB of RAM and a decent GeForce something or other that he bought this year. The game runs awesome (he's at 1024x768) but loads and quits really slowly, and switches out of windows at a snail's pace.

This is kind of a testament to the good programming of the ANet peeps, huh?

Earley