Don't be fooled!, EQ (and EQ2 ) is ment to run on Nvidia based cards. I haven't looked up prices yet, but I will, and will edit this post in the morning.
+ the best Nvidia driver for EQ1 is currently the 61.76
download page
( my shadows are just fine, in EQ1 and EQ2, currently running GeForce FX 5700LE )