Hi all,
I know it is a controverse topic but a lot people still postulate opinions and even make worthy decisions on them, that might cost money and will not deliver proper results.
Because of that I deciced to start this discussion thread based on real facts we have at the moment. We cannot expect they will be revolutioned by Rome 2.
So in this case we do not need to "kill" each other with "game is not yet released" statements. I will not change a lot, even we all hoped for that.
So let's start to iron out Total War tech myths:
General hardware myths:
Myth: If you have an AMD CPU you need to get an AMD (ATI) graphics card for best performance and compatibility, as both are from the same vendor. Also on Intel better go for a NVIDIA not AMD graphics card for the same reason
Busted! This is a really nighmare myth, as I repetitive hear that for about 15 years now, and it still lives. There is really no truth in it you can mix whatever you want.
But once more: The AMD processor limitations for TW still exists independently from the fact you pair it with a NVIDIA or AMD graphics card.
Technically the best pick is Intel with NVIDIA but that has got technological roots not because they pair better.
Myth: TW runs faster (frames per second) with SSD or more RAM than 4 GB
Busted! No and again it is a 32bit game.
While installing TW on a SSD will give it a significant boost in loading times, the additional RAM might only improve loading time performance a little if you have less then 4 GB RAM or a lot of background processes running (laptops are full of preinstalled software, browsers like Chrome needs a lot of RAM as they make multiple instances. Having more than 6 GB do not affect Total War at all.
Operating system myths:
Myth: TW runs faster on a 64bit OS than 32bit
Busted! This is not true, it is a 32 bit game. Any advantages may be because different drivers and the advantages are negible. Anyway if you have 3 GB RAM and a 1 GB graphics card you should uprade to a 64 bit OS like Windows 8 or 7. In some particular cases it may even run faster on a 32 bit OS :/
Processor myths:
Myth: TW runs faster on a 5 GHz AMD than a 3,2 GHz Intel
Busted!No, please refer benchmark results.
Myth: TW runs faster on a octa core or hexa core instead of a quad core CPU
Busted! No it does not utilize the additional cores, sorry.
Myth: TW does not support more than single or dual core CPUs
Busted! That's wrong, as comparing a SAME quad core and dual core CPU (hardware limitation) you have a gain of more than 20% performance compared to the dual core CPU. TW does utilize quad core CPUs. Please also refer benchmark results.
Myth: The blood patch DLC is a nice features, that gives you more splatter effects at a little performance cost
Busted! That's fairly wrong. Accidently we got aware that the blood DLC is not done by the GPU but the processor and impacts a lot in typical a melee / blob. The cost of performance varies from 12-25%.
Myth: Intel i7 cores are the best effort for Total War and hyperthreading give you an extra boost playing this game.
Answer: No unfortunately it is even contraproductive and SLOWS Total War, especially if you have a SLI configuration. On the other hand on desktop Intel i3, hyperthreading helps to improve your performance significantly. To avoid these performance issues please read the benchmark thread (optimisation)
Graphics cards myths:
Myth: TW runs faster with a graphics card with more than 2 GB RAM
Busted! More video RAM will not increase your frame rates. Multimonitor is not supported aswell so the game simply do not need more than 2 GB VRAM. There is just one exception: you will need more than 2GB VRAM if you use higher resolution than 1080p or memory intensive antialiasing like SSAA.
Myth: an SLI / Crossfire will improve my gaming experience and eliminate all lags even in huge battles
Busted! That's fairly wrong.
There are two reasons for that:
1. The problem is an SLI might give you more power in case of high Antialiasing but usually all screens have only 60 Hz, so display 60 frames per second.
Any more frames above that will cause tearing as the SLI delivers more pictures than the screen can display. Adaptive VSYNC drops the FPS to the monitor speed if needed. In this case you are are literally driving a Porsche in a 15 miles per hour zone .
2. If you go in a cam close up your CPU will make the pace in terms of FPS and your SLI become completely worthless in Total War as you will enounter lags (low FPS).
Myth: Monitors with higher refresh rates like 120 or 144 Hz give me a visibly fluent gaming experience and advantage in Total War games.
Busted! Not at all, they are only useful if you use 3D glasses, then the monitor can display 2 pictures with each 60 frames per second instead of 30 frames per second. However your graphics card must be powerful enough to serve this. Usally you need an SLI to have a constant framerate beyond 100 frames per second in Total War.
Despite from the 3D use it is physically senseless as a human eye cannot see more than 85 pictures per second (aka Hertz (Hz) aka Frames per second (FPS). Who ever tells you he/she has got a visibly better gaming experience with a FPS higher than 85 FPS must have super powers indeed.
Myth: If I got a 1 GB graphics card and add another one with 1GB VRAM via SLI / Crossfire I can choose higher details as I have then 2 GB VRAM.
Busted! Honestly I am not experienced with SLI / Crossfire solutions a lot but someone that knows this business confirmed this myth is really wrong
The additional graphics card will not ADD VRAM to the other but you have then 2 cards sharing 1 GB. So unlike to system RAM you cannot add physically or virtually more VRAM by pairing cards.
RAM myths:
Myth: TW runs faster on high OC RAM (above 1600 MHz)
Busted! This may affect only on AMD plattforms and if the CL timings are same or lower than CL9-9-9, the Intel memory controller has a limitation to 1600 MHz or even lower depending on your particular model.
Myth: High overclocked RAM gives you a good boost in Total War, so it is worth the price at the end
Busted! There are 2 sides of the medal, one is gold the other one just looks like gold
1. High overclocked RAM takes all RAMs that are faster than 1600 MHz which are now standard for DDR3 while we should see 3200 MHz DDR4 RAM in 2014. In fact the memory bandwith is higher at higher clockings but this may be effective only in very memory intensive tasks like video editing or 3D modelling (raytracing etc)
2. The OC RAM has got a high demand on voltage, while modern DDR3 (DDR3L) RAM only need 1,35 Volts, these RAMs run at the border of compliance at 1,65 volts. This causes heat and costs of course more energy, that you won't notice on your bill anyway aslong you do not run a server farm.
BUT: The most painful thing is that any RAM above 1600 MHz do not give a respective advantage on Intel CPUs. Maybe different on AMD but I haven't enough data yet.
Here is an example of that case taken from the TW benchmark thread
Intel Core i7-4770K, 4,5 GHz, Haswell, 22nm lithography, 84 Watts TDP, DDR3 2666 MHz CL11, Dual Channel: 52 FPS (66% more clocking but only +6% (7.6% unrounded) more performance, not speaking about the price)
Intel Core i7-4770K, 4,5 GHz, Haswell, 22nm lithography, 84 Watts TDP, DDR3 1666 MHz CL11, Dual Channel: 49 FPS
Price comparison:
Corsair Vengeance 2x4 GB 2666 MHz CL11 RAM: 151 € - so they are 2,5 times more expensive for ridiculous +6-8% performance)
Corsair Vengeance 2x4 GB 1600 MHz CL9 RAM: 60 €, and even yet faster than the tested 1666 CL11
Sources for the above statements linked below.
Do you like to find out your personal performance in Rome 2? You need a little time reading, Shogun 2 and a DX11 capable graphics card. If you do not have just compare your CPU (battle engine) performance.
Check the link out in my signatures. I still search for more partcipants with mid range CPUs, laptops, more SLI and crossfire solutions. Just throw your figures at me (organised as decribed)
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...TW-performance