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Thread: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

  1. #1
    m_1512's Avatar Quomodo vales?
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    Default A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Hello all,

    I have been seeing a lot of complaints and suggestions about the graphics issues and running the game. Initially when I started the game on my laptop, I got like a 5fps benchmark with the forest video saying,
    "V..V..Varius, g..g..give b..b..back m..m..my l..l..legions..."

    Funny yes, but this simply was not done. I asked around and got the answer that my laptop wasn't meant for gaming, nuff' said. But then I could not afford buying a gaming laptop, so I had two choices - come here and moan or do something about it. And I did some research and finally tweaked the laptop to be able to play in medium-high settings without any lag at all. All that without spending a single pound (or dollar or euro).




    Knowing your Laptop
    The first step is know your laptop. Mine was a media laptop, which is somewhere between work and gaming laptops. Typing "Can I play in Rome 2" in google showed that my laptop measured between minimum and recommended settings. Follow the below steps to know more.

    Type dxdiag in the search box for the DirectX Diagnostic tool. Click on the Display tab for the graphics information. You don't need to read through all that. The important stuff you are looking for is only few among the data. I've provided mine for reference.
    Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics
    Chip type: Intel(R) HD Graphics (Core i5)
    Display Memory: 1696 MB
    Current Mode: 1366 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
    This shows how graphics is managed in your laptop. But if your laptop is showing something like this, it means you are suffering from something that is referred as Intel switchable graphics. In a nutshell, this means that your laptop is using nothing but its integrated graphics which is not at all apt for running a cool TW title. Now for the next part.


    Power settings
    Most people don't look into this, but battery settings does affect game performance. The laptop holds back much of its power to save power. Most probably, the default setting for this in your laptop would be either Balanced or Power saver. But this won't play the game. For a game to work, change this to High performance just before starting the game. You can of course change it back when not playing. And this will soon become a routine to you.
    Spoiler for screenshot



    NVIDA Graphics Settings
    Type Device Manager in the search bar and to open up the settings for your devices. Here you just need to check if your laptop has the necessary stuff for running high end games. See the screenshot for reference. Your card can be either NVIDIA or any other ones too.
    Spoiler for screenshot

    If it only shows intel, then unfortunately your is a work laptop.

    Your card should be mostly Nvidia which is standard for Dell and HP laptops. Next right click on your desktop to got to the graphics control panel. This step is the most important one to override the intel switchable graphics setting.
    Spoiler for screenshot

    In the control panel, got to Manage 3D settings.
    Spoiler for screenshot


    It is best to leave the Global settings as it is and click on program settings. Here, you can assign graphics settings program wise.
    Spoiler for screenshot

    Follow the below steps to change the options to run Rome 2 properly. I have listed what I did to get it run smooth and that doesn't mean that you cannot explore the options and experiment.

    1. Add "rome2.exe" as program to customize.
    2. In the preferred graphics processor, the default option is integrated. Change it to the Nvidia High Performance one.
    3. The in the list for specify the settings, you can modify if you want the integrated or performance settings. Here, tweak it to your needs. I have simply enabled performance for textures and power management. You can also tweak the AA settings if you wish.
    4. Save the changes.

    Now your laptop is ready to play the game.


    Last minute tweaks
    Now the last minute tweak is fairly simple.
    1. Got to task manager.
    2. Click on processes.
    3. End all process that are not system or do not contribute to playing the game.
    4. This includes stuff like Spotify apps, bluetooth apps, smartphone software.
    5. Don't touch any system processes.




    Play the game now. You should be able to play the game on medium-high settings. I selected medium and then made the unit, building, and textures high. And works smooth as butter.

    Concluding, I hope this guide was helpful to you. Please feel free to post feedback or any doubts.


  2. #2
    Halie Satanus's Avatar Emperor of ice cream
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Cool.. But I can't locate the Rome2 exe in my system. Where did you find it?

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    mentecato's Avatar Civis
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    thanks

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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Yay thanks

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    m_1512's Avatar Quomodo vales?
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Thanks for the feedback. Apologizing for the late reply, this thing got buried by other threads. But I subscribed it now.
    Quote Originally Posted by Halie Satanus View Post
    Cool.. But I can't locate the Rome2 exe in my system. Where did you find it?
    Click on "Add." Then C: (or wherever steam is installed) > Steam > Steam Apps > common > Rome 2 Total War > rome2.exe. And you are go. Please reply back if you face any challenges and I'll post screenies. On another note, the game was running smooth at high settings for me. That is until the patch was released and installed. Does anyone see the same problem?


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    Halie Satanus's Avatar Emperor of ice cream
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Cool, I've since updated my Nvidia card which included a 'recently used program' selector.

    In answer to your other question, I've not tested it yet but I've seen several posts (there's a thread somewhere too) where that exact issue has been highlighted. (post patch fail).. IIRC the same thing happened with Shogun2 and was fixed with the next patch. It's sad that games these days are released as beta's...

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    Halie Satanus's Avatar Emperor of ice cream
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Cool, I've since updated my Nvidia card which included a 'recently used program' selector.

    In answer to your other question, I've not tested it yet but I've seen several posts (there's a thread somewhere too) where that exact issue has been highlighted. (post patch fail).. IIRC the same thing happened with Shogun2 and was fixed with the next patch. It's sad that games these days are released as beta's...

  8. #8

    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Despite I follow all advices, my game still uses intel graphics...

    Any other solutions?...

  9. #9
    m_1512's Avatar Quomodo vales?
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    What does it say? Can you post a screenshot so I can look into this?


  10. #10

    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    I may not have a second option besides intel 3000 but I want to thank you for helping others instead of ridiculing those who do not own high end rigs friend. You are a boon to any community!

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    Petroniu's Avatar Domesticus
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Quote Originally Posted by Harmonic View Post
    Despite I follow all advices, my game still uses intel graphics...

    Any other solutions?...
    Quote Originally Posted by m_1512 View Post
    What does it say? Can you post a screenshot so I can look into this?
    He probably has AMD Dynamic Switchable Graphics which won't let you use exclusively the iGPU or the dGPU for the game but rather switch between them ingame. That means that when you start the game you will always be stuck with the intel GPU and unable to access the higher tier graphics and although the dGPU will take over when the iGPU cannot handle the game anymore but that does not mean that the dGPU completely takes over. I know because that is what I am going through with my 12 days old HP 470 G0.
    Last edited by Petroniu; January 13, 2014 at 10:11 AM.
    RTWRM - back to basics

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    Petroniu's Avatar Domesticus
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Bad clicks. DP.
    RTWRM - back to basics

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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    I've been a long time player of Total War, and the Rome games are my favorite, so I pre-ordered RTW2. When I first installed it onto my laptop, it ran, not beautifully, but ran. but after the second patch, it froze after at the first screen that comes up after launching game. I'm still desperate to play, but I have a sinking feeling my laptop simply wasn't made for this.

    I'm using a HP ENVY m6 Notebook PC, and it doesn't have a NVIDIA card, only Intel HD graphics 4000. Is there anyway I can get this back and running? I've done your power adaptation ideas but nothing's helped. Anyway to fix my issues?

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    m_1512's Avatar Quomodo vales?
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Well, from what I see after studying your laptop model, it seems that you have a work laptop. I hate to disappoint but work laptops simply aren't built to handle games. This is not anything to do with pricing but more with design, as if you run a business, you'd not want your employees to play games on the laptop you give them.

    To try resolve this issue, I can suggest taking the laptop to the dealer or service center and ask if it is possible to add a graphics card to this. This, I only suggest if you own the laptop and not given to you by any employer.


  15. #15

    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    It's Mine, and I understand. Thanks for the help. I'll see if i can do that. Even if I can't I've been saving for a new desktop for a while, so One way or another I'll get my Rome 2 fix eventually!

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    Krixux's Avatar Ordinarius
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    All this info helped me a lot !!!! (although desktop pc)
    +rep
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    Saint12345's Avatar Foederatus
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Does this work for computers?? I hope this is not just only for laptops..

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    m_1512's Avatar Quomodo vales?
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    Default Re: A Guide to Tuning a Non-Gaming Laptop for playing Rome II

    Well, I wrote this guide for laptops, but the Nvidia control panel tips should work for desktops too. For some reason, I am unable to see the pics.


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