PC Spec Question

[LeoDowner]

I just bought a new PC almost especially to play RTW and its mods. I can put all the graphics to the highest apart from the grass detail, turning the grass completely off means it runs very well but putting it upto the max makes it run at something like 1 fps.

Just wondering what specs everyone else has that can run RTW at full spec.

I've got a 3.60ghz Pentium 4 Dual Core Processor, 1GB RAM and 256k Graphics Card.

[Pat89]

Are you sure you can't put your grass details a little higher with those specs?

I would advice to turn Anti-Aliasing off instead of turning your grass off... or at least find a balance between the two...

[LeoDowner]

Changing the anti aliasing doesn't seem to affect the running of the game at all. I can have low grass detail which only affects the running slightly but is still noticeable. Taking the pc back tommorow to see what can be upgraded to get the best results while running at full spec, anyone care to share their specs ?

[Caligula Caesar]

If I turn the anti-aliasing off and everything else on max, my game works perfectly, even though my computer isn't exactly the newset model available. However, if I turn the anti-aliasing even to low, I have to turn everything else seriously low to get it to work properly.

[Pat89]

I've got an AMD 2.2 GHz processor (single core)
An NVIDIA 7300 GS (256 MB)
4 GB RAM

Not really spectcular, but with AA (Anti Aliasing) turned off, I can set all other things to the max settings. It even runs perfectly fine with two full stack armies in forests or cities!

(Edit: 2.500th post )

[Pjstaab]

Are we talking high or very high for unit detail?

[Pat89]

Depends on what the max settings in RTW are named

Yes... Very High settings is for most options the max...

[mcantu]

i crank up the AA to 16x and turn grass off...

[Pjstaab]

Well huge unit amount and very high unit detail brings my 9600gt overclocked to it's knees. High fixes that. The units are so small that the sprite version isn't a big deal.

[The Colonel]

Slaping on another Gig of ram would fix it, computer needs more memory to render all the extra textures. Hope your card isnt *intergrated*, if it is, that needs ta go too

[Pjstaab]

But it's the same texture why would it load it more than once into memory?

[LeoDowner]

What do you mean by integrated ?

[despot_of_rhodes]

Integrated into the motherboard perhaps?

[Scutarii]

You need some more RAM to get max graphics out of RTW. 1 isn't enough, especially with Vista. If you have the 32bit vista, you need at least 2, for 64, at least 4GB.

If you bought a new computer, you shouldn't have any problems with the chip being integrated. I know my 2004 sony VAIO had an integrated graphics card, and I replaced the computer in late 08 because of it, but new comp's don't really do that anymore, IIRC.

[Irenaeus]

Mine is:
AMD Phenom 9950
4Gb RAM
GeForce 7950GT 512Mb

Runs RTW very nicely (even Europa Barbarorum, which eats RAM for breakfast).

As for integrated graphics, the more recent versions aren't meant to be too bad for playing games such as RTW, since the Intel GMA's take RAM as they need it, up to a biggish number (my laptop's GMA takes up to 384Mb, but I saw one that took up to 2Gb!). Graphics Memory doesn not equal graphics processing power though, generally people are better off with a dedicated card.

[HouseOfHam]

Just bought this less than a month ago:

Case: Coolermaster HAF 932 Full-Tower Gaming Case w/ 800 Watt PSU, 3x230mm/700rpm fans (front, side, top), 120mm/2500rpm (kinda noisy) rear fan
Motherboard: Asus P5Q3, Intel P45 chipset
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0 GHz/12 MB L2 cache/1333 FSB, w/ liquid cooling
RAM: 8 GB (4x2GB Corsair DDR3 1333)
Video: eVGA GTX295 1792 MB (896MB per GPU)
HD: 1 TB , SATA-II 7200 rpm, 16 MB cache
Monitor: 24" wide-screen 2ms response time, up to 1920x1200

It's a beast! Everything flies. Liquid cooling keeps CPU temp below 30C even after several hours of running RTW. No lag at 1680x1050 with everything on max.

I might add a 2nd GTX295 when prices come down.

[lelouchx99]

I'm not an expert on computer hard wares, but how much did that cost you?

[HouseOfHam]

I'm not an expert on computer hard wares, but how much did that cost you?

Just over $2k, with the monitor and shipping & handling fees.

[LeoDowner]

So to be able to get better grass effects I should get more RAM? Upto at least 2GB?

[Scutarii]

Now that is a bad ass computer. Mine only has 6 GB of RAM.