Whats a good processor for MTW2?

[crashxdjp]

These are my current specs. I want the best running computer for MTW2, I really plan on playing huge battles and the graphics pretty high up.

Video - NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900XT 128mb (good)
Memory - 1024MB RAM (good)

CPU - AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2800+, ~2.1GHz (decent)

I want a better processor, so what do you guys think I should get? AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.2ghz? thats 280-290 bucks. that seems good.

That is my motherboard. What processors can I get for it? An upgrade of course from the AMD Athlon 2800.

http://www.motherboard.cz/mb/albatron/KX18DPro.htm

[Søren]

Moved

[Ahlerich]

performance depends a lot from the mainboard..if you get a fast processor it might be that the mobo will be the bottleneck and some of your proc power wasted. if you buy a proc fitting to the socket of your mobo you dont need a new one. it just might be that the improvement is not as good as you hope.

you can download software like sisoft sandra and it reads all your mobo specs. when your pc boots up you can hit pause and at the bottom of the screen there will be a number. if you write down that number and google for it you will find your motherboard also.

im not an mobo expert myself so i just read reviews to find out which board is worth its money and how strong it is

[Incinerate_IV]

I'm guessing you got a socket 754 processor and a AGP graphics card. You have 2 choices.

1.You can keep the mother board and buy a new processor/graphics card, which would cost ~300 ($120 for a 3000+ and the rest on graphics card).
2.You can upgrade to a new PCI-E motherboard with a socket 939 (or AM2 when it comes out), this way you are prepared for the future, and generally graphics cards for PCI-E is cheaper than AGP graphics cards. But that would cost you $350+

If I were you I would go option 2, in a couple of month socket 754 (if thats what you have) will be obsolete, and AGP is also slowing dieing out.

BTW, I'm mentioning the graphics cards is because games these days really don't require much processing power, not even RTW or M2TW. After seeing these nice looking screens with the high quality shadows and bump mapping and reflections and stuff, it looks like M2TW is going to be much more dependent on the graphics card.

[Boudicca]

Incinerate, that exactly describes my own dilemma at the moment. I have AMD 64 3400+ on Socket 754 and an old graphics card (Radeon 9600XT). I think in your case crashhxdjb I would go for the PCI-Express solution as your processor will require a signifcant upaate and you can do that very well.

[Timmius]

Another solution might be the dual motherboards from asrock. They support AGP and PCI-e. That way you can buy a motherboard and cpu now, and upgrade you graphics card later. http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2524.
personally I'd wait for the M2 to come out to see what that would have to offer

[crashxdjp]

That is my motherboard. What processors can I get for it? An upgrade of course from the AMD Athlon 2800.

http://www.motherboard.cz/mb/albatron/KX18DPro.htm

[Lee1026]

Wait until the actual game ships, then you can worry about buying a computer to play it.

[crashxdjp]

Wait until the actual game ships, then you can worry about buying a computer to play it.

no, i need to upgrade anyways for me to run RTW better, and other games.

[Lee1026]

Depends. You seem to have SKT A motherboard, which is not known for its options.
If you want to go with SKT 754, get a sempron and then overclock the hell out of it. This is the cheap way to do things.
If you want to go with SKT 939, get a A 64 3200, and then overclock the hell out of it. This is the moderate way.
If you have lots of cash, get a dual core A64 X2 3800 and overclock the hell out of that. That is the super expensive way.

[Proximus]

That is the super expensive way.

No, that is the expensive way. The super expensive way are too buy a FX-60 and overclock the hell out of it with the help of Vapor Phase Change. :original:

[the_mango55]

If you have lots of cash, get a dual core A64 X2 3800 and overclock the hell out of that. That is the super expensive way.

I have one of those now. It runs good, and I like the dual cores more than I thought I would. They really make multitasking much less of a pain.

I haven't overclocked any yet, since I still have the standard fan&heatsink, and I haven't needed too yet (running Oblivion maxed out getting good fps.)

[Lee1026]

In my book A64 X2 3800 is already extreme overkill.

[Incinerate_IV]

You really can't notice any difference between a X2 3800 and FX-60, they are alreay fast enough. Like I said many many times, it doesn't really matter if your games can run at 115 FPS instead of 105 FPS, you won't see any difference :wink: