Help me understand CPU and physical memory?

[GondorCaptain]

System Specs:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

3.4Ghz Intel Core i7-2600K 8MB Cache Quad-Core
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm CPU Fan/Heatsink
ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 REV 3.0 (Intel P67, 2xPCI-E, 8xSATA, 4xDDR3)
16GB (4GBx4) PC3 10666 DDR3 1333Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
128GB Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 SATA3 SSD
22X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1536MB GeForce GTX 580 GDDR5 PCI-E Dual-DVI (Major Brand)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
InWin C583 Black ATX (3 5.25, 5 3.5) Fan, Front Audio/USB
650watt Corsair CMPSU-650TX

While playing a custom battle I still noticed terribly choppy framerate skips, so I checked my task manager for CPU and memory info.

CPU usage was 100%, but Physical memory usage was 2.2GB out of a total of 16... I tried applying the 4GB patch to the batch executable, checked again and memory use was still 2.2GB...

I did all the cleaning in trailhog's guide, so now I'm left to wonder if it's either A)my 64bit quad core system hates me and TATW, or B)I'm not getting enough power to my GPU

I mean can someone explain to me how the CPU and memory affects my performance? I tried the same battle with everything set to max and then again with everything set to min, the choppy frames are present in both. So maybe it's a polygon issue? Please educate me.

[Trailhog250]

It's obviously not the computer look at my specs on that page and I play flawlessly maxed out

I'm not sure... it's not the TATW, it's not your PC... there must be a problem somewhere. But I don't know where. How does vanilla M2TW/Kingdoms/SS/etc run? Anyone else have a solution for this? Maybe google it... my guide it meant to optimize your PC for basically everything and not just the game. (though the Gamebooster does that)

How do other games beside this one run? (ie Fallout 3, Command and Conquer, Starcraft II, Crysis, World of Warcraft, etc. You must some other games I would imagine )

How does the PC in general run? It could be a virus if other games are choppy as well. Otherwise I would say the configuration somewhere is wrong, terrible install, firewall blocking it, or something else similar to that.


EDIT: Saw where you said CPU power was on 100%, yeah... somethings wrong there without a doubt.

[GondorCaptain]

Newer games run perfectly. I can run Empire, Napoleon, Crysis 2, and Witcher 2 max pretty much everything (only option I leave off is Empire/Napoleon SSAO, everything else all other games maxed) and they run smoothly, no problems at all. Empire and Napoleon do get slight framerate dip on huge battles, but that's it.

I've been keeping my system clean with Symantec, Malwarebytes, CCleaner, and recently thanks to your guide ASC and Smart Defrag. No malware, no virus, no spyware or I'm sure one of these would have caught it.

Vanilla Kingdoms runs better, on similar unit sizes, say full 1v1 with 150 unit troops, I still only get slight lag, but the framerate drop is noticeable. With SS installed, same number of units on screen, the frame skip is DEFINITELY there. Unmodded Kingdoms is playable, but modded ones are not... hmm why is that?

So I kept tweaking and trying to figure things out, and this is what I found. Changing graphics options does nothing. Having lots of units on screen slows nothing. BUT when units are engaged, things start slowing down. When say 4 of my guys fight 4 of his guys, no real frame skip. But when every unit of mine is engaged with one of his, then the terrible frame skips occur. I tab out to check the task manager and CPU usage was at 100%. Confirmed with SS and TATW and CoW, semi confirmed with Kingdoms. Why would that ever happen? Is M2TW incompatible with my CPU? Another kind sir told me my CPU has 4 cores, and M2TW only uses 1, could that slow my game down like that?

Anyway thanks for not ignoring me trailhog, I appreciate your support.

[Trailhog250]

I wish I could help you more but I'm not sure what's wrong. Have you tried a clean install of everything? (ie deleting leftover files, cleaning the PC with ASC,CCleaner before re-installing, etc)


V-Sync is off right? Do different resolutions make a difference? Even on my PC I keep AA on 2 and AF on 4 because that overtaxes the game for things you can't even see.

On ETW mine runs A LOT better and looks the same with both of those off. (AF on Trilinear) I even have screenshots that I will upload to prove my point