CPU or GPU Dependant?

**{AIrBoRnE}** · May 20, 2006, 08:01 AM

Is RTW is more dependant on the CPU or the GPU?

**Hadrian** · May 20, 2006, 01:42 PM

RTS (Realtime Strategy) games are more CPU intensive than FPS (First Person Shooters) because the processor is "thinking" (controlling and reacting) more, whereas in FPS the CPU sets up the environment and the GPU takes over the vast majority of the workload.RTW requires a good bit of performance from both CPU and GPU because there are so many (men,horses,projectiles,etc) things moving on the screen.
The actual number of items in motion,and the image quality of those items,(resolution,graphic filters,etc) are very important to the performance of both the CPU and GPU as they interact in concert,to produce multiple images in motion, simultaneously.Whew,thats a mouthful!

In short,RTW is more CPU dependant than FPS but you also need a good graphics card (with its dedicated graphics memory) to help the CPU with the increased work load...

**{AIrBoRnE}** · May 20, 2006, 04:29 PM

So lets say I had a X2 3800+ at stock speeds (2.0Ghz) and overclocked it to about 2.4 GHz. Would that make the game run faster when theres more people on screen?

**HorseArcher** · May 20, 2006, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by {AIrBoRnE}

So lets say I had a X2 3800+ at stock speeds (2.0Ghz) and overclocked it to about 2.4 GHz. Would that make the game run faster when theres more people on screen?

You need to do this very carefully,otherwise you gonna ruin something. AMD procs. are a little tricky with the bus speed and the memory speed / multiplier. Some of the BIOS (like mine) gives me hints of what should be raised and simultaneously something other lowered to get a boost without over clocking something else and suffer the frozen screen or worse.

**Hadrian** · May 20, 2006, 05:25 PM

Overclocking an AMD processor or utilizing any cooler (heatsink/fan combo) other than the stock one provided will void the warranty,period.That said,increasing the CPU bus will increase your FPS(frames per second) which won't necessarily make the game faster, but will increase the threshold of smooth playability,which is the point where the requirements of the game begin to overcome your systems ability to adequately processes the information in time, so that you don't notice denegrated game play(the much dreaded "lag").Intense game play will be smoother and,basically,you'll have less "lag" in big battles.Hope that helps...