Reinforcements and CPUs

**Parzival2211** · May 07, 2012, 08:44 AM

I often have the problem that reinforcements (3rd or more full stacks) can't join battles because the PC's resources are overwhelmed. I run M2TW on a Pentium 4 with 3 MHz, 256MB NVidia card - with huge unit size and almost max detail level. When I accelerate 2x, the game runs fine, on 6x, armies "frog-leap" across the battle map.

What is your experience? What kind of PC do you need to run everything smoothly on huge unit size, max details and still get the reinforcements for battle?

**Ferdiad** · May 07, 2012, 08:52 AM

The Game has a CPU bottleneck so having the best PC possible won't actually make a difference.

**Silent Assassin** · May 07, 2012, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by Ferdiad

The Game has a CPU bottleneck so having the best PC possible won't actually make a difference.

I don't think it's entirely true, I don't know if this is because I'm playing Third Age but I have seen battles that had 4 armies in them, my PC lagged badly, I have a dual core with a G-card of 512 mg but my friend as Quad core with a 1 Gig G-card and it doesn't lag on his machine.

**PoleCat** · May 07, 2012, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by Silent Assassin

I don't think it's entirely true, I don't know if this is because I'm playing Third Age but I have seen battles that had 4 armies in them, my PC lagged badly, I have a dual core with a G-card of 512 mg but my friend as Quad core with a 1 Gig G-card and it doesn't lag on his machine.

No. He's correct. Let me explain.

This game was written back when the two major CPU makers (Intel and AMD) were still trying to achieve optimal performance on one CPU core through sheer clock speeds. The problem with this strategy is that it can create a lot of heat and will degrade the system quickly.

It wasn't too long after this game was released that one company or the other went to adding multiple cores at lower clock speeds - lower clock speeds means less heat and multiple cores allows for distributed processing. Although the programming stills needs to catch up to the hardware even today it's the current trend for computing and is very effective when done right.

The problem with M2 is that it can't use hyperthreading and so is totally dependent on the base clock speed of the primary CPU core at whatever clock it's running. So, by using your example, I'd bet that you have an overall lower clock on your system than your friend has. That's the bottleneck. The number of cores doesn't matter - raw clock speed does.

In short - if you want optimal performance with this game on modern rigs then you'll have to boost the base CPU clock speed - either passively or through a cooler and active overclocking. Good luck!

**Raveyn Ravensworth** · May 07, 2012, 11:08 AM

Also depends on how long the battle has been going on though, and it lags worse during siege battles due to the added walls, gates ect.

**Sitalkes** · May 07, 2012, 06:44 PM

Get a 512 Mb video card, they are really cheap now, that's all you need. Also I suggest posting this to the hardware forum, I think its the third line from the top or something like that.

**Parzival2211** · May 08, 2012, 02:42 AM

Thanks guys. Having a P4 3 GHz CPU should be close to maximum then. But maybe a better video card would still make a difference. And maybe more RAM?

**Ishan** · May 08, 2012, 08:01 AM

Thread moved from M2TW GD forums to tech discussion.
Such discussions are pointless without knowing full hardware details and the screen resolution. Bigger the resolution gets, bigger the G.card one needs.

**irishron** · May 08, 2012, 08:11 AM

Nothing new. Post your dxdiag.

**Hasefrexx** · May 22, 2012, 06:38 AM

Hi,

I have a similar problem. I was so glad to see I could end up with a hudge onslaught against the Timurids (how clever to have their army walk in a single line and bordering a river!). Well, instead of 4 armies against 3, that's a mere 3v1. A shame!
What's strange is, whether with best graphic settings, or with every settings at lower level possible (including screen resolution), it won't make a change.

Wathever, here's my dxdiag (btw, what's the difference beetween dxdiag 32 bits and dxdiag 64 bits? First time I've noticed there are two options available... That one is the default 32 bits):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Any suggestion, or am I bound to fight with max 4 armies at the same time?

**irishron** · May 22, 2012, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by Hasefrexx

Hi,

I have a similar problem. I was so glad to see I could end up with a hudge onslaught against the Timurids (how clever to have their army walk in a single line and bordering a river!). Well, instead of 4 armies against 3, that's a mere 3v1. A shame!
What's strange is, whether with best graphic settings, or with every settings at lower level possible (including screen resolution), it won't make a change.

Wathever, here's my dxdiag (btw, what's the difference beetween dxdiag 32 bits and dxdiag 64 bits? First time I've noticed there are two options available... That one is the default 32 bits):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Any suggestion, or am I bound to fight with max 4 armies at the same time?

I believe it's in the game's engine this way. It can't handle anymore than this unless someone comes along and proves me wrong.

**Losthief** · June 01, 2012, 12:37 AM

Originally Posted by irishron

I believe it's in the game's engine this way. It can't handle anymore than this unless someone comes along and proves me wrong.

g5 got around that, way beyond my knowledge how, but instlal his battle ai and reinforcements script and he got he got it set to a impossible max. Just so you know.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1745 only works with kingdoms verisons of the game as far as i know, but i could be wrong.

**irishron** · June 01, 2012, 06:41 AM

From past experience, not anything CA said or rip[ping the .exe, if the game's engine can't find enough resources as in ram, cpu, gpu, it just won't load the reinforcements for battles until the numbers on the field start dying off in a hurry.