Build a PC for Rome 2 / Hardware Recommendations and Advice Thread

[General George S. Patton]

Yes, you are perfectly right alQ. But I have to say this, it's a bit Intel's fault for this confusion: they have a technology that makes each physical core behave as two virtual/logical cores and call it Hyperthreading even though it has little to do with actual programming threads, and on their CPU database they explain a CPU with HT by saying it has, for example, 2 cores and 4 threads or 4 cores and 8 threads, and so on, and that is why I always end up saying threads when what I actually mean is virtual/logical cores, which is they way they are called in the Task Manager, for example.

So from here on I'll say a CPU with HT has X physical cores that work as 2X virtual/logical ones, so we can avoid all this confusion.

Oh, and by checking my CPU-Z report I've found that logical cores 0 and 1 are both on physical core 0, and logical cores 2 and 3 are both on physical core 1, etc., when HT is enabled, which would explain the bad performance if, in a HT CPU with 4 physical cores, TW just starts loading (logical) core 0, then 1, then 2, then 3, because it would actually end up using 2 physical cores instead of 4! Luckily your settings tweak seems to solve this in some way.
I think they might have done it for how the Turbo works: the Turbo speed applies to the physical cores only, so if you use only one physical core the CPU uses the highest Turbo value, with two physical cores it uses a little less, etc. so by using the least possible number of physical cores they make the CPU use the highest Turbo values. Which is utterly stupid, because using two actually physical cores at 2.3GHz instead of two logical cores on the same physical core at 2.4GHz, is probably faster.




then you have nothing to be afraid of, you have sooooo much thermal headroom, just look up your CPU maximum safe temperatures and stay within them. You could easily reach 4GHz without even coming close to overheating it, if the CPU takes that speed!
And yes, the CPU, no matter how powerful, always ends up bottlenecking the GPU in TW, unless your GPU is veeery crappy and extremely old, but yours, even if a bit old, is still decent, as you can tell from your fps, and it's also within the game recommended specs (even though they are pretty vague).

@ Patton - BF3 is really well optimised, and warband has very dated graphics, so playing those on ultra isn't really a surprise.

You will not damage your CPU any faster if its overclocked well, but having a 920 and not overclocking it is a waste. Also, what do you use to check the CPU temps, because that reading would likely be the temp of your CPU waterblock, not the CPU itself.

A GTX 780 is totally not worth the money (speaking from experience as you know). A 770 is much better value, but still no where near as good as a 760. PS. 2 760s out perform a single 780, plus their cheaper. So you could get one 760 now, and if you fell like an upgrade, get a second.

The 800 cards will be nearly a year away, Nvidia always do yearly release cycles. AMDs 9000 cards are right around the corner though.

Thanks for the replys guy, so far I have uped the ghz to 4, and the voltage to 1.14, seem ok?
Perhaps I will go for a 770, idk.

I haven't noticed much of a difference in shogun 2, but in the original rome i definitely have


Again, thanks for the replys

[alQamar]

Thanks for your reply SamueleD. Of course I know why you used it I just explained it because Jedi had a question.

Release date for AMD cards now set end of October but sadly they going wrong way again and not yet deliver smaller lithography dies. So I think they may not that worth as we thought and just something for Xmas business.

[SamueleD]

Thanks for your reply SamueleD. Of course I know why you used it I just explained it because Jedi had a question.

Release date for AMD cards now set end of October but sadly they going wrong way again and not yet deliver smaller lithography dies. So I think they may not that worth as we thought and just something for Xmas business.

No harm done, I was just a bit annoyed at Intel and had to say it

Too bad for the AMD cards, I've seen that news too, seems they are sticking to 28nm for this year.

[alQamar]

Well posted but the 760 is about 12% faster than the 670 and NVidia took the 670 of the market and so all 670 are just the ones left in stock. As long you don't get the 670 way cheaper (at least 20%) I do not recommend to buy it

[baptistus]

Well posted but the 760 is about 12% faster than the 670 and NVidia took the 670 of the market and so all 670 are just the ones left in stock. As long you don't get the 670 way cheaper (at least 20%) I do not recommend to buy it

Sorry, but the gtx 670 is still faster in every game than a gtx 760. Every reviews I read shows the same results. You can take a look here (it is a just an example of review) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...k104,3542.html . And from France, a review with shogun 2 http://www.comptoir-hardware.com/art....html?start=12 . But the gtx 760 is cheaper than a gtx 670. So it is only a question of how much money do you want to put in a graphic card.

[alQamar]

Sorry, but the gtx 670 is still faster in every game than a gtx 760. Every reviews I read shows the same results. You can take a look here (it is a just an example of review) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...k104,3542.html . And from France, a review with shogun 2 http://www.comptoir-hardware.com/art....html?start=12 . But the gtx 760 is cheaper than a gtx 670. So it is only a question of how much money do you want to put in a graphic card.

I don't give much on external tests only mate. Due the technical description the 760 cannot be slower than the 670. I checked that myself on different hardware and all benchmarks like Heaven 2.0 and Shogun 2 confirmed that the 760 us slightly ahead. Maybe the reviews took different models with not comparable turbo settings or vendor oc. Who knows.

[alQamar]

I don't give much on external tests only mate. Due the technical description the 760 cannot be slower than the 670. I checked that myself on different hardware and all benchmarks like Heaven 2.0 and Shogun 2 confirmed that the 760 us slightly ahead. Maybe the reviews took different models with not comparable turbo settings or vendor oc. Who knows.

Hi baptistus. I need to check my answers now sorry in advance if I was wrong. Will investigate that matter and report back. Ok?

[Belisarius]

I bought this, mainly for rome -

SKU SYS-L83639
Case NZXT Phantom Black/Orange Stripes
Power Supply 850W Corsair TX V2 Series
Processor Type Intel Core i7 4770 Haswell 3.4GHz
Hard Drive 2TB Seagate 7200rpm SATA3
250GB Samsung 840 Series Basic SATA3 SSD
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance 3XS DDR3 PC1600
Motherboard Asus Z87-Plus Intel Z87
Graphics Chipset NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 SC
Dedicated Graphics Memory 2 GB
Inputs / Outputs 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)
1 x DVI-D
1 x D-Sub
1 x HDMI
1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
6 x USB 3.0
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
6 x Audio jack(s)
1 x Mini DisplayPort(s)

Optical Drive LG BH16NS40 16xSATA DVD/Blu-Ray Writer
Dimensions (W x H x D) / Weight 215 x 516 x 532
Operating System Windows 8 Standard (64bit)
Manufacturer's Warranty 2 Years Parts, 2 Years Labour

[CyberianK]

250GB Samsung 840 Series Basic SATA3 SSD

I originally chose the same SSD.

I now did some research and switch to 840 Evo. Its only 10 bucks above the basic and also has MLC Flash for higher durability plus same write speed as Pro for short write bursts (that use the SLC cash, large writes the Pro is still way better). So if you have that 10 bucks upgrade 840 Basic to 840 Evo.

[Mimoxx]

Many say its better to get the sdd samsung pro 128 v Samsung 128 , the 1st is about 127 euros , the 2st 77 euros , the only difference is the writting speed !! wich i think is not important for R2 , what u guys think?

[alQamar]

Sounds great Beli see you on the battlefield

[Travisfv]

So here is my plan. I have right now a GTX 580 and an Intel Corei7 2600 at 3.4 ghz.

Would I see a massive improvement with the GTX 760?

I know I can run shogun 2 at almost all max settings just fine, but I'm wanting to get Rome II to the best possible settings it can be. Will the 760 get me there, or am I wasting my money and I should just wait for the 770 or even 780 to drop in price?

$300 USD is my limit. Would be willing to spend a tiny bit more, but not a lot. Already done a lot to get ready for this game.

[SamueleD]

Wondering what you would think of this setup, for I PC I plan on buying for Rome II. Just making sure that it is good for TW.

Motherboard GA-B75M-D3V, w/ intels B75 chipset
2: AMD Power Color HD 7870 2 GB Dedicated graphics memory 1 GHz Clock
3: intel Core i5 3570 @ 3.4 GHz 4 Cores
4: G.Skill 8GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3 Dual Channel RAM @ 1600 MHz
5: Aywun A-1 550W
6: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

It's incredibly white, but it will play Rome II, no problem. However, if you intend to buy a new PC, I suggest looking at the builds in the OP, they are made with TW in mind.

So here is my plan. I have right now a GTX 580 and an Intel Corei7 2600 at 3.4 ghz.

Would I see a massive improvement with the GTX 760?

I know I can run shogun 2 at almost all max settings just fine, but I'm wanting to get Rome II to the best possible settings it can be. Will the 760 get me there, or am I wasting my money and I should just wait for the 770 or even 780 to drop in price?

$300 USD is my limit. Would be willing to spend a tiny bit more, but not a lot. Already done a lot to get ready for this game.

Nah, no need to upgrade that card now, the 760 would be an improvement, but not a massive one, and not worth it imho. If you are satisfied with your GPU performance for Shogun 2, chances are you will be still satisfied for Rome II. The best upgrade you can make is buying a decent after-market cooler (unless you already have one) and overclock your CPU.

[Travisfv]

Thanks for the advice. I'll just wait for the next round of cards to come out and then pick up the 780 when its more in my price range. I've been looking and it looks like a significant boost, way more than the 760 would give, and it looks like a card that will handle the coming couple years games.

[SuperDJBling]

Thanks for the feedback. Not sure why the text is white, I must have accidentally changed the colour. Sorry about that.

Sweet that it can handle Rome II. From the OP it looks like its superior to the 'Very Good' tier, but perhaps less so than the 'Great' so I should expect performace between the two?

[SamueleD]

Thanks for the advice. I'll just wait for the next round of cards to come out and then pick up the 780 when its more in my price range. I've been looking and it looks like a significant boost, way more than the 760 would give, and it looks like a card that will handle the coming couple years games.

I wouldn't advise that: the 500 series used the same architecture of the 400 series, and the 700 uses the same architecture of the 600 series, when the 800 series comes out it will be using a new architecture, so you'll be better off buying one of those over a 700 series card, even if it's not top of the line. And the upcoming AMD cards might also have something interesting to offer, check their reviews and benchmarks when they come out.

Thanks for the feedback. Not sure why the text is white, I must have accidentally changed the colour. Sorry about that.

Sweet that it can handle Rome II. From the OP it looks like its superior to the 'Very Good' tier, but perhaps less so than the 'Great' so I should expect performace between the two?

Yes, you can expect that. But the CPU you chose is from last year, we haven't proposed i3s from this year only because they are not out yet, but if you are going i5, there is no point in picking an older CPU, imo.

[Augus]

Hi guys, sorry im not very technical but if i have an intel i7 , 3770k , 100GB fast drive and GE force 680 graphics card, also an extra 2TB memory will i be able to play rome 2 on max settings for everything ? i can currently play shogun 2 with everything on max and it runs perfectly smooth. Would really appreciate an answer before i have to upgrade, thanks everyone.

[Huberto]

Hi guys, sorry im not very technical but if i have an intel i7 , 3770k , 100GB fast drive and GE force 680 graphics card, also an extra 2TB memory will i be able to play rome 2 on max settings for everything ? i can currently play shogun 2 with everything on max and it runs perfectly smooth. Would really appreciate an answer before i have to upgrade, thanks everyone.

No reason whatsoever to upgrade. You should overclock your CPU if you haven't already. Get an aftermarket cooler like this one

A GTX 780 is totally not worth the money (speaking from experience as you know). A 770 is much better value, but still no where near as good as a 760. PS. 2 760s out perform a single 780, plus their cheaper. So you could get one 760 now, and if you fell like an upgrade, get a second.

I freakin' luuuuuuuve my GTX 780. It's expensive, but it is a very, very nice card. Cool quiet amazingly powerful. Totally worth it.

If you're buying now and gonna SLI down the road why not start with a 780? At least you'll have 3GB of vram to work with then.

[SuperDJBling]

This is a pre-built computer that I am purchasing. Except for Rome II, I doubt I'll have this rig play very many new games.

I would consider purchasing parts and building it, but with no idea what kind of value I'm getting from where I live (New Zealand) because I don't have any previous experience, and not being sure where to buy parts, I just feel comfortable purchasing something prebuilt. As a bonus, it comes with Crysis 2 pre-installed (not hugely relevant, but nice to have anyway).

And since it can play Rome II with high unit size, and high-ultra graphics, I feel this PC fulfills my need which is within my price range.

Again, thanks for the help.

[SamueleD]

Hi guys, sorry im not very technical but if i have an intel i7 , 3770k , 100GB fast drive and GE force 680 graphics card, also an extra 2TB memory will i be able to play rome 2 on max settings for everything ? i can currently play shogun 2 with everything on max and it runs perfectly smooth. Would really appreciate an answer before i have to upgrade, thanks everyone.

It will handle it, no problem, check the thread in my signature for a couple of tweaks that will make the most out of your CPU for Shogun 2 and possibly Rome II.

This is a pre-built computer that I am purchasing. Except for Rome II, I doubt I'll have this rig play very many new games.

I would consider purchasing parts and building it, but with no idea what kind of value I'm getting from where I live (New Zealand) because I don't have any previous experience, and not being sure where to buy parts, I just feel comfortable purchasing something prebuilt. As a bonus, it comes with Crysis 2 pre-installed (not hugely relevant, but nice to have anyway).

And since it can play Rome II with high unit size, and high-ultra graphics, I feel this PC fulfills my need which is within my price range.

Again, thanks for the help.

You are very welcome specs or a link would help me instead