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

[alQamar]

Thank You, alQamar. For the cooler, I was advised to get Cooler Master G550M 550W Modular 120mm 80+ (RS-550-AMAA-B1). Case is just a run-of-the-mill Zalman Z3 Plus, so nothing great.

I had to make my mind fast, so I went with the 8 GB RAM, but I'll make sure to upgrade it with the 16 GB some time next year, as You suggested. I am now worried a bit about the RAM thing, as I will run it on Win 8.1. 64 - should I expect any lags other issues with RTW2, or is it something more to worry about with Atilla TW and other titles?

Mentioned the RAM for other titles, Rome 2 and Attila cannot take up so much RAM anyway. The cooler master is ok for this build.

[McBride]

Awesome, thank You very much for Your help. Getting the new rig on Tuesday, can't wait.

[alQamar]

Glad I helped you!

[oppaiO_O]

ok so i've been looking at the gtx 970 and can someone tell me the difference between them all? I see an ASUS one a GIGABYTE a MSI a EVGA and many others they all look like they have the same stuff but some are cheaper?

[Biggus Splenus]

ok so i've been looking at the gtx 970 and can someone tell me the difference between them all? I see an ASUS one a GIGABYTE a MSI a EVGA and many others they all look like they have the same stuff but some are cheaper?

Sometimes the only difference is the brand. The coolers on each card are custom usually, and sometimes the PCB is too, but the performance difference between them is minimal. Just get the cheapest one in your country that has a good cooler (MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, EVGA, they're all good). When I checked a year ago, ASUS had the best performing cooler, and the quietest, but it usually cost an extra $20, sometimes more.

Just don't get a stock cooler, they're pretty loud.

[revan.be]

Hello , just got the msi AlQ recommended up and running yesterday,
which i must say he really went above and beyond to help me out with.https://www.alternate.de/MSI/GP60-Pr...oduct/1161146?


After a few quick benchmarks , i found that this thing can actually run rome 2 on extreme settings ,
with all the bells and whistles somewhat satisfactorily , quite a nice surprise really..
Havent yet used mods though , maybe that GEM and others like blood/fire effects require more oomph..

All in all, i must express my deepest thanks to AlQ for the sterling work in helping me out with this

[alQamar]

All in all, i must express my deepest thanks to AlQ for the sterling work in helping me out with this

It has been a long journey since your first request you made months ago but plans are sometimes there for trashing them and start anew. I am glad you are satisfied and happy at the end!
Merry Christmas time Revan. Thanks for your kind words and the rep.

[satyrus]

I bought the Evga GTX970 from Alternate, 666 Points for Alternate , the good is i live only 30km from Alternate and must not waiting for the post. . I changed from the GTX670 and must say very great and a huge more performance. I run it in moment with the I52500k OC to 4200Mhz, i have 12fps more than before with all mods . This moth or next i will change to a i7 4790k.

[prince_blucher]

Hello, I'm considering this build:


Is this a balanced build? Is the power supply ok for the GPU etc? Thanks for any advice.

[prince_blucher]

Hello, I'm considering this build:

CPU: Intel Core i7 4820k (3.7 GHz)
Heatsink: Corsair Hydro Series H80i
Memory: 32GB 2400MHz (4x8GB) DDR3 (Kingston)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Black 6GB
Mobo: Asus P9X79 (Intel X79)
Power: XFX 850W ProSeries
HDD: 1TB Samsung 840 Evo SSD SATA-III

Is this a balanced build? Is the power supply ok for the GPU etc?
Thanks for any advice.

[SPARTAN VI]

Is this a balanced build? Is the power supply ok for the GPU etc?
Thanks for any advice.

CPU: I recommend a Haswell 4790K over the Ivy Bridge-E 4820K. It's $10 cheaper and performs better than the 4820K.

Heatsink: The H80i is good, but should probably only be used over the H100i if the H100i doesn't fit in your case, or if the $10 difference breaks your budget (considering your GPU choice, I doubt this).

Memory: 32GB, holy smokes. Excessive for gaming and huge chunk of your budget. I'd bring it down to 16GB then swing that extra cash toward maybe a second GPU or high capacity hard drive.

GPU: I recommend the GTX 980. It's nearly half the price of a Titan Black and it actually performs better than the Titan Black in just about every way. Only reason I'd go with the Titan Black is if you're gaming at ultra HD resolutions.

Motherboard: This motherboard would require a BIOS update to work with your CPU choice, which is fine, but not simply plug-and-play as I'd prefer.

Case: You don't mention a case in your build. Do you already have one?


Here's my build with the same $2500 budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Formula ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($233.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($399.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($569.98 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($569.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Antec P280 ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2578.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[prince_blucher]

Case: You don't mention a case in your build. Do you already have one?

Hi Spartan VI, thank you very much for your feedback I really appreciate your input. Budget is no issue for me, I don't have a budget. So I would prefer to overkill on the 32GB RAM but I'll certainly revisit my build in light of your other comments.

my case - apologies for omitting - is a Cooler Master Silencio 550.

I'll revert back with a revised build spec later in the week if that's ok?

Thanks again for your advice.

[alQamar]

I bought the Evga GTX970 from Alternate, 666 Points for Alternate , the good is i live only 30km from Alternate and must not waiting for the post. . I changed from the GTX670 and must say very great and a huge more performance. I run it in moment with the I52500k OC to 4200Mhz, i have 12fps more than before with all mods . This moth or next i will change to a i7 4790k.

upgrading the cpu won't help much when I see the performance of Noifs new computer compared to mine. Save your money and wait for DDR4 at reasonable prices.

[TheDude89]

Hello,

I've got serious performance problems. With my current settings, I get between 25-45 FPS at campaign map. Depends on how many rounds i already played. With lowest settings I get around 35-50 FPS. I haven't got problems in field battles, no matter how many units are at the battlefield 50-60 FPS with current settings; 60+ FPS with lowest s.) but in siege battles without walls my FPS drop to 30-45 FPS and in siege battles WITH walls they drop to 20-35 FPS in come cases. With lowest settings they stay at 35-45 FPS (no walls) and 25-45 FPS. Well, no BIG change. And there are still the lags in big siege battles (with walls) which happen randomly no matter on which settings I play.

I tried new installation of all game-files and to unpark my CPU. Nothing really helped. I should really get more FPS with my rig.

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/11/2014, 14:54:32
Machine name: PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.140303-2144)
Language: German (Regional Setting: German)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/19/14 17:56:58 Ver: 12.02
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8142MB RAM
Page File: 2465MB used, 13815MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Settings: Everything maxed out except:- shadows ULTRA
- Veg. Alpha OFF
- building detail VERY HIGH
- unit detail VERY HIGH
- all ''special effects'' OFF except Unlimited Video Memory

Thanks in advance,

TheDude

[Anna_Gein]

So I have to buy a new computer.

Is the gtx 770 with 2 Go dedicated good enough ? Or should I get a card with 4Go dedicated ?

[Anna_Gein]

Sort. Double post.

[Biggus Splenus]

So I have to buy a new computer.

Is the gtx 770 with 2 Go dedicated good enough ? Or should I get a card with 4Go dedicated ?

4GB is only necessary with a 4K monitor, but I know you're not getting one of them, otherwise you wouldn't be asking for advice on GPUs

2GB is standard, and usually plenty of memory for any game. Generally, only extremely heavily-modded games can surpass 2GB.

Though I'd suggest waiting for the GTX 960 (1st quarter 2015), or getting a 970. The new features and efficiency of this generation is absolutely crazy compared to what last gen bought.

[alQamar]

I have 2 GB Splenyi and Rome 2 comes to exceed this, drowngrading at just 1080p resolution.
Other new games more and more come out with 64bit support with higher RAM and VRAM req. alike.

So this time I cannot backup your suggestion. Whenever possible go for 4 GB VideoRAM. it is not that much more expensive either, at least in Germany. Other than that your suggestion to get the 970 is a good one.

Welcome to Rome 2 @TheDude89. This game is still the most unoptimized game - for good computers - in my Steam library!
Check out my performance comparisons in my signature.

And there are still the lags in big siege battles (with walls) which happen randomly no matter on which settings I play.

this is still a known bug. The game gets occasionally laggy in sieges and turns into a slideshow, because of AI pathfinding issues.

[prince_blucher]

Here is my revised build:


What is the reason for the twin GPU? Is two of these GTX 980 better than a single Titan Black X (12 GB)?
In terms of RAM is speed better than quatity? E.g. is 16GB @ 2400MHz better than 32GB @ 1600MHz?

I am limited in my components to what Computer Planet (UK) can supply.
Thanks for your help and advice.

[prince_blucher]

Sorry for some reason I'm pasting a table from Excel and it's not showing up. Helpfully, I can't edit my post either, hence another post.

Here is my revised build:

Case: Cooler Master 690 III
CPU: Intel Core i7 5820k (6 x 3.3 GHz) Haswell Extreme
Heatsink: Corsair Hydro Series H100i
Memory: 32GB 2133MHz (4x8GB) DDR4 (Crucial)
GPU: 2 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB SLI
Mobo: Asus Rampage V Extreme (Intel X99)
Power: Corsair RM 1000W
HDD: 1TB Samsung 840 Evo SSD SATA-III

What is the reason for the twin GPU? Is two of these GTX 980 better than a single Titan Black X (12 GB)?
In terms of RAM is speed better than quatity? E.g. is 16GB @ 2400MHz better than 32GB @ 1600MHz?

I am limited in my components to what Computer Planet (UK) can supply.
Thanks for your help and advice.