impressively fast rig can't run vanilla rome smoothly

[bigmilt16]

I just don't get it! I just had a new Computer built, and its twice as fast as the old one, in every way, but RTW is slower than ever.

Old rig:
Nforce2 board
athlon xp 2000
Radeon 9800 128 MB
1GB SDRAM
120GB HD
*RTW worked just fine on this rig (except when I used the SPQR mod. the battles were just too big)

New Rig:
Fatality board
2 GB DDR2 RAM
Athlon X2 4200+
NVIDIA 6500
300GB HD
*I can't even get vanilla RTW to play smoothly when I zoom in or use the campaign map.

I heard that a big part of the problem is the NVIDIA graphics drivers. I have the 9x (very latest ones). What do I need to rollback to to get smooth play!?

[Crayo]

Maybe overall troop graphics or the surroundings. Or try lowering the troop amounts.

[Irishman3]

Your new CPU is a dual core isn't it? Its been reported that some games are having problems runnning smoothly on dual core processors and that the game should be setup to use a single core. Not sure if that applies to RTW or not, and not sure how to change it as I do not have a dual corer processor.

I doubt its the new drivers, I'm using the 91.31s and have not seen any degridation from performance I had with the last set I was using, 84.21s. The issue most had with the latest drivers I believe were the stretched screen issue where you could not see all the battlefield or campaign map. I've not had that issue with the 91s either though.

*edit*
Went looking on another game forum for how to set an application to run on one core only so you could try it, couldn't find the post I wanted. But...

I did find this link to a dual core optimizer driver by AMD, might have a look at it. They talk specifically about how it helps correct video and other performance issues by applications on a dual core processor:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor Utilities and Updates

The section you want to read/driver AMD Dual-Core Optimizer is at the top of the page. Reports on the other game forum I found that link on is that these drivers have significantly increased viedo/game performance for those who experience problems after upgrading to a dual core AMD CPU.

*/edit*

[HorseArcher]

this is more of a 'basement' issue, so let's see if someone can give some hints, we got some gearheads here..

[Incinerate_IV]

Radeon 9800 128 MB > nVIDIA Geforce 6500

Get a new videocard.

[Irishman3]

Radeon 9800 128 MB > nVIDIA Geforce 6500

Get a new videocard.

I was thinking the samething, but thought maybe they typoed and meant 7500 or 9500. If not, should have gotten at least a 7800 series NVidia card, I got a 7800GS at a good price several months ago and it runs just about everything I play or do on my PC just fine. I'm sure you could find one even cheaper now. If cost is an issue, swap that 6500 with your ATI 9800 and try that out.

I still think they need to try that dual core opimizer driver, seen good things from others who have.

[Vanquisher]

I was about to say that, how silly of you

[Turkeys!]

the newest drivers for nivida suck all they do is cause a lot of lag you should use an older one

[Zuwxiv]

Dual-core technology is great, if your game can take advantage of it. But most don't, so it ends up causing more problems than you would want.

But I suspect it's the video card. You had a gig of ram before, I have 512 but Rome runs fine for me. Two gigs of RAM is enough to run it fine, but you are bottlenecking it by using that video card. Try to get a really nice one on www.newegg.com (that site is the best for that stuff, great prices and service.)

[bigmilt16]

I see. I added the dual core optimizer and picked up a NVIDIA 7900GT. Can't do any better than that. I appreciate the advice. I never thought to realize that one comparatively weak part could act as bottleneck for my gaming performance. Thanks a bunch everybody. I appreciate the assistance. I'm gonna fire it up now with the new card!

[bigmilt16]

all I can say is

WOOOOOW!!!!

I got it at 1400x1000 full AA and it doesn't even blink! THANKS GUYS AGAIN!!

[Zuwxiv]

all I can say is

WOOOOOW!!!!

I got it at 1400x1000 full AA and it doesn't even blink! THANKS GUYS AGAIN!!

Nice! That's the problem with computers, you can throw tons of money into them to get a good rig, but the part that is worst will drag everything else down.

This also causes problems when the school district tries to "modernize" by buying new computers without knowing a damn thing. We get 1.8 Ghz single-core computers with integrated graphics cards, 1 gig of ram and DVD writers. Every single one. Well, for any videos, that integrated graphics card will destroy you, and the processor can't use that gig of ram effectively. And why does every computer need a DVD burner? And you can be sure they overpaid, and meanwhile they are dropping the latin program. Et tu, District?

(Sorry for that rant, the point is that people are tricked into spending money to upgrade their computers when it's another part that's bottlenecking it. Or worse, buy a new computer that is slower than the old one because of a bottleneck.)

[Aristocrat]

Video cards determine gaming performance greatly.
The top 3 most important parts (in my opinion) for games are cpu, ram, and video card....and this order varies from game to game.
Enjoy your new rig though.

[PyrrhusIV]

This also causes problems when the school district tries to "modernize" by buying new computers without knowing a damn thing. We get 1.8 Ghz single-core computers with integrated graphics cards, 1 gig of ram and DVD writers. Every single one. Well, for any videos, that integrated graphics card will destroy you, and the processor can't use that gig of ram effectively. And why does every computer need a DVD burner? And you can be sure they overpaid, and meanwhile they are dropping the latin program. Et tu, District?

My school bought the same thing... idiots.