To those concerned about graphics

[crazyj]

I'm glad to say I could only really smoothly run Rome with some AA and gloss, high units, high grass, high effects, and medium most everything else provided I turned shadows off, and it was the same for the Medieval 2 demo. Don't have a super rig by any measure, but one that could play Rome very smoothly and look very good with huge units, so long as shadows were turned off. Make sure you do that if you are having any trouble. My two cents.

[Ringeck]

Indeed. On a measly AMD 64 3800 2,2Ghz 1GB with a Gainward GeForce FC5700 256, the demo runs smooth as silk on medium.

[Germanicus75]

Indeed. On a measly AMD 64 3800 2,2Ghz

Hey! That processor is not measly! And it's 2.4 Ghz....

[Ringeck]

Hey! That processor is not measly! And it's 2.4 Ghz....

Mine sure is 2.2...

[verena xeventus]

Try knocking unit detail upto superhigh or highest in the battle menu it wont run smoothly then lol. Otherwise glad to hear that people are running it smoothly on medium settings.

[crazyj]

Try knocking unit detail upto superhigh or highest in the battle menu it wont run smoothly then lol. Otherwise glad to hear that people are running it smoothly on medium settings.

Yea, but it only has trouble on highest, not on high, which looks plenty good. And the grass looks great on high too, making the battles look much more like the early screenies than I was expecting. I mean, tree detail doesn't need to be high for the battle to look great when the effects are good, and you've got these shiney, bloody knights running around hitting each other with war hammers in a meadow where you can actually see the flowers. I wasn't expecting their "medium/high" setting to look so damn good or run so smooth. Very impressed.

[Ringeck]

Interestingly, it's not too bad at the highest settings- about equivalent to what I got on some EB builds - although I get strange graphic glitches like horses floating around instead of running when I zoom out.

[verena xeventus]

Have to admit, when you zoom in on the fight it looks pretty amazing. I didnt think it would be possible to see such things on a computer game for atleast another couple of years. But CA have delivered yet again.

[verena xeventus]

The amd 64 4000 is 2.4ghz, I thought the 3800 was 2.2ghz personally. Either way I dont think its a measly chip either. Infact I think its one of the best around for a single core... I'm not a fan of duel core processors, Ive had too many probs with them in the past.

[Germanicus75]

No, the 3800 is also 2.4 Ghz.

[verena xeventus]

No, the 3800 is also 2.4 Ghz.

Dammit ive been ripped off again!

[Frost, colonel]

My new PC ready for MTW2 is an Opty AMD64 1MB cache overclocked to 2.9Ghz, on an Nf4 MOBO, 2GB Ram at DDR510 and an overclocked X1900XTX GPU, also a 160Gig Raptor Harddrive.

I have not played the MTW2 demo, but I did a performance test on BI, a night river battle, with maxed out settings, with over 20,000 men spread between 6 armies. It ran very well, rarely staggering, and then only when all six armies were at maximum movement.

I am not sure, if this PC will be able to run MTW2 flat out, so if I do have to compromise, where is the best place to do so, the shadows?
I have heard these are a performance killer and turning these down is perphaps the most acceptable loss?
For those with strong PC's any hints would be welcome, because I can't easily get hold of the demo, unless I pay £5 for a mag!

Cheers people.

[Germanicus75]

Colonel, you can DL the demo online...

[Frost, colonel]

Colonel, you can DL the demo online...

I am not online yet as I can't afford it at the moment(we should get a free 2MB connection through Sky soonish), I can only come on the forums when at work(we get lots of spare time and it is ok with the boss) and I can't download from here.

Is the 'unit detail' setting to do with close ups or the amount of detail at a distance, or both?

[verena xeventus]

Unit detail and shadows are the machine killers frost, but given your computer spec and the fact that you have overkilled... uhhhmmm i mean overclocked it to death I wouldnt worry about anything. Your game will run as smooth as...

[Germanicus75]

Dude, this model is 2.4 Ghz. That's what mine is running at stock.

Check out this link: http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/Default.aspx and search for it there.

If yours ain't, there's summat wrong with it.... ;-)

[Ringeck]

Dude, this model is 2.4 Ghz. That's what mine is running at stock.

Check out this link: http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/Default.aspx and search for it there.

If yours ain't, there's summat wrong with it.... ;-)

Ooops, you are right. But there is nothing wrong with it - it is just a 3200, not a 3800.

[Germanicus75]

it is just a 3200,

ah, that's why it doesn't run at 2.4 Ghz ;-)

[PhallosMaximus]

Ooops, you are right. But there is nothing wrong with it - it is just a 3200, not a 3800.

Then it only runs at 2.0 GHz (if not OC).

[Ringeck]

Then it only runs at 2.0 GHz (if not OC).

I hate not having net access at home. Now I'll have to check again. I was quite sure it was a 3something 2,2Ghz. I thought it was a 3800, but it might also be a 3200.