Will an X1900XTX do the trick for M2TW?

[XSlingerX]

This is my current pc:

Asrock Dual Sata II 939
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (Overclocked to 2.55 GHz from 2.2 Ghz)
1024 MB DDR RAM (I think PC2700)
Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB

I am going to buy a Radeon X1900XTX soon. Will I be able to play M2TW on high settings with no lag?
Will my RAM be a bottleneck?

[Shaun]

No, your RAM wont be a bottle neck, but your CPU will, so I suggest you get a faster one as well.

But yes, the X1900XTX will do the trick, I have the X1950XTX (which has only got memory marginally faster and higher bandwidth than the X1900XTX) and it plays MTW2 beautifully, so much that so that you just want to stare at the perfectly rendered, almost human motion units have a massive melee instead of winning the battle.

[Germanicus75]

No, your RAM wont be a bottle neck, but your CPU will

Glad you said that. Just in the process of upgrading from an Athlon64 3800+ running at stock at 2.4 Ghz...

@SPARTAN VI,
CA games definately prefer nVidia over ATI, no doubt.

Hadrian, you've got this special knack of saying things I love to hear :-)) (just switched from ATI to Nvidia ;-)

[OTZ]

Glad you said that. Just in the process of upgrading from an Athlon64 3800+ running at stock at 2.4 Ghz...

Wow...sometimes I just don't understand...an AMD 64 3800 is not a bottleneck...

[PyrrhusIV]

6 months ago was indeed some good times... thats when this place is nice and quiet.

@PhyrrusIV
Hah! Lol That was a worthy debate wasn't it? Some of our best hardware and component debates just 6 months ago. Remember sunsmountain? It would take like 5 of us to debate him because he was always so current that when he made an assertion or something, no one could refute it because he was so on the cutting edge! His info was so new no one could give a rebuttle, we were like, "Uuhhhh, OK, erm...well.....huh? What did he just say?" Lol Back then Phyrrus you were just a mean old man!

yeah, it was alot quieter 6 months ago. I've decided I'll let the flood of basement newbies adjust to the basement before I go into mean old man mode.....I'd say 2 more weeks should be sufficient . Yes, I remember our debates with Sunsmountain....ouch.



@Otz

Agreed, a 3800 is definetly not even close to a bottleneck. a 2.4 AMD? I don't see any bottleneck there.

[Germanicus75]

Wow...sometimes I just don't understand...an AMD 64 3800 is not a bottleneck...

Wanna buy it from me? ;-)

[Spart]

All thinking of optimizing Ati Catalyst CC, head here. Pretty helpful guide.
I'm using Omega drivers myself now, learning to know Ati tray tools..

[OTZ]

Wanna buy it from me? ;-)

What's your price?

[Freddie]

This is my current pc:

Asrock Dual Sata II 939
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (Overclocked to 2.55 GHz from 2.2 Ghz)
1024 MB DDR RAM (I think PC2700)
Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB

I am going to buy a Radeon X1900XTX soon. Will I be able to play M2TW on high settings with no lag?
Will my RAM be a bottleneck?

That's a nice system you have there, personally I think you might want to conder getting the X1950 XTX instead of the X1900 XTX as it's a bit less demanding on the power supply, high bandwidth, faster memory and a much imporved HSF.

You Ram won't bottle neck your system.

[warchief_ryan]

Nor your CPU or RAM(after you get a gig) will be a bottle neck my Althon64 3500+ plays with max settings will no lag, I think its more GPU intensive then CPU.

[Shaun]

But I'm sure you could get even better if you got something faster than a 3500, at least a 4000 to really bring out your top class GPU.

[OTZ]

A 3700 will perform just fine. It won't be a bottleneck - it's pretty much running at 4000 speeds anyway...

[Hadrian]

Does AMD even sell 4000+ any more? I thought they discontinued them because of the 1GB L2 cache's. I digress. XSlingerX, the real question is; Will anyone be able to play M2TW on high settings with no lag? I don't think we are really going to be able to answer that question until it's released in it's full version and all of us with our diverse and varied systems test it out and see.....

[Shaun]

Does AMD even sell 4000+ any more? I thought they discontinued them because of the 1GB L2 cache's. I digress. XSlingerX, the real question is; Will anyone be able to play M2TW on high settings with no lag? I don't think we are really going to be able to answer that question until it's released in it's full version and all of us with our diverse and varied systems test it out and see.....

Well, my system plays the demo perfectly with everything at maximum @1600x1200. The first demo with the requirement of SSE2 was generally ever so slightly more demanding that the newer demo - and probably the full game. So I think I will be able to run @ maximum settings at good resolution, at least up until 5000 men.

God, I just feel sorry for the people running lower specs who cant get everything at max, they dont now what they are missing.

@SPARTAN, you do make valid points about waiting until the next socket type comes out, so I think I will change my mind on this. If he has his CPU running at something faster than a 4000+ then there is no point in getting a 4000+ as it will be slower.

[General Sun]

Do you have a PCIE slot? Isn't the 9800 an APG card?

[XSlingerX]

Do you have a PCIE slot? Isn't the 9800 an APG card?

The Asrock Dual Sata II has PCI-E and AGP slots

The X1950XTX sounds great, but its also an extra $100 CAD. I also have to buy a new PSU regardless of which one I get. I only have a 420W and I think the X1900XTX requires 500W and the X1950XTX requires 450W.

I also don't have alot of money . But, I will think about it. Merci Beaucoup for the suggestions.

[OTZ]

The Asrock Dual Sata II has PCI-E and AGP slots

The X1950XTX sounds great, but its also an extra $100 CAD. I also have to buy a new PSU regardless of which one I get. I only have a 420W and I think the X1900XTX requires 500W and the X1950XTX requires 450W.

I also don't have alot of money . But, I will think about it. Merci Beaucoup for the suggestions.

If you are playing games @ 1280x1024, all you will need is an X1900XT, x1950Pro, or even a 7900GT....the 512MB RAM only has a real impact on higher resolutions. For lower resolutions, the added cost is just not worth it.

[UnderdawgIV]

That will bottleneck the X1900XTX. My 3400+ bottlenecked my X1900XT. Even a stock e6300 at 1.83 Ghz bottlenecks a X1900XT. I observed this in Oblivion as well as 3dMark05 (Stock e6300 w/ X1900XT - 9400, Overclocked e6300 - 10400. Once I got overclocking..... as you can see.)

[Frost, colonel]

That will bottleneck the X1900XTX. My 3400+ bottlenecked my X1900XT. Even a stock e6300 at 1.83 Ghz bottlenecks a X1900XT. I observed this in Oblivion as well as 3dMark05 (Stock e6300 w/ X1900XT - 9400, Overclocked e6300 - 10400. Once I got overclocking..... as you can see.)

Doesn't 3dMark05 include a CPU test?, if so when you Overclocked the e6300, you would see an improved score, wouldn't you?

I think he should stick with his CPU and not waste money on small gains, as for being a little lacking on funds, compare the current prices of a X1900XT with the X1900XTX and X1950XTX. If the X1900XT is alot cheaper stick an Artic Aero II cooler on it to make it quiet and help to substain an overclock up to and beyond X1900XTX speeds.

Don't forget to factor in the price of the replacement cooler@£15. The X1900XT and the X1900XTX are both noisy little monkeys with their standard fans, only the X1950XTX is quiet as standard. Note that the X1950XTX is about 2-3 frames quicker at best(and if you get a decent OC on a X1900XT it will be as fast as the X1950XTX) than the X1900XTX, so think about whether it's worth the extra dosh! The difference saved between an overclocked X1900XT and a X1950XTX, should get you a reasonable PSU!

[H_man]

I think it will do the trick, however CA usually optimizes more for Nvidia over RADEON. I have the 1900XTX and AMD 64 4200x2 with 2GB 42000 PC2 DDR2 RAM and a 450 OCZ 35A on 12V rail with a digital monitor and still I only get 13FPS at 1280*1024 with everything maxed to the extreme. Major dissapointment, hopefully the full game will be better.