Will buying a new processor...

**falcon9** · November 04, 2006, 11:35 PM

Here are some things I want to know before i buy a new processor.

1. Will buying a new processor like for example an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 make me get other new parts also?

2. Will buying a new good processor allow me to reach larger sizers for battles in Medieval 2. (say 10,000) If not that then what.

^^^More details on this would be that i can play with Highest on for effects, units, and some others on highs. Even if I turn everything down all the way i still get lag with more than 5000-6000. <<<On RTW too.

If there are any other details you need please ask!!!I really want to get battles to at least 10,000!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

**Shaun** · November 05, 2006, 06:15 AM

Well, the E6600 is an excellent buy. But you will also need a skt 775 motherboard and DDR2 RAM, but thats no problem if you have that already. Also, you will need a good Graphics card to render 10000 men, what is your current Graphics card?

**falcon9** · November 05, 2006, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by Shaun

Well, the E6600 is an excellent buy. But you will also need a skt 775 motherboard and DDR2 RAM, but thats no problem if you have that already. Also, you will need a good Graphics card to render 10000 men, what is your current Graphics card?

I don't think my graphics card could now that I think of it, ATI Radeon X700 Pro.

Thanks to everyone for helping me too. So is the final verdict a duo or single, or maybe should I wait for quad :hmmm: and hold out on the big battles for awhile.

Also what do you think this will all cost me if I get the duo from my example, a new graphics card, and the motherboard shaun said. <---was that all the things?

System specs:

3400+ AMD Athlon 64 Processor
200 GB Hard Drive
ATI Radeon X700 Pro
1024 MB DDR Ram <---Do I need to get more or will I be good?
2.40 GHz

**Selahedîn** · November 05, 2006, 08:32 PM

Quite frankly if those are your specs you should be more worried about getting a new GPU and maybe some more RAM instead of a new CPU. The Athlon 64 3400+ is still pretty decent! (I thought you were still using a Sempron 2800+ or something like that...)

Core 2 Duo CPUs are a bit expensive and besides, the rest of your system would probably just bottleneck the heck out of it.

Instead of spending 250 or 300$ on a C2D + 50-100$ on a new motherboard, why don't you just spend 100$ on an extra GB of RAM and 150-200$ on a nice GPU like a 7600GT or a 7900GS ? That should offer you a significant boost in terms of performance.

If you are still not convinced and truly want to change your CPU to a dual-core I'm sure you socket 939 motherboard would support an Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or something like that.

**vantonni** · November 05, 2006, 06:24 AM

and while the core duo is fast it may not really matter unless MTW2 is designed to take advantage of that power. If you look online there are tests in which fast single cores muscle past their duo core, but slower clock speed brethren. So you might be getting a whole lot of power that won't really matter in the end. Does anyone know if MTW2 has been designed to take advantage of duo core?

besides that a fast gpu and a lot of memory make a big difference. but again, take a look around the boards and you'll see a lot of guys having real big rigs and getting 15 frames per second during the demos. I've got 2gb Ram, an X1900gt, and a amd64 3500+ and I'm getting 15-20fps during the demo.

so the advice is to wait and see. no use in buying lots of stuff if the software won't use it.

**Shaun** · November 05, 2006, 06:31 AM

No, MTW2 does not take advantage of dual core, but so many other games do, and you can run lots of applications at once, so you really should go dual core.

**Selahedîn** · November 05, 2006, 09:26 AM

I agree that you should probably pick a Dual Core CPU, MTW2 may not be designed to take full advantage of dual-core capabilities but all I know is that with my single-core Pentium IV CPU I used to get extremely low FPS when playing Agincourt with low settings and now, with my new Core 2 Duo I am able to play Otumba with NO slowdowns whatsoever, even with high settings.

I know, that's how much of a difference it made to me. It's a bit sad, but true...

**Arakorn** · November 05, 2006, 09:27 AM

Plus M2TW takes advantage of it's single fast core :wink:

**falcon9** · November 05, 2006, 10:48 PM

Cool thanks, but are you pretty sure that it could at least get me to 9000-10000 units with little to no lag? Thanks for your help!

**Syntax Error** · November 06, 2006, 12:19 AM

If you want to upgrade the processor to something next gen, it's always been in my experience that you have to end up upgrading the whole dam cow anyways. If you want an Intel Core 2 Duo (from whatever you have now), chances are that you have to buy everything brand new to accommodate the design changes and technologies. For you, I think that means a new motherboard to accommodate the Core 2 Duo (Socket L775 and P965 Northbridge), new RAM to plug into Core 2 Duo motherboard 240-Pin RAM, and power supplies and graphics cards, etc.

Now, if you want a boost for just M2TW, then I guess it's wise to get more RAM or a GPU to hold you out until yu can build the $800-1000 needed to significantly take your computer to the next gen.

**Selahedîn** · November 06, 2006, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by falcon9

Cool thanks, but are you pretty sure that it could at least get me to 9000-10000 units with little to no lag? Thanks for your help!

That I can't say for sure, but with those upgrades I can tell you that you would end up with a nice and balanced system.

Originally Posted by Syntax Error

If you want to upgrade the processor to something next gen, it's always been in my experience that you have to end up upgrading the whole dam cow anyways.

That's actually not true, there are some very nice motherboards out there that support pretty much everything... old RAM, new RAM, old AGP cards, new PCI-E cards, Old Single-Core CPUs, new Dual-Core CPUs.
So basically you can do all kinds of combos with them, like sticking a C2D + DDR400 + AGP card, etc.
That way you aren't forced to replace your DDR1 with DDR2 or your AGP card with a PCI-E card and you can do small upgrades every now and then.

Your case is different though, since you already have 1 GB of RAM I simply suggest upgrading it to 2 GB, and since your GPU is a bit outdated you should probably consider replacing it asap. On the other hand your CPU is still decent and your motherboard is quite capable of holding some very nice dual-core CPUs, like I've pointed out before, so you can always do a small upgrade now (RAM+GPU) and maybe buy a new CPU in the future when it really becomes a necessity. (it's not like dual-core capabilities are decently implemented on most games anyway...)

**falcon9** · November 06, 2006, 01:30 PM

Ok cool! Thank you everybody for your help!

**mac89** · November 06, 2006, 03:48 PM

Get a new GPU instead, I have the same Specs as you but I upgraded my Vidcard and I can run everything at high with no slowdowns.

**Germanicus75** · November 07, 2006, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by mac89

Get a new GPU instead, I have the same Specs as you but I upgraded my Vidcard and I can run everything at high with no slowdowns.

Hi Mac, how you finding that GTO?

**Syntax Error** · November 06, 2006, 09:08 PM

That's actually not true, there are some very nice motherboards out there that support pretty much everything... old RAM, new RAM, old AGP cards, new PCI-E cards, Old Single-Core CPUs, new Dual-Core CPUs.

Well, in the case of Core 2 Duos, I haven't seen any mobos that feature what you've stated. You could always go for the cheaper Athlons, though slower, they do have the value (if they're socket 939) in allowing you to reuse your 184 pin RAM.

**Selahedîn** · November 07, 2006, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by Syntax Error

Well, in the case of Core 2 Duos, I haven't seen any mobos that feature what you've stated. You could always go for the cheaper Athlons, though slower, they do have the value (if they're socket 939) in allowing you to reuse your 184 pin RAM.

I have a Core 2 Duo + AGP card, and yes, my mobo supports everything I have stated, it's quite obviously, an Asrock Dual-Vsta.

For those who speak of performance issues, this mobo wasn't made for overclocking junkies who would kill their mother for 1 more FPS, that's true, but if you plan on sticking to some moderate OCing it really isn't a bad choice, at ALL!

Oh, how much it helps to do a little research...

**falcon9** · November 06, 2006, 08:26 PM

How many units can you have without lag?

**mac89** · November 07, 2006, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by falcon9

How many units can you have without lag?

Well, I can play the battle of Otumba with no lag whatsoever. I havent tested it with RTW though.

**Germanicus75** · November 07, 2006, 05:38 AM

There is a mobo I forget who makes it which allows you to combine a C2D chip with an AGP card and DDR1 RAM. But you pay some price in performance terms for this compromise.