Attila Computer & Hardware Recommendations

[Shapur e Sassani]

I have asus n56jn gaming laptop
can it play Attila well?

[Shapur e Sassani]

I have asus n56jn gaming laptop
can it play Attila well?

will it work with mine?

[craziii]

will it work with mine?

it is a 840m http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-....105681.0.html this is what I found with a google. scroll down for game benchmarks. doesn't look good bro. playing well isn't gonna happen.

u have the 840m right?

[Shapur e Sassani]

it is a 840m http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-....105681.0.html this is what I found with a google. scroll down for game benchmarks. doesn't look good bro. playing well isn't gonna happen.

u have the 840m right?

Yes! But it's a gaming laptop!
Isn't there any ways to increase the graphic?
would it work better if it was geforce gtx850m ?

[craziii]

Yes! But it's a gaming laptop!
Isn't there any ways to increase the graphic?
would it work better if it was geforce gtx850m ?

you should give up on all games if that is all you got. you would not enjoy them anyway. and that is not a gaming laptop even back when you just bought it.

[Shapur e Sassani]

you should give up on all games if that is all you got. you would not enjoy them anyway. and that is not a gaming laptop even back when you just bought it.

But it runs Rome 2 without any problems with extreme graphics -_-

[SPARTAN VI]

But it runs Rome 2 without any problems with extreme graphics -_-

At what resolution? The GT 840M in your notebook does not pack a whole lot of a punch:

Total War: Rome II 2013
low 1024x768: ~ 59 fps average
med. 1366x768: ~ 47 fps average
high 1366x768: ~ 40 fps average
ultra 1920x1080: ~ 10 fps average

It can barely eek out 10fps at 1080P with ultra settings. How are you doing extreme? Granted the above figures, I'd say you would be able to mix medium/high settings with Attila at 1920x1080 and average 30fps. Shoot for 1080P, then scale your settings back until you get a playable framerate. Personally, I refuse to go below 60fps, but that's not going to be an option for you.

P.S. Laptops that are advertised as "gaming" laptops doesn't necessarily mean that they'll play games at the highest settings. When compared to a non-gaming laptop, you'd be lucky to get a game like R2TW to launch at all on a non-gaming laptop. It really comes down to its hardware, not how it's marketed or advertised.

[Lionheart11]

My sis is two years old now and i have no plans to upgrade it for poorly optermised gaming software.

i5@4ghz
16 GB
660ti 2GB
64 bit win 7
1980x1020 res

Im used to running everything extreme but R2 only gave a ave of 30fps

[SPARTAN VI]

I'd say 30fps is playable for strategy games, especially TW where you're able to slow/pause to give orders. I'm just a 60fps snob.

[SingingAntelope]

Would it be possible or worth while to mix and match on the different tier computers listed on the first page, for example trade certain components, for example Very good and good, to reduce costs? Or remove some components such as an SSD (Which from what I've gathered, isn't totally essential but is a nice addition to have)?

[SPARTAN VI]

Would it be possible or worth while to mix and match on the different tier computers listed on the first page, for example trade certain components, for example Very good and good, to reduce costs? Or remove some components such as an SSD (Which from what I've gathered, isn't totally essential but is a nice addition to have)?

Absolutely, you must be mindful of obvious hardware incompatibility (e.g. an Intel Core i5 4690K will not fit on an AMD AM3+ motherboard). I'd suggest you use http://pcpartpicker.com to build out your machine and export it here so we can review it. That website does a little hardware compatibility validation, but it wont catch everything.

But more to your point, I would absolutely dump something like a SSD in order to swing some more of my budget toward a better GPU/CPU.

(edit) Please note that the rigs listed on the first page are out of date. The hardware there is outdated and/or much cheaper currently.

[SingingAntelope]

Absolutely, you must be mindful of obvious hardware incompatibility (e.g. an Intel Core i5 4690K will not fit on an AMD AM3+ motherboard). I'd suggest you use http://pcpartpicker.com to build out your machine and export it here so we can review it. That website does a little hardware compatibility validation, but it wont catch everything.

But more to your point, I would absolutely dump something like a SSD in order to swing some more of my budget toward a better GPU/CPU.

(edit) Please note that the rigs listed on the first page are out of date. The hardware there is outdated and/or much cheaper currently.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pMkzjX

Well this is what I have made so far, any advice on what I could cut the price down on or anything I need to improve??

[SPARTAN VI]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pMkzjX

Well this is what I have made so far, any advice on what I could cut the price down on or anything I need to improve??

I'm looking it over right now. I'm guessing you have a £600 budget since you're just below that with this current build. If you have more to work with, please let me know.

The first thing I see is a GT 630 for your graphics card (GPU), which isn't going to power very many modern games, and even the ones it does run probably wont run well. I'd suggest you dump the sound card, since motherboards often have integrated Realtek audio anyway, and move that £26 toward to GPU budget. I'd also dump the Arctic Cooling heatsink fan (HSF), your i3 is retail and will come with a HSF (versus OEM processors that do not include HSF). Again, we'll move that £11 toward your GPU budget. That gives us about £105 to work with on your GPU, which puts us between a GTX 750 Ti and a R7 260x. I'd go with the GTX 750 Ti for R2TW, which can pull off very high settings in R2TW at 1080P and average 30-40fps.

Link to entire build: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Hn7ZvK

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130T 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor (£92.49 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£40.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£26.71 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Hitachi Travelstar 5K1000 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive (£43.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card (£102.98 @ Dabs)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£55.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Antec 550W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.32 @ More Computers)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer (£16.30 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£72.99 @ Amazon UK)
Monitor: BenQ GL2023A 60Hz 19.5" Monitor (£65.11 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N53 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£22.98 @ Amazon UK)
Speakers: Lenovo M0520 2W 2ch Speakers (£13.20 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £598.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

I'll take a closer look at your other individual components in a moment, but the above setup will chew through R2TW at very high settings, and probably get very similar settings for Attila.

[alQamar]

Glad to see some many good people are contributing here, sorry I was absent in the last days but I catched up the posts from time to time.
7 days to go for Attila, prices have been dropped again and it seems this will be the cheapest release of all TW titles - in terms of pricing I hope not in terms in quality.

[SPARTAN VI]

Here's what I've picked out for you at the same budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£35.42 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£29.60 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.45 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB TurboDuo Video Card (£122.16 @ More Computers)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£55.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£56.99 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.50 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: BenQ GL2023A 60Hz 19.5" Monitor (£65.11 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TRENDnet TEW-726EC 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£20.30 @ Dabs)
Speakers: Logitech Z213 2.1 Multimedia Speakers (£24.36)
OS: Windows 8.1 Upgrade (£46.95)
Total: £591.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

• CPU: I decided to go with something that's faster yet less expensive, but has a little more power draw. So I traded the i3 4130T for the i3 4160.
• Motherboard: Same features as the Asus board, decent overclocker, and a few £ cheaper.
• Memory: Faster and about the same price as the DDR3-1333, but should allow for a little more OC headroom.
• Storage: Faster, same capacity, and less expensive than the HDD you selected.
• Videocard: The R9 270x 2GB is possible by trimming some fat off the OS price, and it spanks the GTX 750 Ti.
• Case: This is probably the most subjective item. It's really your choice, but you can actually shift about £20-30 toward your GPU if you select a less expensive/flashy case.
• Powersupply: I went for something that's modular with a little more juice should you decide to upgrade to more power hungry components down the line.
• Optical drive: Cheaper and same/better performance than the Asus drive.
• OS: There are usually deals for OS's in the $30-50 USD range by purchasing the upgrade or student version. You don't even need a prior Windows install to use the upgrade.
• Wireless NIC: Cheaper and same performance as the Asus NIC.
• Speakers: Got rid of the Lenovo cans. These should put out a nice round sound for you music and games.

There's actually an even better rig already spec'd out on the partpicker front page, but it doesn't have all the OS, speakers, WiFi NIC, DVD/CD drive, and monitor goodies you were looking for: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/guide/gcT...l-gaming-build

[SingingAntelope]

Here's what I've picked out for you at the same budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£35.42 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£29.60 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.45 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB TurboDuo Video Card (£122.16 @ More Computers)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£55.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£56.99 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.50 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: BenQ GL2023A 60Hz 19.5" Monitor (£65.11 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TRENDnet TEW-726EC 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£20.30 @ Dabs)
Speakers: Logitech Z213 2.1 Multimedia Speakers (£24.36)
OS: Windows 8.1 Upgrade (£46.95)
Total: £591.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

CPU: I decided to go with something that's faster yet less expensive, but has a little more power draw. So I traded the i3 4130T for the i3 4160.
Motherboard: Same features as the Asus board, decent overclocker, and a few £ cheaper.
Memory: Faster and about the same price as the DDR3-1333, but should allow for a little more OC headroom.
Storage: Faster, same capacity, and less expensive than the HDD you selected.
Videocard: The R9 270x 2GB is possible by trimming some fat off the OS price. Kicks the GTX 750 Ti's ass.
Case: This is probably the most subjective item. It's really your choice, but you can actually shift about £20-30 toward your GPU if you select a less expensive/flashy case.
Powersupply: I went for something that's modular with a little more juice should you decide to upgrade to more power hungry components down the line.
Optical drive: Cheaper and same/better performance than the Asus drive.
OS: There are usually deals for OS's. I usually find these for $30-50 USD by purchasing the upgrade version. You don't even need a prior Windows install to use the upgrade.
Wireless NIC: Cheaper and same performance as the Asus NIC.
Speakers: Got rid of the Lenovo cans. These should put out a nice round sound for you music and games.

There's actually an even better rig already spec'd out on the partpicker front page, but it doesn't have all the OS, speakers, WiFi NIC, DVD/CD drive, and monitor goodies you were looking for: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/guide/gcT...l-gaming-build

Yeah my budget is around 600, and even that is pushing it so I won't be able to go higher Thanks very much for the help, I'll probably build this one in about 2 months, need to start saving

[bombastic]

Here's what I've picked out for you at the same budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£35.42 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£29.60 @ Scan.co.uk)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.45 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB TurboDuo Video Card (£122.16 @ More Computers)
Case: Aerocool DS Cube Red Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£55.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£56.99 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£10.50 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: BenQ GL2023A 60Hz 19.5" Monitor (£65.11 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TRENDnet TEW-726EC 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter (£20.30 @ Dabs)
Speakers: Logitech Z213 2.1 Multimedia Speakers (£24.36)
OS: Windows 8.1 Upgrade (£46.95)
Total: £591.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

• CPU: I decided to go with something that's faster yet less expensive, but has a little more power draw. So I traded the i3 4130T for the i3 4160.
• Motherboard: Same features as the Asus board, decent overclocker, and a few £ cheaper.
• Memory: Faster and about the same price as the DDR3-1333, but should allow for a little more OC headroom.
• Storage: Faster, same capacity, and less expensive than the HDD you selected.
• Videocard: The R9 270x 2GB is possible by trimming some fat off the OS price, and it spanks the GTX 750 Ti.
• Case: This is probably the most subjective item. It's really your choice, but you can actually shift about £20-30 toward your GPU if you select a less expensive/flashy case.
• Powersupply: I went for something that's modular with a little more juice should you decide to upgrade to more power hungry components down the line.
• Optical drive: Cheaper and same/better performance than the Asus drive.
• OS: There are usually deals for OS's in the $30-50 USD range by purchasing the upgrade or student version. You don't even need a prior Windows install to use the upgrade.
• Wireless NIC: Cheaper and same performance as the Asus NIC.
• Speakers: Got rid of the Lenovo cans. These should put out a nice round sound for you music and games.

There's actually an even better rig already spec'd out on the partpicker front page, but it doesn't have all the OS, speakers, WiFi NIC, DVD/CD drive, and monitor goodies you were looking for: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/guide/gcT...l-gaming-build

I'm all new here, but your discussion has really caught my eye as I also have a £600 budget, and am simply looking to replace my 8 year old laptop with a desktop system that can give me an awesome experience on R2TW and Attila.
It would be the first time I even consider building my own PC and I will be using the above build, however I wanted to ask if you would recommend any changes/ better components if I wasn't bothered about the look of the case and didn't need any speakers?
Also, can you recommend any easy to follow step-by-step guides that I can use to build it?
thanks a lot in advance!

[SPARTAN VI]

I'm all new here, but your discussion has really caught my eye as I also have a £600 budget, and am simply looking to replace my 8 year old laptop with a desktop system that can give me an awesome experience on R2TW and Attila.
It would be the first time I even consider building my own PC and I will be using the above build, however I wanted to ask if you would recommend any changes/ better components if I wasn't bothered about the look of the case and didn't need any speakers?
Also, can you recommend any easy to follow step-by-step guides that I can use to build it?
thanks a lot in advance!

What components beyond the PC itself would you need? E.g. monitor, Windows license/disc, CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drive (not required for digitally distributed games/software), wireless card (wired is already included), etc.

Assuming you don't need else, I'd recommend a Core i5 4570 + R9 290X combo:

£630 - i5 4570 + R9 290X 4GB
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£154.74 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£34.57 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£50.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.35 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290X 4GB Video Card (£259.55 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£35.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£53.52 @ Aria PC)
Total: £630.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

You can come in right at the £600 mark with a R9 290 4GB instead, but I think the £30 extra for the 290X is a small price to pay for +10% performance gains in Attila.

£600 - i5 4570 + R9 290 4GB
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£154.74 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£34.57 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£50.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£41.35 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card (£225.59 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£35.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£53.52 @ Aria PC)
Total: £596.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Both of these machines can run Attila at the "max quality" preset. We're also 1-2 months away from a new GPU release, AMD's 300 series, so prices are expected to come down very soon. If you absolutely cannot wait, the rigs above will serve you just fine. Otherwise, expect some savings if you hold out til about April 2015.

Regarding a tutorial, I found this video on youtube of a guy building his machine from start to finish. I don't have audio here at work, so I can't comment on his narration. Lifehacker has a more comprehensive breakdown of this process too.

[anonimo272]

geforce 740m
i5 3230m
4 gb ram
runned rome 2 on low fine, never tried more
can i run attila too ? with 2x unit sizes ?

[SingingAntelope]

Another question, does the case matter?? Would a certain case not be able to fit the same components in it?