Best Build PC for Rome 2/Attila?

[dahcipher]

Alright so I never use these forums so move my post or do whatever needs doing if im in the wrong section..
Im generally looking for diehard TW fans that are aware of specs and upgrades needed to run these games.

Its been 6 years since I last built a PC and im just looking to buy a pre-built pc at this point because ive lost knowledge of parts and general building process etc.
Im looking for a PC build off Newegg.ca or Tigerdirect.ca that can dominate any previous Total Wars and do exceptional with Rome 2 aswell.
I set myself with a $1500 and under budget. Im sure that I wont be able to ultra Rome 2, but I want it to atleast function well on very high with good unit stacks (most importantly dominate
PC games in the past)

Some suggestions I came across were...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16883229612

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...3568&CatId=114

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...4730&CatId=114

Am I on the right track with these kind of rigs? Im just looking for feedback and suggestions, it would be incredible..
Just looking to enjoy Total War at its fullest

[Generaal Van Heutsz]

I haven't kept up with pc parts as much but right of the bat I can tell you that the ones from tigerdirect will be inadequate due to them having 2-3 year old midrange graphics cards. I have a mobile gtx 970 and it struggles. I think you would want at least a gtx970 with plenty video mem or the ati equivalent

[Sagat]

There's no point dude, both Rome 2 and Attila are not optimized well at all so they won't utilize neither your CPU nor your GPU to nowhere near it's full capacity.

There's only a few PC games that really know how to use all the horsepower you put in your PC... games like the Witcher series, also Battlefield series.... both excellent examples..... some bad examples would be Ubisoft's horrible console ports.

Anyway hope you get my point, because I did the exact same thing, I went out and spent around $3000 on my PC preparing for Rome 2 (first time I built a PC btw) and I was horrified to find out how the game actually ran on release and for a very long time, it's only a year later at Emperor Edition when I started getting solid playable framerates. Still not as good as they should be, but better than before.

Do yourself a favor and don't make the same mistake as me, if you're building a PC, build it for Grand Theft Auto 5 coming out soon, build it for Witcher 3 coming soon, etc.... don't build it for a game that has no idea how to work properly

[barry12]

There's no point dude, both Rome 2 and Attila are not optimized well at all so they won't utilize neither your CPU nor your GPU to nowhere near it's full capacity.

There's only a few PC games that really know how to use all the horsepower you put in your PC... games like the Witcher series, also Battlefield series.... both excellent examples..... some bad examples would be Ubisoft's horrible console ports.

Anyway hope you get my point, because I did the exact same thing, I went out and spent around $3000 on my PC preparing for Rome 2 (first time I built a PC btw) and I was horrified to find out how the game actually ran on release and for a very long time, it's only a year later at Emperor Edition when I started getting solid playable framerates. Still not as good as they should be, but better than before.

Do yourself a favor and don't make the same mistake as me, if you're building a PC, build it for Grand Theft Auto 5 coming out soon, build it for Witcher 3 coming soon, etc.... don't build it for a game that has no idea how to work properly

I agree with this guy. Though without a doubt, for TW games, the most important feature is the CPU. All those troops and calculations to process, it's a CPU heavy game.

Get an overclocked top of the line Intel CPU. My i7 3770k at 4.9ghz does very respectably on double unit sizes and 40 unit armies.

Just think how well we could all run this game on a decent 64 bit game engine.

[Epic28]

Just think how well we could all run this game on a decent 64 bit game engine.

Maybe in 2020 CA will "get with the times".

Instead they'd rather cater to the low end systems by making the game at least playable (more sales) rather than focusing on creating the game on a proper engine.

The idea behind TW and what it represents should instill the logic behind creating the game on 64 bit.

Sadly no rig out there, no matter how beastly, will ever seen perfection out of all that Rome 2 or ATW can offer in terms of full battle potential.

[Theramines]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ntly-Updating)

I found this thread very useful.

[A Barbarian]

Am I on the right track with these kind of rigs? Im just looking for feedback and suggestions, it would be incredible..
Just looking to enjoy Total War at its fullest

Unfortunately they all have pretty crap graphics cards.

For Rome2 / Attila u need every bit of CPU + GPU performance u can afford.

As a CPU, look for a 4790K. Then that needs a Z97 motherboard so that it can be overclocked a bit. In the best case it will already have a decent custom cooler because Intel stock cooler is inefficient and loud.

As a GPU, there is the choice between a GTX970 (preferable one in a custom design which turns off the fans in 2D mode, e.g ASUS Strixx or MSI Gaming) and an AMD 290X (only custom designs with very good cooling because that card consumes a lot of power and get quite hot).

The GTX970 usually can be overlocked quite easily and then will be about the same speed as a stock 290X (always also depends on the game). The advantages of the GTX970 are that it consumes much less power and is therefore quieter. There is one small issue with the VRAM of the GTX970 and that is that out of the 4GB only 3.5GB are full speed and the other 512MB or much slower. That can result in some stutters if the memory is filled over 3.5GB. But that's not very common.

[Dwarven Berserker]

Sorry to say, but those suggestions aren't really fantastic. Though the ASUS ROG build and the CuberpowerPC aren't bad PC's at all, they both don't have great GPU's (I'd like to have more for that price at least). The i7 processors they have are nice, but they are lacking a bit in graphics horsepower. Their GPU's aren't bad, but for the amount of money you're paying for them I would expect to be able to get a bit more. And more GPU power will be quite nice as Rome 2 and Attila use a lot of it.

I'd avoid the cybertron machine if I were you, as just as any pc with an AMD processor. I'm by no means an AMD hater, in fact I really like them, but Rome 2 and attila are just horribly optimized for multi core performance, which is exacly what the AMD processors rely on. Even the most high-end CPU's AMD has to offer will therefore perform worse than intel equivalents at the same price point. Personally, I'm using an i5 4690k, and it performs very well in Rome 2 (I don't have attila, but it will probably perform about the same there). You can go for a pc with an i7 4790(k) if you want, but you likely won't see a whole lot of performance gain compared to the i5 as the main bottleneck for Rome 2 and Attila is the graphics card.

Speaking of graphics cards, you're probably going to want to get a pretty beefy one. I'm using an GTX 970, which is able to max out Rome 2 at 60 fps for the most part without much trouble, though attila is a different story as it is horribly optimized and only multi-GPU setups can run it maxed out. Anyway, I'd recommend getting something with either a GTX 970, GTX 980, R9 290 or r9 290x.

[A Barbarian]

Actually a 64 bit version by itself wouldn't solve any problem. Memory size is not a problem for TW games. Haven't looked at Attila but Rome 2 didn't even use 1.5GB RAM.

What's lacking most is better multi-threding support to utilize multiple CPU cores better. But since the revelations of the CPU performance bottleneck in DX11. DX12 might be the next best possibility to improve performance in TW games. DX12 promises to remove a crucial bottleneck in the communication between CPU and GPU. Exactly for the kind of game with many many different units.

Here u can see the difference between the number of draw calls (commands from the CPU to the GPU) possible with DX11 and DX12:

[barry12]

Actually a 64 bit version by itself wouldn't solve any problem. Memory size is not a problem for TW games. Haven't looked at Attila but Rome 2 didn't even use 1.5GB RAM.

What's lacking most is better multi-threding support to utilize multiple CPU cores better. But since the revelations of the CPU performance bottleneck in DX11. DX12 might be the next best possibility to improve performance in TW games. DX12 promises to remove a crucial bottleneck in the communication between CPU and GPU. Exactly for the kind of game with many many different units.

Here u can see the difference between the number of draw calls (commands from the CPU to the GPU) possible with DX11 and DX12:

Never been more excited for a new DX in my life... Thanks for the update, seriously interesting when do we think DX12 will hit the market?

[Epic28]

Is DX12 even supported on 32 bit systems?

[A Barbarian]

Is DX12 even supported on 32 bit systems?

DX12 can be used by 32 bit applications yes. Note that there is a difference between the operating system and an application. 32 bit applications run just fine on a 64 bit Windows. Thereas 64 bit applications can't run on 32 bit Windows.

Only problem with DX12 is, that it will only be released with the upcoming Windows 10. That's probably because MS wants people to upgrade to their latest OS.

[Epic28]

DX12 can be used by 32 bit applications yes. Note that there is a difference between the operating system and an application. 32 bit applications run just fine on a 64 bit Windows. Thereas 64 bit applications can't run on 32 bit Windows.

Only problem with DX12 is, that it will only be released with the upcoming Windows 10. That's probably because MS wants people to upgrade to their latest OS.

Ok I wasnt sure if DX12 was strictly a 64 bit app. But Windows 10 is free for all users. Even those who pirated older Windows OS. Actually a solid strategy on their part. Convert everyone.

Never been more excited for a new DX in my life... Thanks for the update, seriously interesting when do we think DX12 will hit the market?

Summer 2015

[Sagat]

yea DX 12 is supposed to help a lot with the biggest issue DX11 has, which is CPU core usage as DX11 tends to stress out the first core while the others sit idle....

here's a video I made a while ago how Warscape works CPU cores... strictly FYI, this is 6 core i7 3930k btw, a $600 cpu and Warscape turns it into a marshmallow.. look at the end of the video you see Core 1 is maxed out while others are working at about 10% capacity. Even Shogun 2 had better multi core usage than Rome 2 and Attila.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75kNd5Gqowg

[Aeratus]

I wouldn't go with pre-built if you're looking for price efficiency.

I'd start with:
- i7 4770k-4790k ($325)
- gtx 970 ($325)

So the combined is only $650, less than half of your budget. The rest doesn't even matter.

GTX 970 has really efficient power consumption.

[xjlxking]

Alright so I never use these forums so move my post or do whatever needs doing if im in the wrong section..
Im generally looking for diehard TW fans that are aware of specs and upgrades needed to run these games.

Its been 6 years since I last built a PC and im just looking to buy a pre-built pc at this point because ive lost knowledge of parts and general building process etc.
Im looking for a PC build off Newegg.ca or Tigerdirect.ca that can dominate any previous Total Wars and do exceptional with Rome 2 aswell.
I set myself with a $1500 and under budget. Im sure that I wont be able to ultra Rome 2, but I want it to atleast function well on very high with good unit stacks (most importantly dominate
PC games in the past)

Some suggestions I came across were...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16883229612

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...3568&CatId=114

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...4730&CatId=114

Am I on the right track with these kind of rigs? Im just looking for feedback and suggestions, it would be incredible..
Just looking to enjoy Total War at its fullest

I highly suggest you build your own PC. It's much better! It's cheaper as well. The reason is you can really customize it the way you want. Putting a small SSD as the main drive for your OS and having 2 other drives (one for storage, the other for programs). If you want help, i can help, I've build over a dozen PC's. The cases is really important too, you want one that you don't h ave to clean a lot, that's also future proof so you wont have to ever buy one again, those website just don't offer them

But if you do not want to, here is a good one for ~1500
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/C...7_Configurator

Ideally, you can make you own. You want to get
8+Gb ram, I suggest 16, games don't use more than 8, but they are cheap.
GTX 970 is in my opinion the most bang for your buck GPU card, it's also reliable and low power consumption.
You want to get a modular PSU 600+ watts
if possible an i7 if not i5 are still great, i have a i5.
If you want a quick start up or load, get a 256 SSD drive to install your main programs and OS on and everything else on the separate HD
You want Windows 7, i think it's the best one by far.

Stay away from AMD CPU, Do not get non-modular CPU (too many unnecessary cables), don't get fans fro you CPU (gotta clean it too much), NO lights for PC (attracts more dust), no mid towers, they aren't gonna be good. Do not get windows 8, and.... yeah ;D

Besides that, the rest you can play around with it. You have a large budget and you will play the game on ultra with that money. Granted, not everything will run smooth (10k units or something like that). Also, as Sagat said, the optimization sucks in this game, the one core is mainly used, the others are fapping to it. If they actually created a good engine that utilizes all 4 or at the least 2, it would run awesomely.

[dahcipher]

Are these computers known to be good gaming PCs?

[Hadrien Ier]

[...]don't get fans fro you CPU (gotta clean it too much), NO lights for PC (attracts more dust).

All in all you gave him good advice but this part is laughable, a CPU fan, even if you don't OC it, is always better for performance even if it drag dust, but what you said about light is totally wrong, i don't like neon lights too but the light don't attracts dust, maybe you think that because you can actually see volatile dust with more light but light don't attracts dust...

[xjlxking]

All in all you gave him good advice but this part is laughable, a CPU fan, even if you don't OC it, is always better for performance even if it drag dust, but what you said about light is totally wrong, i don't like neon lights too but the light don't attracts dust, maybe you think that because you can actually see volatile dust with more light but light don't attracts dust...

I didn't comment on performance when I said no fans. I was just saying, you gotta clean them too much. I found it extremely annoying cleaning those stuff, the dust turns into lint too quickly, likely from the heat generated. As far as lights go, I don't know, i just noticed my other pc, it has more dust. I don't know the cause, but i guess it's just me. I know it sounds crazy, but that's just me. Probably should have added that

[dahcipher]

Wow, I just took a look at possible replies and im shocked by the amount of feedback im getting here. So basically what im hearing is Rome 2 is terribly optimized and I should build a computer?
Im trying to make no mistakes with my next PC purchase, is there any easy websites/videos that I can use to get the jist of what kind of parts im looking for? Im terribly lost!

thanks for the help,