Empire Total War system requirements

[Camulodunum]

I am just about to get a new desktop and Dell here in the UK have the following in their XPS range. Do these specs look ok for ETW?

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Core Processor Q8200 (2.33GHz, 1333MHz, 4MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 - English
20in S2009W WIDESCREEN UK Black (1600 x 900)
512MB ATI™Radeon™ HD 4670 graphics card
3072MB 1067 MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [3x1024]
640 GB Serial ATA non Raid (7200 Rpm)

Thanks in advance.

[Mete Han]

Now I have to buy a new pc but how am i supposed to do that during this credit crunch? i hate economic crisis... at least i still have medieval 2....

[YouYesu]

I'm on a laptop and i downloaded the demo from steam and it ran decent. I was wondering if i buy the game will it run just like the demo did? My laptop specs are:


AMD Athlon X2 64 Dual-Core QL62 2.00GHz
2GB of RAM running Vista
Nvidia GeForce 8200M G

[Potocello]

I'm on a laptop and i downloaded the demo from steam and it ran decent. I was wondering if i buy the game will it run just like the demo did? My laptop specs are:


AMD Athlon X2 64 Dual-Core QL62 2.00GHz
2GB of RAM running Vista
Nvidia GeForce 8200M G

from a thread i started, people said that the full game actually runs better than the demo! i had the same question, hope this helps! :2thumbsup:

[Monarch]

My computer should easily handle this game, 8800gts, Intel Quad Core 2.4, 3gigs of ram. And yet...it's not. I've had some kind of weird slow down where every so often, regularly enough so that it's annoying me alot, when I click a city the game basically freezes for 10 seconds before letting me access the city options. In addition, I've had three crashes, one where it said something like "out of video memory" and two more where I got a generic "empire total war stopped working" error.

I admit, I've not been keeping the computer in shape (as it's got all sorts of useless crap on here thats accumulated in the past 18 months.), but still...what the hell? I've ran all my anti-spyware and antivirus and it's all fine. After a very quick google I found someone else had the out of video error...I'm going to update my drivers now. Hopefully it'll help)

[Derfasciti]

I've got a

Microsoft XP
Media center edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 3

an HP Pavilion
AMD Athlon(tm) 64X2 Dual
Core Processor 3800+
2.00 GHz, 1.00 GB of Ram

here's my DxDiag:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 3/9/2009, 16:06:35
Machine name: YOUR-4DACD0EA75
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 061
System Model: ER900AA-ABA a1430n
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 839MB used, 1619MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: None
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode


Think it'll run it ok?

[gardibolt]

Intel 5250 (1.5G) Core 2 Duo, 3 gigs RAM with a 8600m GT (256mb) will not run the game at all, even on low/off settings. Well, it runs for about five minutes and then dies.:no::skull::no:

Kind of disappointing since it ran M2TW fine on high. Guess I'll just have to shelve the game for a couple years until I buy a new system.

[Terry]

Thanks beatoangelico, that was very helpful...

Terry

[Meph]

Hi everyone.

I've been a bit of a lurker on these boards for a while now, but would find it really helpful if anyone could answer this question about hardware:

I'm looking to buy a new laptop that is portable enough to be carried round libraries easily (I'm a student). However, I'm also pretty keen to run Empire!

I've found one candidate, which has:

Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology T6400 (2.00GHz) 800MHz FSB with 2Mb Cache
Display: 12.1” WXGA (1280x800) SuperBright© Gloss LCD TFT
System Memory: 4Gb (2x 2Gb) DDR2 800MHz (Actual Capacity 3.2Gb)
NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS (256Mb)

Is this good enough to run Empire? I don't mind low settings but obviously if it's really jerky/painful then it's a waste of money.

Thanks ~:)

[AussieGiant]

You are on the edge there Meph. You really need a better card and a better processor.

[Meph]

You are on the edge there Meph. You really need a better card and a better processor.

Hi, Thanks for the advice. The problem is that as processor speed and graphics capability go up, portability goes down, so I guess I'm pushing the boundaries a little to try and get both satisfactory performance and portability with a single machine. I'm prepared for the fact that it'll be slow... but if it's still enjoyable then I don't mind. Any more thoughts?

[AussieGiant]

You've hit the nail on the head there with laptop limitations.

Time to buy and try!! :beam:

[Meph]

I might just do that! ~:)

[Prodigal]

Edit: The following specs have the game running like a dream on high settings...And it was worth every penny buying pretty much new(ish) everything

Specs are:

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium
System Model: P5QL PRO
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7400 @ 2.80GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 3326MB RAM
Page File: 1155MB used, 7081MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Display Memory: 2417 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1009 MB
Shared Memory: 1407 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)

[Biggley]

help!

ive installed the game. naval battles and main campaign map run ok.

land battles were a bit rubbish low res etc - then i cranked it up to med settings.

now when i run the game i get the front page of credits then its black, bar the curser, and i still have audio.

WTF?!

help!

these are my stats - any help?

I can run Fallout 3 ok and warhammer online ok if thats any help.

here is my stats

:wall:System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 3/11/2009, 16:52:23

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.080814-1233)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Computer, Inc.
System Model: iMac5,1
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7400 @ 2.16GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2032MB RAM
Page File: 711MB used, 3214MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

[Prodigal]

help!

ive installed the game. naval battles and main campaign map run ok.

land battles were a bit rubbish low res etc - then i cranked it up to med settings.

now when i run the game i get the front page of credits then its black, bar the curser, and i still have audio.


Try waiting, for a really long time, hit Esc a few times at launch to bypass the sega, intel etc. intro's if the sounds going it should load the main screen eventually & then go straight into options & change your settings back down to low.

Been playing around on my system this morning, by running in a window with a reduced display the games running very smoothly.

[Biggley]

thanks for the tip but it did not work :(

any other thoughts any one?

[Zim]

The game goes faster running in a window? I've always avoided that because I thought it slowed things down. :clown:


Try waiting, for a really long time, hit Esc a few times at launch to bypass the sega, intel etc. intro's if the sounds going it should load the main screen eventually & then go straight into options & change your settings back down to low.

Been playing around on my system this morning, by running in a window with a reduced display the games running very smoothly.

[Terry]

According to the etw graphics article on the blog,

"you will get better performance versus windowed mode, and your graphics card will have exclusive access to the available video memory."

Terry

[Prodigal]

Biggley, sorry but you thought about reinstalling it? Maybe the easiest option.

Since posting about the window I changed the PC's power consumption to burn rainforest & now have full screen running really well on high, think I could probably manage highest, but just want to play atm.

As Terry said, the info on the window's off the official site, it certainly helped get low setting running well, judged on flag movement being smooth, no scrolling delays, buttons activate immediatly when pressed etc. The in game movies were still lagged to the point where they weren't worth watching, but the game ran well. Also if you're having to reduce the display size its generally less fuzzy in a window

[Maleficus]

I have:

Windows XP Service pack 2
2.8 GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core CPU
2.00 GB RAM
256MB Nvidia GeForce graphics card (I'm not sure what number but I think it's either 5600 or 6400)





I can only run ETW on low graphics settings (medium causes serious frame rate issues).


Would simply upgrading my graphics card be enough to allow me to use High or even ultra settings?



If so, what graphics card would be best?

[AussieGiant]

Yes your Graphics card is really under spec.

Get a 9000 series or a new 260 or 280 and you'll be on High settings for sure.

[Maleficus]

By 9000 series do you mean like a GeForce 9600 or something?


Will it work on my PC? Should I upgrade anything else for ETW?

[AussieGiant]

A 9600 or 9800 would be excellent. Go to SP 3 on XP make sure you have the latest drivers installed, remove as many applications from auto running on your machine as possible, defrag and clean up your HDD. Then give it a shot. If it doesn't do enough then you really need a new machine.

Swapping processors gets a little tricky.

Unfortunately it's not possible to give you too much advise on whether this type of GPU will work on your machine as we would need a fairly detailed discussion.

You can go to the hardware section of the forum and ask a fwe of the helpful chaps there.

[Maleficus]

Thanks. will do.

[CanCritter]

k am in same boat as most...is 3rd comp for this game and it needs somethin..

drivers up to date..runs on low settings..big multis itll choke...
Processor AMD athlon 64 processor 3500+,MMX,3D Now..2.2ghz and game needs 2.4...can l get by with this?
memory 1024 ram (2x512) 2 slots left for memory ....add?
direct x 9.c
display 1920x1200 (32 bit) (60hrz)
LG L245WP anolog 24 inch
current setup below...was gona get some more ram and mayby diffrent vid card ..my vid card is 7600 gforce 256 MB whatever that means...thinking of getting this
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22350(ME).aspx

would like to get new processor but not shure if there plug and play ect or involved..ie reloadin everything? will leave if l can for now...anyway any help would be apprieciated as lm headin to comp store tomorow am early...


Thanx Kindly
Critter

[Terry]

I just ordered the 9800 online. One thing that I didn't think of however, was that you have to make sure your computer power supply is up to specs. Mine was seriously underpowered (375 watts) so I ended up sending away for a new one. Maybe this won't be an issue for you, but I thought I'd mention it.

Terry

[Volum]

Both my CPU and RAM are over the requirments for ETW, what im wondering about though is the graphics card. I have a ATI Radeon X600 pro with 256 ram. Anyone know how that will hold up? It runs MTW2 without problems.

[jsberry]

Mine crashes during both campaign and battle games. Are these sufficient specs:

Time of this report: 3/14/2009, 21:59:07
Machine name: HOME-5BB1502475
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_qfe.080814-1242)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: NVDAACPI
BIOS: )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3600+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 958MB RAM
Page File: 597MB used, 946MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

[Terry]

Volum,

I would think that the graphics card would be the the big requirement for this game. I know it is for me. I"m at low to medium for most settings, so like I have been doing for 20 years, I am getting a new part for just one game. I told my wife that all our other programs will look so much better.

Terry

[PrimusPilus]

My laptop which made MTWII scream wont let me open a Battle.

2046 MB of RAM

AMD Turion 64X2 2.0Ghz

What do I need to upgrade?

Machine bought when MTWII came out.

I play Mostly Rome TW Europa Barbarorum. Awesome Mod!


Do I need a new Machine to Play ETW?

I bought the Special Edition (it was last one left on March 4th)

Didn't know if that had any effect.

Thanks for your help

Dave

[A Very Super Market]

I don't see your graphics card anywhere, and unless your processor is a dual-core, it is under min requirements.

[Prodigal]

I just ordered the 9800 online. One thing that I didn't think of however, was that you have to make sure your computer power supply is up to specs. Mine was seriously underpowered (375 watts) so I ended up sending away for a new one. Maybe this won't be an issue for you, but I thought I'd mention it.

Terry

I changed everything on my PC but the box, & power supply which was 4 pins short of the slot on the motherboard. Although the Smart Doctor that comes with the card said I was under power it came with a jack to connect up with the fan power cables.

Turned the warning off, set the power consumption to auto, all GPU settings to about halfway & its all running well. So rekon that as long as you have the correct voltage ps then it may be able to get away with it.

[gardibolt]

I don't see your graphics card anywhere, and unless your processor is a dual-core, it is under min requirements.

Even if your processer is dual-core, it's under the min requirements, since it only uses the equivalent of a single core.

[Lord Dazed & Confused]

To anyone who might be under spec! in the PC department :embarassed:

My PC has an AMD Athlon64 3200+ single core running @ 2ghz an ATI 1950 Pro 512mb AGP and 2GB of DDR.
Besides the map lag which seems to be the same for everyone and the odd split second framerate freeze during battle the game runs well on shader 3 high medium textures large unit size AAX2 and everything else on medium or low, runs with high or ultra textures ok with AA off but I can't stand the jagged lines and it causes the framerate freezes to be more frequent.

@ PrimusPilus what's you're graphics card?
Can't see why it won't even let you load up a battle, have you updated your card drivers?

If anyone is not sure if their PC will run ETW I would try the demo first and if that works then in theory so should the game, well it did for me anyway.
LDC

[A Very Super Market]

Nar, that be the demo that is unoptimized like that.

[A Very Super Market]

And your processor is under min. specs.

[Greek_Prince]

Okay i already bought empire unfortunately it doesn't work on my old laptop luckily i was already planning to buy a new laptop in a couple of weeks.
Anyways hopefully empire will run on this new one here's the link:

http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-1545?c=ca&cs=cadhs1&l=en&s=dhs

I'm going to most likely get the version for 599$ and will it be able to run empire hopefully at around medium-high?

[a-e]

You will have trouble, the graphics card is integrated.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

I've posted this before. The system requirements say:

Operating System: Windows XP 32(service pack 2), Windows Vista 32 OS.
Processor: 2.4 GHz Single Core Intel or AMD equivalent processor.
System Memory: 1GB RAM (XP) 2GB RAM (Vista).
Graphics Card: 256MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card (shader 2.0 or higher).
Sound Card: Directx9.0c compatible sound card.
Windows compatible mouse & keyboard.
15 GB free uncompressed hard drive space.

Mine is:

http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4259328&sku=H24-15039

My Processor Speed is 2.0 GHz
Processor Type is Dual Core - this is okay?

[Barkhorn1x]

Your GPU is barely OK - and you are only getting 2 Gigs of RAM - with Vista. But the real deal breaker here is the GPU:


Still older games like Doom 3 or Quake 4 should be barly playable. Compared to older onboad graphic chips (e.g., GMA X3100), the HD 3200 is much faster. Even the Centrino 2 graphics core (X4500HD) should be slower than the HD 3200.


http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Radeon-HD-3200.9591.0.html

It's an integrated grahics "card" and that means low/no performance for ETW.

[bmalik420]

Hey Guys,

I think it's time for a new computer for me. I'm desperately looking for another computer and thinking of buying a Dell with the following specs. Do you guys think the following specs are more than enough to play Empire? Thanks in advance!

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Quad processor Q8200 (4MB L2, 2.33GHz, 1333FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic Service Pack 1
MEMORY 3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB supporting HDMI

[Babblearossa]

Hey Guys,

I think it's time for a new computer for me. I'm desperately looking for another computer and thinking of buying a Dell with the following specs. Do you guys think the following specs are more than enough to play Empire? Thanks in advance!

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Quad processor Q8200 (4MB L2, 2.33GHz, 1333FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic Service Pack 1
MEMORY 3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB supporting HDMI

That video card looks way weak, I've never had one of those but judging by the charts at
toms hardware http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/benchmarks,30.html it gets
like 1/4 the score mine (8800 GTS 320mb ) gets and mine feels a bit underpowered at
high graphics for empire ( is good after turning down a couple options ).

the rest of the system looks good. a video card in the 100 - 120 range would probably keep up with games for a couple years, they look 50% faster than mine which is surely fine for this game.

[bmalik420]

Thanks for the response. I have another option to get a Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB with the Dell's configuration. What's your opinion on that? Or should I not buy a video card when I buy the Dell and just upgrade it myself when I buy one at Best Buy? Thanks again.

[Babblearossa]

Thanks for the response. I have another option to get a Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB with the Dell's configuration. What's your opinion on that? Or should I not buy a video card when I buy the Dell and just upgrade it myself when I buy one at Best Buy? Thanks again.

For like 70-80 at newegg.com ( best buy, ick ) you could get a far better HD 4670 ( the HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ is 70 ) or for a little more still an nvidia 9600 GT.

The trouble you might have is whether your dell power supply supplies enough power ( as it were ).
Try checking at dell forums, like if you were looking at inspiron 518 it turns up stuff like this
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19242704/19372880.aspx#19372880 where the
and searching for "inspiron 518 4670" turns up that people dont think the 581s power supply is powerful enough for it ( for example ), but that the nvidia 9500 is fine.

The memory size you need depends on what resolution you'll be running at and I think the texture size ( in this game at least ), 256 is probably good enough up to 1680x1050 but most come with 512 mb now which is definitely enough for 1680x1050 and good enough for 1920x1200 . Anyhow, if they're charging you like $60 for it, you can get a better card ( maybe much depending on the power supply needs ) and upgrade yourself, then you'll have a spare one for emergencies ( they happen! ).

computers are far too complicated.

[Camulodunum]

Looking at a new desktop from Dell. The XPS system they have has the following graphics card in it:

1GB ATI Radeon 3870

Ok for ETW?

[Barkhorn1x]

Looking at a new desktop from Dell. The XPS system they have has the following graphics card in it:

1GB ATI Radeon 3870

Ok for ETW?

Check this link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/3DMark06-v1.1.0-3DMark-Score,794.html

[Camulodunum]

Thanks for that.

[Belgolas]

I used to have lag on the campaign map but I switched to windows 7 from Vista and now I don't have any lag. Hmm.

[kitbogha]

Hi all,
My problem is this:-
I can play battles on the custom battle setup (albeit slow as hell), but not on the campaign. I'm pretty sure my computer meets the specs for the game. I'm thinking maybe it's a RAM issue, although I have 3G of RAM. Any thoughts o wise ones?

[a-e]

List your spec

[kitbogha]

Off hand (not at home at the mo):-
Dell dimension 4600
Pentium 4 ht
ge force graphics card (can't recall model but newly bought and I am assured by a mate who's computer savvy it's up to it) 512mb
3 gig ram 2x 1g + 2x 512 mb
plenty of space on hard drive (ie 112gig or so)
all recent drivers (I think)

[a-e]

How old is it? I glanced on the internet and the ram all appears to be ddr which will be way slow for this game (I doubt many has anything less than ddr2). It also appears to be an integrated graphics card which wont cope well but if you specify there is a dedicated card did it come with the computer? if so it is 2 years old and is having trouble coping. CPU is not perfect but should do.

[Babblearossa]

The type of ram, ddr vs. ddr2 vs ddr3, is tied to the cpu / motherboard. Can't change it w/o changing a lot of things, but I really doubt it would be a limiting problem, just cuz I think it's overhyped. The cpu might be as there were a wide range of 'pentium 4s' produced.

Try adjusting your graphics settings to the lowest, if it clears up your problem then adjust them up until it's as good as you can get w/o boggyness. At a minimum that should help eliminate some possible causes of your issue.

[kitbogha]

How old is it? I glanced on the internet and the ram all appears to be ddr which will be way slow for this game (I doubt many has anything less than ddr2). It also appears to be an integrated graphics card which wont cope well but if you specify there is a dedicated card did it come with the computer? if so it is 2 years old and is having trouble coping. CPU is not perfect but should do.

Hmm. The Ram is definately DDR. The comp is second hand so not sure how old it is. The card is brand new and bought esp for the game so should be up to it. Do you think that adding more RAM will sort out the problem? I would think that if it can run custom scenarios but not campaign, the difference may be that there is a problem with it retaining information from the campaign as well that is pushing it over the brink. But my technical know how is v limited.
Thanks too Babblerossa, I will try this as well. I put more Ram in recently and things seemed better so I did up the settings-maybe prematurely....

[a-e]

What is the CPU speed?

[Marquis of Roland]

Ok, I have a 2.67ghz intel dual core, geforce 8800 vidcard, and 4 gigs of ram, and I'm getting out of video memory crash on campaign battles still. No problems in custom battles. This is the memory leak issue with the game people were talking about?

[Barkhorn1x]

Ok, I have a 2.67ghz intel dual core, geforce 8800 vidcard, and 4 gigs of ram, and I'm getting out of video memory crash on campaign battles still. No problems in custom battles. This is the memory leak issue with the game people were talking about?

Yes, could be - go here and follow the directions:


http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=238484

[woad&fangs]

macbook pro with vista installed via bootcamp
2.4 ghz processor
256 mb video card
2 gb ram

I should be able to play, right?

[Barkhorn1x]

macbook pro with vista installed via bootcamp
2.4 ghz processor
256 mb video card
2 gb ram

I should be able to play, right?


Don't know anything about "bootcamp" and how well that turnsa a Mac into a PC but I can tell you that you are on the very low end of all of the system specs and that folks in your shoes have not reported good results. Having a Mac also means your ability to upgrade is about nil, correct?

If that is the case then I would pass on ETW.

[Babblearossa]

@woad&fangs
you should be able to play but I can never figure out what video card macbooks actually have.
As Barkhorn said you're at the low end, but try the demo and see how that works. Mine plays pretty similar to how that went.

And 'bootcamp' is like dualboot for apples, so it's running windows from boot not in emulation.

[groovecow]

Hi guys,

good to finally join the forums. I just have a quick query- thanks for your help!

I have a new computer coming, finally! It's spec's are:

xps 730 x
i7-920 Processor
6GB (3X2GB) Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz- 3 DIMMs
1024MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285

I'm pretty sure (hopefully!) it will run ok, but not sure at what settings; does anyone have an idea?

Thanks!

[kitbogha]

What is the CPU speed?

No idea, how do I find out?

[a-e]

Right click on My computer and select properties. It is probably two-point-something Ghz

[Babblearossa]

Hi guys,

good to finally join the forums. I just have a quick query- thanks for your help!

I have a new computer coming, finally! It's spec's are:

xps 730 x
i7-920 Processor
6GB (3X2GB) Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz- 3 DIMMs
1024MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285

I'm pretty sure (hopefully!) it will run ok, but not sure at what settings; does anyone have an idea?

Thanks!

pffft.... ultra high settings.

[edyzmedieval]

DELL XPS M1710
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHZ
4GB RAM
256MB nVidia 7900GS
250GB HDD

Settings?

[Caius]

Quick question not so related: How much does cost a rig capable of this game?

[Flavius Gonzo]

I'm about ready to build a PC to run ETW. I'd like to put together something that can absolutely rock ETW on the highest settings at 1900X1200 resolution. This will also be the first PC I've built (yikes!)

What adjustments would you make?

CPU: AMD Phenom 9600 Agena; Quad core 2.3 ghz
GPU: GeForce 9800 GT 512 MB
RAM: 2 X 2 GB Corsair DDR2 SDRM DDR2 1066
HD: Wesern Digital Caviar SE16 640GB SATA
OS: Vista 32

The complete list of components I'd buy for this is here at Newegg (http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=10189791). Thanks for any tips on this setup!

Also, I'm wondering if ETW runs significantly better on Vista 64; from what I've read Vista 64 is a huge headache to manage.

Edit: Caius, obviously I am not qualified answer your question, but this might be helpful to you -- the configuration I'm thinking of buying came from this popular blog post about building the ultimate $600 gaming machine (http://www.theinquisitivetechie.com/2009/04/the-updated-ultimate-600-gaming-machine/) (monitor, mouse & keyboard not included.)

[a-e]

@ Flavius - Vista 64-bit is fine, I run it and besides the memory leak problem there are no issues whatsoever. You should be fine but you may need to turn down the shadows sections. My card is almost equal to yours and I can play everything on ultra (including 500 man units) but I need shadows off. I suspect this to be an issue with modern graphics cards. But it will run very well.

[Caius]

Edit: Caius, obviously I am not qualified answer your question, but this might be helpful to you -- the configuration I'm thinking of buying came from this popular blog post about building the ultimate $600 gaming machine (http://www.theinquisitivetechie.com/2009/04/the-updated-ultimate-600-gaming-machine/)
Thanks for the link. Looks like a good option, Flavius. And way cheaper. The Pc I have is "old", it has 2 years but it is very old for Medieval II, let alone Empire.

You don't want to post me my Big PC, don't you?

[kitbogha]

Right click on My computer and select properties. It is probably two-point-something Ghz
Thanks, a-e,
It is 3.0 Ghz. Also found out the graphics card is Gforce 5500 (2 and a half GB). It's a most perplexing mystery. I don't know much about computers but I do feel it should work. I'm so frustrated I have gone back to Kingdoms, which works like a ****ing dream...If only I could play Empire though!!

[a-e]

@Kit, the graphica card just wont cope. I just found references about it as being mid-range in 2004, sorry. You only chance is to upgrade it. the CPU is single-core but over the minimum settings so will undoubtedly be fine on the tiny unit sizes. You may need a new rig.

[kitbogha]

@Kit, the graphica card just wont cope. I just found references about it as being mid-range in 2004, sorry. You only chance is to upgrade it. the CPU is single-core but over the minimum settings so will undoubtedly be fine on the tiny unit sizes. You may need a new rig.
Thanks, bad news though. Grrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Suggestions for acceptable card?

[Tillan]

It seems to run ok on a GeForce 8600 GFS - not outstanding, and perhaps a lil lag in the larger battles, but ok.
Anything from the 9*** range should be fine.

My rig is-

Intel Core quad Q6600
8GB DDR2 1066 RAM
GeForce 8600 GFS
bog standard 80GB hard disk

It wasnt really built for gaming, but it handles E:TW ok, the bottle neck almost certainly being the graphics card. If you just want it to run without anything flashy, the GeForce 8000 series cards should suit you.

[kitbogha]

Thanks our kid, I'll get saving...

[Tillan]

FYI - Only running it at 1280x1024 - anything significantly larger will need more power.

[gardibolt]

That "ultimate" gaming rig will only run ETW at minimal settings, just barely, since it's only 2.3G CPU. Quad core makes no difference since ETW's not optimized for multiple cores. If CA ever figures that part out, it should be fine.

[Tillan]

That "ultimate" gaming rig will only run ETW at minimal settings, just barely, since it's only 2.3G CPU. Quad core makes no difference since ETW's not optimized for multiple cores. If CA ever figures that part out, it should be fine.


It wasnt really built for gaming

At what point did I say it was an "ultimate" gaming rig? if I had built it for gaming I would have had less RAM and a better graphics card and a dual core with a higher clock speed.

[Flavius Gonzo]

Tillian, I think Gardibolt was referring to the ultimate $600 gaming machine I posted above, not your rig.

Gardibolt, that's good advice on the multicore support in ETW. How did you figure this out? I couldn't find this info anywhere. I swear, PC gaming requires a PHD in computer hardware these days.

I just placed an order for my rig -- I completely nixed the $600 gaming rig setup and selected a completely new set of components that ended up running around $1200 instead. (Wife = not happy.)

Assuming I can install everything right (1st time building a PC) I should have the following specs:

Asus Striker II Forumla mobo (SLI compatible)
Core 2 Duo @ 3.16 Ghz
4 X Kingston HyperX 1 Gb RAM DDR2 800 Mhz
2 X EVGA GeForce 9800 GT
Western Digi Caviar Black 1 TB HD @ 7200 RPM

Everything should arrive early next week; does anyone see any problems with my setup? I guess once I start unboxing this stuff I will be locked in. I want to rock highest settings for 1900 X 1200. One concern I have is memory; Asus's QVL for my mobo doesn't include any options for 8 GB. I know I don't have to stick with their QVL, but I figured it would be best to buy cheaper RAM that is guarenteed to work now; later I can try to upgrade to 8 GB @ 1066 MHz after I know everything else works.

I have a copy of Vista Ultimate so I can do either 64 bit or 32 bit -- leaning towards 64 now I think -- any thoughts?

[Tillan]

Ahh, My bad, I appologise gardibolt.

Generally speaking I tend not to bother to much with SLI\Crossfire, two cheaper cards usually doesnt match the performance of the same total priced high end card. So getting two cards costing $100 each wouldnt get you the same performance of a single card costing $200. However, this is not something Ive looked in great detail at for a while now, so anybody with better advice please give it.

Memory shouldn't be a problem, 4GB is enough to run it, the 32 vs 64 bit is a bit more complicated. If you have more than 4GB of RAM you need 64bit to take advantage of it, 32bit just cant "see" more then 4GB (actually i believe the real number is about 3.74GB), which is why so many motherboards are built for 4GB max. You however have exactly 4GB of RAM, which makes things more complicated. Largely speaking -

32bit
--Tends to be slightly more stable/polished.
--All windows programs will work normally
--Is generally the best "Default" option

But
--May have issues seeing the total amount of RAM on BOTH your motherboard and Graphics Cards - The amount of RAM on the graphics cards counts towards the maximum amount of RAM the system can see, so if your cards have 512MB each, the total amount of system RAM listed may be 3GB (4GB - 1GB for both cards). Make a search for "missing RAM" in google, its a very common problem.

64bit
--Will always see everything (at least until we start getting terrabytes of RAM in systems)

But
--Some programs just dont play nice with 64bit vista - Empire does play fine FYI - but it may be worth checking your other regular programs to see if they're 64bit supported, or if they work well with vista's 32bit "emulation" mode.

NB - Just to make things slightly more complicated, the con listed under 32bit doesnt always show up, and more bizarlly, does show up occationally when the person in question is using a 64bit OS, which means its possibly more a motherboard issue.

Long story short, ild try 32bit first, and see whether everything works. If your having problems seeing all your RAM, then move to 64.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Looking at my specs it says I have 2046 RAM. I have Vista 32 bit and my video card is a NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT.

Also, I have an
Intel Core 2 2.4 GHz

I can only play low setting smoothly. It allows medium but that is a little laggy. It won't let me play on high settings. Do I need more RAM, if so how much? If I get two GB will I have the problem Tillan just described about missing RAM?

Also if you need more specs just ask.

[Tillan]

The problems your having are more likely to do with your graphics card, I have the same one and have the same issues (occasional lag, especially on larger battles) but more RAM. Having said that more RAM wont hurt your system. If youve only got a single graphics card, and you cant get a copy of 64bit vista, I wouldnt worry to much about the missing memory problem. You might get it, but it shouldnt have to much of an impact.

[a completely inoffensive name]

The problems your having are more likely to do with your graphics card, I have the same one and have the same issues (occasional lag, especially on larger battles) but more RAM. Having said that more RAM wont hurt your system. If youve only got a single graphics card, and you cant get a copy of 64bit vista, I wouldnt worry to much about the missing memory problem. You might get it, but it shouldnt have to much of an impact.

But if it does happen, what is the worst possible consequence? Also, because its mostly my graphics card, does that mean I am stuck to only laggy medium level graphics?

Also just to be sure, if I am going to upgrade my RAM I should get 2gb not 1 gb?

[Babblearossa]

But if it does happen, what is the worst possible consequence? Also, because its mostly my graphics card, does that mean I am stuck to only laggy medium level graphics?

Also just to be sure, if I am going to upgrade my RAM I should get 2gb not 1 gb?

They might not need to be terribly laggy, you can follow their optimization guide and see where it gets you,

http://blogs.sega.com/totalwar/2009/03/05/empire-total-war-graphics-work-shop/#more-83

I also found part of this tip helpful
http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/48873#reply-666351
the part about the nvidia control panel helped.
Some of the checkboxes he had set in the tw options dialogue caused my 8800GTS to bog down and made the campaign map buggy.
I only have hardware shadows and distortion effects on at the moment...

For memory I'd add the 2 GB, it really bugged me when I first went to 4gb that I was wasting almost a gig, but having 4 matched memory doohickeys is more stable and they can usually run at a faster clip. Which shouldn't matter unless you overclock a bit, but it seemed more stable. And if you move to a 64bit windows it'll be available again.

Do check that you have 2 free memory slots, most machines want memory installed in pairs so if adding 1 gig it's 2x512mb modules and 2x1gb to add 2 gigs.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Alright, I installed two sticks of 1 gb. Things do run a bit faster. Maybe I will save up for a new graphics card as well. I know that graphics cards can go up to $500, but what is the best NVIDIA GeForce graphics card out right now?

EDIT: Oops I meant within a budget of $200, I can easily look up on wikipedia the best card in the line currently, but I don't know where to get the best deals on electronics.

[Marquis of Roland]

Nvidia driver 182.50 for 32-bit vista, anyone using this have any problems so far?

[Ignoramus]

The machine I currently play on is an iMac from 2008.

It has:

2 GB of memory
2.0 GHz Processor
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT Graphics card.

Will it run Empire?

[A Very Super Market]

Don't think so. Your RAM is at the bare minimum, and the processor min. is 2.4

[Babblearossa]

I know that graphics cards can go up to $500, but what is the best NVIDIA GeForce graphics card out right now?

EDIT: Oops I meant within a budget of $200, I can easily look up on wikipedia the best card in the line currently, but I don't know where to get the best deals on electronics.

If your set on nvidia that would be the 260 ( core 216 ) with 886 mb memory, they recommend a 500 w power supply, at newegg.com the best reviewed one is 896-P3-1265-AR.

I think the only ones worth looking at for more are the nvidia 275 or ATI 4890, I've liked the newegg site for deals on computer stuff. don't know if they're the best price but they make it easy to read other customer reviews so I generally end up shopping there.

[a completely inoffensive name]

If your set on nvidia that would be the 260 ( core 216 ) with 886 mb memory, they recommend a 500 w power supply, at newegg.com the best reviewed one is 896-P3-1265-AR.

I think the only ones worth looking at for more are the nvidia 275 or ATI 4890, I've liked the newegg site for deals on computer stuff. don't know if they're the best price but they make it easy to read other customer reviews so I generally end up shopping there.

Well, I have been thinking about it, I have enough money to go up to $500 the problem is that I have a 500w power supply. If I get the highest card out there, I will need a new power supply. I am unsure of how my other computer parts will handle the new card and power consumption and if I will need a better cooling system or not which will go way over my budget along with the power supply and card. Should I just stick to the 260 which seems to be the best I can get at 500w or should I go to the expense of having a larger power supply for future video cards?

[Babblearossa]

Well, I have been thinking about it, I have enough money to go up to $500 the problem is that I have a 500w power supply. If I get the highest card out there, I will need a new power supply. I am unsure of how my other computer parts will handle the new card and power consumption and if I will need a better cooling system or not which will go way over my budget along with the power supply and card. Should I just stick to the 260 which seems to be the best I can get at 500w or should I go to the expense of having a larger power supply for future video cards?

I've never gotten the fastest card on the market, those are always way too noisy for me and it just seems the cost/benefit curve gets mighty steep for that last 10% boost. For something like an nvidia 275 500W is below spec but not by much, if it was a good power supply and you didn't have a lot of other stuff ( like I have 6 HD's in my computer, at 15W / hd I think ) it would probably work.
Guru3d has long-winded reviews but their checking of a full system with what they claim is over average power draw had it using 400W at max.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-275-review-test/5

If you do go for a new powersupply, I've liked my seasonic it's super quite.

Going to a 285 just doesn't look worthwhile now that the 275s are out, it's only a couple percent faster and can be a lot more expensive, the 275 I just looked at was 230 after the irritating mail in rebate scheme.

This is all just my malinformed blathering from looking at charts and a tiny dose of experience in an effort to help you rationalize a silly expenditure, cuz I've been there :) Oh, and I'm really trying to avoid finishing my work.

[hinrichyen]

My system:

AMD(athlon) 64x2 Dual Core Processor 4000+
2.11 GHz, 2.00 GB Ram
nVDIA GeForce 8500GT
120 GB Free Space

I think I have met the requirement, but I still cannot run the game smoothly(even with "low" graphic option). Can somebody tell me why and teach me to fix it please ?:help:

I really need your help!!:dizzy2:

[gardibolt]

My system:

AMD(athlon) 64x2 Dual Core Processor 4000+
2.11 GHz, 2.00 GB Ram
nVDIA GeForce 8500GT
120 GB Free Space

I think I have met the requirement, but I still cannot run the game smoothly(even with "low" graphic option). Can somebody tell me why and teach me to fix it please ?:help:

I really need your help!!:dizzy2:

I think it's the processor. I have a 4200+ and it can't run the game either, and I have 4 GB Ram, a comparable video card and about as much free space. Unless/until they optimize the game for dual core processors, I think we're out of luck.

[us marriage]

I have a question, if you play or know Empire: Total War, I want to get it :)< But I am thinking it will be laggy or not, I want to ask you guys!!!

So you need the minimum requirements for Empire: Total War:

Operating System: Windows XP 32(service pack 2), Windows Vista 32 OS.
processor: 2.4 GHz Single Core Intel or AMD equivalent processor.
System Memory: 1GB RAM (XP) 2GB RAM (Vista).
Graphics Card: 256MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card (shader 2.0 or higher).
Sound Card: Directx9.0c compatible sound card.
Windows compatible mouse & keyboard.
15 GB free uncompressed hard drive space.

[Babblearossa]

I have a question, if you play or know Empire: Total War, I want to get it :)< But I am thinking it will be laggy or not, I want to ask you guys!!!

So you need the minimum requirements for Empire: Total War:

Operating System: Windows XP 32(service pack 2), Windows Vista 32 OS.
processor: 2.4 GHz Single Core Intel or AMD equivalent processor.
System Memory: 1GB RAM (XP) 2GB RAM (Vista).
Graphics Card: 256MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card (shader 2.0 or higher).
Sound Card: Directx9.0c compatible sound card.
Windows compatible mouse & keyboard.
15 GB free uncompressed hard drive space.

well, yeah those are the requirements, what do you have?

[Babblearossa]

I think it's the processor. I have a 4200+ and it can't run the game either, and I have 4 GB Ram, a comparable video card and about as much free space. Unless/until they optimize the game for dual core processors, I think we're out of luck.

Yeah it's not memory or space, might be video card, you could try the settings in the linked pages in my post above ( #334 ). if it's the processor, can't you just drop a new athlon 64 x2 in? they're like $60 and almost 2x as fast as the 4000s

[Naterade]

System Specs - looking for recommended settings by some users with experience

Pentium 4 3.80GHz Dual-Core Processor w/ Hyperthreading ( turned off now should i turn it on??)
4GB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz RAM
GeForce 7800 GTX 512 MB Video Card
80GB SATA 10,000 RPM HDD


Thanks

[gardibolt]

Yeah it's not memory or space, might be video card, you could try the settings in the linked pages in my post above ( #334 ). if it's the processor, can't you just drop a new athlon 64 x2 in? they're like $60 and almost 2x as fast as the 4000s


I don't know....are they interchangeable?

EDIT: Looks like it could go to a 6400 but then I'd need to upgrade the power supply AGAIN. This stupid game isn't worth the expense.

[Babblearossa]

I don't know....are they interchangeable?

EDIT: Looks like it could go to a 6400 but then I'd need to upgrade the power supply AGAIN. This stupid game isn't worth the expense.

I don't know your motherboard so I can't be certain, but if the sockets the same it should drop right in. going from 90W to 120 shouldn't require a new power supply, but that's for the 6400+. the 6000+ is cheaper and 90W, looking at the cpu charts at tomshardware ( the 2007 ones ), it looks like you'd get somewhere from 20% to 50% framerate increase if cpu is the actual bottleneck.

It's not worth it for this game probably, it might be if it gets you an extra year or two before you want to upgrade your computer.

You haven't said what resolution you're playing at and how much memory is on the 8500 video card. To decide that it's really not the video card you might try dropping the resolution down. Also in that link in the post above, the one at totalwar.com, I think it made a point that higher quality textures in this game use much more memory than in previous ones, I don't entirely recall it as I quit reading once my install quit lagging but it's probably worth going over if you're unable to play the game due to laggyness.

[SwissBarbar]

It's a long time that I have played a TW game (long time = 2-3 months). Usually I play EB, but now I have decided to try ETW for once. My brother has given me EB, but it does not run properly on my pc. The film when you start the game does not work well, especially the sound judders.

And playing a battle - let alone a campaign - ist not possible. Juddering all around, even with the worst settings. Medium graphic is the maximum I can set, I don't even have a "high or very high" option in the settings.

Could you tell why?


Operating System: Windows XP 32(service pack 2), Windows Vista 32 OS.
I have Windows XP Service Pack 3. Whats the difference to pack 2?
Processor: 2.4 GHz Single Core Intel or AMD equivalent processor.
2.8 GHZ
System Memory: 1GB RAM (XP) 2GB RAM (Vista).
2 GB RAM on XP
Graphics Card: 256MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card (shader 2.0 or higher).
512 MB, DirectX 9.0 should be possible if I'm correct
Sound Card: Directx9.0c compatible sound card.
Windows compatible mouse & keyboard.
15 GB free uncompressed hard drive space.
much much more


could it be directx 9.0? I think I have it, but I'm not sure. Please help me

[A Very Super Market]

That was basically what my old computer was like, except the graphics card was worse. I genuinely have no idea why it is so messed up.

[rajpoot]

Since I still haven't been able to run the game properly I'm back here. After all this time....still getting the same problem I mentioned before....no battles loading, land or sea...just the campaign map (that too with all the units all red without any texture as if someone had just skinned them).....So anyway, I've been playing the the game, auto resolving all the battles.... :(
However, just now browsing through, I realised that maybe it's my processor, and I'd like to confirm if that is the problem. See, I have an AMD Athelon 64 3600+, it's a Dual core processor...which I think has a speed of 2 GHz......is that the root of the trouble? Can't anyone with 2 GHz processor run the thing?
And I mean how's this possible? Dual Core processors aren't all that outdated are they? Is there no way to run the game on 2000 MHz?

[Babblearossa]

could it be directx 9.0? I think I have it, but I'm not sure. Please help me

could be your drivers, could be an unpatched game, could be many other things.
can you figure out what graphics card you have and what driver version? and what processor not just the speed?

[SwissBarbar]

Thanks for your answers.

Yes, about the Graphics Card:

Graphics Card Manufacturer: Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset: Radeon X1300 Series

Memory Size: 512 MB
Memory Type: HyperMemory

Core Clock in MHz: 446 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz: 342 MHz


About the System:

Name of the operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version: Service Pack 3 Build 2600
Systemtype: X86-based PC
Processor: x86 Family 15 Modelo 4 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2786 MHz

total real memory: 2048 MB
available real memory: 1.33 GB
total virtual memory: 2.00 GB
available virtual memory: 1.96 GB

I hope this is the information you need? :yes:

[glasket]

Would I be ble to run empire?

Intel T7500 @2.20GHz
Memory (RAM) 2046
System Vista 32 bit
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600

[Babblearossa]

Graphics Card Manufacturer: Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset: Radeon X1300 Series
Memory Size: 512 MB
Processor: x86 Family 15 Modelo 4 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2786 MHz

the graphics card is pretty dang weak for gaming, and the cpu is pretty old too.

the next patch supposedly has multi-core support improved, it should help with
your cpu ( which I think is a 2.8ghz Pentium D 820). For the graphics card ( which is a low end x1300 based on the clock speeds ), you might try running at a lower resolution but you won't get past the lowest settings.

[Babblearossa]

Would I be ble to run empire?

Intel T7500 @2.20GHz
Memory (RAM) 2046
System Vista 32 bit
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600

Your processor is fine, memory probably but it's vista so might not have huge armies, I don't know how that video card performs, some people above in the thread had 8500 and weren't able to play but they also had slow processors. I think the mobility 2600 might be equivalent to nvidia 8500.

The best thing to do is download the demo and see, the actual game should play a bit better than the demo especially after next patch.

[glasket]

Your processor is fine, memory probably but it's vista so might not have huge armies, I don't know how that video card performs, some people above in the thread had 8500 and weren't able to play but they also had slow processors. I think the mobility 2600 might be equivalent to nvidia 8500.

The best thing to do is download the demo and see, the actual game should play a bit better than the demo especially after next patch.



Thanks a lot for the input.

I think the mobility 2600 is equivalent to nvidia 8600. I am no expert at this and just did some google searching.
Maybe some others may know if I would be able to run the game?

And just to clarify my processor is core 2 duo Intel T7500 @2.20GHz

[SwissBarbar]

This is bad news :no: But thanks for the answer

[JohnnyManiac]

On what settings will I be able to play ETW with this laptop?

Dell Studio 15
Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 2.0GHz
3GB DDR2
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

[Babblearossa]

On what settings will I be able to play ETW with this laptop?

Dell Studio 15
Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 2.0GHz
3GB DDR2
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

The video card should be fine for 1366 x 768, playing at more than medium, ( maybe someone knows more specifically ). the processor I can't figure out where that one lies in intels range. I see it just came out in feb so it's prolly fast enough.

pretty much guesswork on my part but it should be fine at that resolution. If you get it, post back on how it plays, people rarely do that but I think it'd be helpful for others.

[gardibolt]

I don't know your motherboard so I can't be certain, but if the sockets the same it should drop right in. going from 90W to 120 shouldn't require a new power supply, but that's for the 6400+. the 6000+ is cheaper and 90W, looking at the cpu charts at tomshardware ( the 2007 ones ), it looks like you'd get somewhere from 20% to 50% framerate increase if cpu is the actual bottleneck.

It's not worth it for this game probably, it might be if it gets you an extra year or two before you want to upgrade your computer.

You haven't said what resolution you're playing at and how much memory is on the 8500 video card. To decide that it's really not the video card you might try dropping the resolution down. Also in that link in the post above, the one at totalwar.com, I think it made a point that higher quality textures in this game use much more memory than in previous ones, I don't entirely recall it as I quit reading once my install quit lagging but it's probably worth going over if you're unable to play the game due to laggyness.


Trying to play at low/none for everything. The video card is the 512MB memory version, if I remember right.

I'll have to try again and see if the new patch's multithreading upgrade helped at all.

UPDATE: tried again Aug. 30 and now after the credit screens (which are sluggish and choppy) it goes to a white screen with a cursor and hangs there. Lovely. Does even less than it used to.

[Wausser]

I'm planning on buying a laptop, and now my question is, will it be able to handle E:TW?

Acer Aspire 7735 ZG-424 G50 MN

Intel T4200 @ 2.0 Ghz.
4 GB DDR3
ATI Mobilty Radeon HD 4570 512MB
@Vista Home Premium 32bit


At what settings will the game run?

[Marquis of Roland]

What would be the ultimate PC for ETW? I am thinking of putting together one :laugh4:

[Tillan]

What would be the ultimate PC for ETW? I am thinking of putting together one :laugh4:

Do you want to post a budget? Any preferences in hardware? etc etc Im sure I could post a system spec costing £10,000 that you would love - but thats probably more then you want to spend =p

[Lparsons7981]

I (somehow) run the ETW demo

Windows XP SP3

1.5 GB RAM

Pentium 4 3.2 GHZ with HT

Geforce 6600GT 128 MB

I run on low, with unit models on medium. It runs okay (for me anyway, probably not most people's definition of okay :D) The sea battle in the demo is much smoother then the land battle.

Is it even worth buying the game for $17.99 with this setup? I would upgrade, but I am a college student and finding seasonal employment right now has been difficult to say the least, so needless to say I am flat broke.

I was looking into upgrading (cheaply) with a cheap Video Card upgrade.

It's on newegg (can't post the link yet) its a Geforce 8400 512MB for 34.99 with free shipping

Its not good, but its cheap, and significantly better then what I have. The main problem is I stupidly forgot I only have a crappy 300Watt power supply, SO I would need to upgrade that as well most likely (that card says it needs 350 Watts so I'd upgrade to a 400-500 watt.) Would the card even boot up with 300? I don't have many other peripherals (one hard drive, a DVD drive, a NIC card, and a fan.)

Would the game work? Would it even be stable (i've read about a lot of bugs/crashes etc) I run M2TW on low/mediumish settings, and am content with the performance and the graphics.

[Babblearossa]

If you're happy with the demo you'll probably be happy with the game, if you do go to an 8400 I don't think you'll need a new power supply, 350/300 is pretty close and except for the cpu being a bit of a hog you don't have much stuff in that computer. They give the recommended power supply rating a fair amount of leeway because some people like me might have 6 disks and a bunch of other useless gizmos also loaded in there.

[Durallan]

I'm putting a new system together not JUST for Empire Total War, but it will be for others, so I don't have to respost everyone here I hope no one minds heading to the forum I posted the topic on
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1273523

keep in mind, being from australia those prices are in Australian Dollars.

basically I'm putting together a intel Core i7 system with a Motherboard that I hope I won't have to replace the computer till 5 years later (when it should be struggling with the latest games at that time)
and can upgrade it inbetween so that It can keep up. and a big case so that I don't have to worry about what I put in it.

[antisocialmunky]

Buy XFX ATI. They give the most bang for life-time warrantied buck right now. ATI cards are more competatively priced atleast in the States. A 4890HD = $200 USD while a 275gtx is $20 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%2050001669%201305520549&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICED

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16681/1

[Durallan]

the 4890's from what I've read are definetly great bang for buck, especially with the fact that they actually perform slightly faster than the GTX 275 on lower framerates (1440x900,1680x1050) but the GTX275 is just that bit faster on the HDMI res's and up. As this report shows its rather inconclusive http://techreport.com/articles.x/16681/1 as to whom is the real winner (although no doubt those OC'd are probably slightly faster)

But my choice for getting the NVIDIA card is mainly because I've normally got NVIDIA's and theyve treated me well thus far, also because it comes with PHYS X and then when the 300 series comes out with support for directx 11 I can use it as a phyx card. Thats my idea for now at any rate.

[antisocialmunky]

Yeah but ATI always has the hardware advantage while Nvidia always has the driver optimization advantage. Usually ATI wins if you go super AA. Plus its manufactured by XFX who are part of the Big 3 Nvidia Manufacturers(EVGA, BFG, XFX).

[Durallan]

my only question is and while I'd probably need AA considering I don't have a high end monitor but for people that do, you don't really need AA at the really high resolutions 1920x1080 and up, unfortunately I won't be getting an XFX EVGA or BFG just because wheere I shop doesn't stock them.

[A1_Unit]

Everyone - turn off SSAO unless you have a super-ring. It's a lag bringer...

[Knight of Ne]

Will i be able to play E:TW with my current CP?

Proccessor: AMD Phenom 8550 Triple-core Processor, 2.20ghz
RAM: 3.00GB
System type: 64-bit
Card: Nvidia Geforce 9200

Sorry about the lack of info i dont know how to find the rest.
Ne.

[A1_Unit]

That should be able to play ETW I think... I'm 85% sure.:laugh4:

[Tsavong]

Nvidia Geforce 9200?

what sort of memory dose it have?

[Knight of Ne]

I dont know what memory it has but i brought the game and it works really well on it. So in the end it was fine.

[gardibolt]

I'm surprised...that's an awfully slow processor.

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[SwissBarbar]

What do u think, would this one suffice for ETW?


Intel® Core™2 Duo E7400-Prozessor (2,8 GHz, 1.066 MHz, 3 MB Cache)
Original Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 64 Bit
3.072MB 800 MHz Dual-Channel DDR2 SDRAM [3 x 1.024]
nVidia GeForce GT220 / 1.024 MB

[DexterD]

Hi all...

...been hanging around the forums since Medieval TW way back in the day, finally registered. =)

So I'm thinking of buying a cheap new pc, and i really want to play ETW. Found one at a good price with the following specs:

- Intel Pentium E5200 2,5GHz, 2MB L2-cache
- 3GB DDR2 RAM 800MHz
- 500GB 7200 rpm
- Nvidia GeForce G210 512MB
- Vista home, 32bit

Main considerations are the CPU and the graphics card. What do you make of them for ETW?


Thanks a lot,
Dexter

[WILDWAYNE001]

OK I tested it on Can you Run it and I got min reqs..

So could I play with a

AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor TL-60 2x 512 KB L2 cache, 2.0 Ghz, 800 MHz

ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 Graphics

Sorry I don't know much about computers and I figured one of those is the problem... Maybe both idk.

[A1_Unit]

I read somewhere that AMD graphics cards couldn't run Anti-Aliasing and SSAO at the same time.:shrug:

[WILDWAYNE001]

Thats what it says I have on Can you run it and on my computer box? So idk...

[WILDWAYNE001]

Sorry for the double post... This might help. I just want to play the game without lag... I don't care about graphics, if I download the demo will it run like the full game would?

https://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n211/wildwayne_2006/capyo.jpg

[A1_Unit]

That should work.:yes: If you still have lag turn of SSAO (it looks nice but takes a lot of memory to run).

[WILDWAYNE001]

Should I download the demo to test it out before I buy it? I heard the demo doesn't work well so I'm not sure hahaha.

[A1_Unit]

The demo is just 2 battles but it's a good way to test your system (but I really think your system can play ETW).

[pevergreen]

If you have the download limit (depending on country) to do so, definately download the demo.

Even if the demo runs slowly, the game will be faster. Demo's always seem to be unoptimised code from CA.

(I ran M2TW demo and it was 10 FPS, got full game, was normal. :shrug:)

[WILDWAYNE001]

Alright then I guess I will buy this game sometime in the next week or so! I can't wait haha

[gardibolt]

OK I tested it on Can you Run it and I got min reqs..

So could I play with a

AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor TL-60 2x 512 KB L2 cache, 2.0 Ghz, 800 MHz

ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 Graphics

Sorry I don't know much about computers and I figured one of those is the problem... Maybe both idk.

On a lark I checked my computer on Can You Run It and it said I met the minimum requirements (and it was pegged at the fast end). It doesn't run any faster than slideshow mode, when it does run at all, which is seldom. :skull: So I wouldn't rely on CYRI to be right on this.

[A1_Unit]

There are a lot of lag-causing things in this game that were fixed with one patch and brought back with the next.

[WILDWAYNE001]

I got the game it runs fine. Thanks a lot for your help.

[Madoushi]

Well, Can You Run It isn't always terribly useful to me, as it says my Motherboard mounted Radeon HD 4250 isn't even sufficient to run Mass Effect 1 or BioShock 1. :)

2.94Ghz AMD Athlon II X2
512MB Radeon HD 4250 internal
4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
500GB Hard Drive.

For me, Empire runs on minimum settings at 11XX x 7XX (whatever the hell it is). I can turn up some sliders, but they make large or rainy battles slowdown noticably. With everything on minimum, it seems to run 'smoothly' at 20+ fps, though the intro movie runs with noticable slowdown.

The Road to Revolution mini cutscenes mostly run decently, however.

[PrinceofOttomans(V)]

Hi. Just a quick question
Will my computer able to run empire total war on high setting?
CPU
Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU T4300 @ 2.10GHz

CPU Speed
2.10 GHz Performance Rated at: 3.15 GHz

RAM
4.0 GB

OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (build 7600), 64-bit

Video Card
Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family

Features: Minimum attributes of my Video Card

Video RAM 1.7 GB
Hardware T&L Yes
Pixel Shader version 4.0
Vertex Shader version 4.0

Free Disk Space
403.0 GB

Thanks, much appreciated

[gardibolt]

Hi. Just a quick question
Will my computer able to run empire total war on high setting?
CPU
Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU T4300 @ 2.10GHz

CPU Speed
2.10 GHz Performance Rated at: 3.15 GHz

RAM
4.0 GB

OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (build 7600), 64-bit

Video Card
Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family

Features: Minimum attributes of my Video Card

Video RAM 1.7 GB
Hardware T&L Yes
Pixel Shader version 4.0
Vertex Shader version 4.0

Free Disk Space
403.0 GB

Thanks, much appreciated

I'd be interested in whether or not you were able to run it. I have a higher chipspeed and equivalent video card and I have never been able to run this game at all.

[Xenopusbruteovum]

This is probably a stupid question, but will ETW run on Windows 7? I tried downloading the demo to see if my new comp would handle it, but I ran into trouble with Steam. Now that I have installed the actual game, its fine.

[A Nerd]

I play ETW on windows 7, I have no problems. I too have wanted that middle finger emoticon at times as well! :)

[Xenopusbruteovum]

I downloaded the demo. It works ok, but it keeps not responding. Either there is something wrong with the demo, or I need more RAM. I have 3G with Windows 7. I also disabled Norton virus and firewall before playing because it kept crashing to desktop. No matter what, CA has us addicted to this stuff if we are willing to go such lengths to play this.

[A Nerd]

I am not very techie so I can't help you any further, sorry. Perhaps someone more knowledgable will happen by. I have 4G of ram and never tried the demo, but still, have no problems. I agree about the addictive part though! :)

edit: You can also try the apothecary here if you still have problems if no one aswers your question in this forum!

[Boohugh]

I downloaded the demo. It works ok, but it keeps not responding. Either there is something wrong with the demo, or I need more RAM. I have 3G with Windows 7. I also disabled Norton virus and firewall before playing because it kept crashing to desktop. No matter what, CA has us addicted to this stuff if we are willing to go such lengths to play this.

It's probably the demo to be honest. When the game was orginally released it was incredibly unstable. The demo would have been based on a similar build and so won't have experienced the benefits of the patches. 3GB of RAM should be fine, I run Vista 32bit which can only use about 3GB of the RAM I have installed and the full, patched version of ETW runs ok. In any case, if it is a hardware problem, it would more likely be related to your graphics card (or its drivers) than the amount of RAM you have.

[Xenopusbruteovum]

Thanks for your help. I've pretty much played out MTW2. I have an ATI 880G HD 4?50 with 1.4 G of available shared RAM. I hope that is enough.

[Boohugh]

I have an ATI 880G HD 4?50 with 1.4 G of available shared RAM.

That's an integrated graphics card if I'm not mistaken, which uses a certain amount of your RAM as its own memory. So, contrary to what I just said, the amount of RAM you have will play a more significant role in performance than normal! :oops:

Integrated graphics tend to have poor performance compared to seperate graphics cards. I think you may be able to run ETW from what I've been able to find out about the HD4250, but it would probably be a low resolution and low detail settings. A fair amount would depend on what processor you have, but even then I wouldn't want to make any promises.

[Xenopusbruteovum]

I took your advice on the demo not working right and I bought the game anyway, and I have no problems playing it. In fact, its awesome. Thanks for your help all.

[Forward Observer]

I wanted to add to this thread about an issue that several Nvidia card users have recently reported. I just upgraded my Nvidia GPU from a GTX285 to a GTX560Ti. I also installed it with the latest NVidia drivers --which are 270.66. I am running Vista 64 bit on an I7 940 CPU. Empire ran fine prior to this, but afterwards the game will not start properly. I get the initial splash screen, but then it starts flickering as I hear the music for the opening movie playing. From this point on, I cannot visually access the main menu. The only way to exit is by using the Windows task manager to end the program.

I tried the previous 266 drivers and re-installed the game with no change. This was before I found threads at both the offcial forums and Total war center that others were experiencing the exact same problem.

The immediate solution for most is to simply roll back to earlier working Nvidia drivers. I have heard that the 263's will work. However, it appears that this is not a solution for my particular card. Since my GPU is new to the market, Nvidia only lists the 270 and 266 drivers as being compatable with it, and I am hestitant to experiment with anything earlier.

However, the issue has been reported to NVidia by myself and others. It has been reported back that the next driver release (275 something) should fix the issue.

Just an FYI.

Cheers

[LordK9]

No threads for six years - scary. Hey, I just found a box in the back of a closet that is Empires. Totally forgot about it after playing Rome I/II and Medieval I/II. I suppose it's a lost cause even with Win7 (if anyone is even monitoring this), right?

[Fisherking]

It is a decent game. Actually liked Napoleon a bit better. The extra units are worth the buy. It should give you a few hundred hours of play all the same.

[LordK9]

--- but will it work with Win7/64? Some of the older TW games won't.