What kind of PC will I need for EB2?

[applebreath]

I like to play the game on 1900X1200 res (monitor), with huge settings and unlimited battles. All other settings don't matter much to me.

I have 2 gigs RAM, FX-55 cpu, and 7950 gx2 card.

This works pretty good with (Extended Alex EB1.2).

I'm worried this wont be close enough for EB2. So I thought I'd ask, what kind of PC will I need for the above settings to work well?

Thanks,
Apple.

[antisocialmunky]

It'll play it. Good luck with 1900x1200 on high settings. It's playable but slightly choppy at full stack vs full stack on my:
C2D 6400 @ 3.2
260 GTX
4 GB Ram

[Cute Wolf]

I think because it was based on M2TW kingdoms, any PC that can run M2TW Kingdoms smoothly should be still ok if you play with the same display options.

[Julianus]

Concerning video effect, i believe EB2 should not be much different from Kingdoms, but if EB2 is as script heavy as EB1, then we'd better get a more powerful CPU and more ram. Any way, I don't care wait a little longer between two turns.

[bobbin]

If EB is anything to go by EBII will require more power than Kingdoms as the models and textures are much more detailed. In respect to the OP i'd get some more ram if i were you, 2 gigs might not be enough for the settings you want.

[Fluvius Camillus]

I think because it was based on M2TW kingdoms, any PC that can run M2TW Kingdoms smoothly should be still ok if you play with the same display options.

Well running EB seems heavier than MTWII for me..:juggle2:

~Fluvius

[ziegenpeter]

Dunno, but I got the impression that the EB battle graphics require more power than rtw vanilla. Guess it will be the same for EBII. I'd say, if Kingdoms runs on a pc with the highest settings, EBII would run with "average" settings.

[antisocialmunky]

Go play Third Age Total War, not only is it awesome, the graphics on it should give you a good benchmark for EBII's graphics since they should be as good if not better.

[Belisarius II]

I can play with the highest settings for EB (with large unit #'s). For EBII, I may have to turn the settings down a noch, but I can live with average settings.

Like antisocailmonkey said, Third Age Total War is a great example of what the graphics will look like in EBII.

[madbriton]

If you can play M2TW well, you should be ok. The EB scripts will tend to slow the campaign down like in EB1.

[bobbin]

The script might actually have less effect on the gameplay in EBII as i remember someone saying M2TW makes better use of events allowing for a less clunky script, not having to set up loads of counters etc.

That said they'll be wanting to do a lot more with M2TW so maybe that benifit will be cancelled out.

[Cyclops]

Go play Third Age Total War, not only is it awesome, the graphics on it should give you a good benchmark for EBII's graphics since they should be as good if not better.

Yes it is a very pretty mod. I can play both M2TW and TATW on my old clunker from 2002, with only the odd lag and flicker.

I think EB uses a heap more capacity than RTW because of the massive scripting they employ. I imagine there will be a similar increased demand on perfomance because of scripts with EB2. The FAQ mentions they may use scripting to create civil wars, and I imagine there will be some of the current scripted events in there too.

Plus they'll need lots of scripts for the proposed (well I'm proposing it anyway) Mauryan faction ("Sandrocottuss trades beautiful Elephants for crappy remote provinces" "Mauryan Chariot reforms-spoilers added" "Ahistorical Western Expansion Initiated" etc)....plz plz plz plz...:yes:

[Intrepid Adventurer]

Yeah, Kingdoms runs way smoother than EBI for me, too. That is, the campaign map, loading times, that kind of stuff. It's during the battles that you need graphical power.

So get a PC that runs Kingdoms very well and you should be fine for EBII.

[Skullheadhq]

I'm going to buy a new graphic card to make sure I can play on the highest graphics, or at least almost everything on highest.
And Applebreath, I'd buy some more RAM, doesn't have to be expansive.

[Aemilius Paulus]

RAM does not help much or at all with gaming. CPU is what matters. I upgraded my desktop with 4GB of RAM from one single GB. I saw no noticeable difference in gaming - I swear(yes, I know 32-bit can only utilise 3GB of the 4, but my computer uses 3.7 GB of the 4, so I decided not to spend the money on 64-bit XP). Then I bought a dual core 2.4gHz processor, and that made all the difference for my video games. They started running flawlessly.

The RAM sped up my regular functions, enabling me to multi-task to even a greater degree, but it was the processor which had the effect on gaming.

Still, buy RAM if you can afford it - it is quite cheap. So are processors for that matter... At least in US. I bought both the DDR2 RAM for 140 USD and the processor for 90 USD (no, I did not buy a crappy Celeron either - I got an AMD, as it was the only compatible one).

[Cute Wolf]

Well running EB seems heavier than MTWII for me..:juggle2:

~Fluvius

EB has longer loading time, but faster graphical scroll when allready in game (thanks to script and historical units that made everything that we have loading time). I can play EB on my Core2duo laptop (1.83 Ghz, 1 GB DDR2, 128 mb VGA), but M2TW is not....

But why use laptop for playing if u have 3++ Ghz Dual Core CPU? :laugh4:

[Kikaz]

RAM does not help much or at all with gaming. CPU is what matters. I upgraded my desktop with 4GB of RAM from one single GB. I saw no noticeable difference in gaming - I swear(yes, I know 32-bit can only utilise 3GB of the 4, but my computer uses 3.7 GB of the 4, so I decided not to spend the money on 64-bit XP). Then I bought a dual core 2.4gHz processor, and that made all the difference for my video games. They started running flawlessly.

The RAM sped up my regular functions, enabling me to multi-task to even a greater degree, but it was the processor which had the effect on gaming.

Still, buy RAM if you can afford it - it is quite cheap. So are processors for that matter... At least in US. I bought both the DDR2 RAM for 140 USD and the processor for 90 USD (no, I did not buy a crappy Celeron either - I got an AMD, as it was the only compatible one).

you could have gotten a 2.6ghz Dc if you forked out just a few more dollars...

Well, I'm pretty sure I'll be in good shape for EB 2: AMD 2.6ghz (oc-ed to 2.73,) 4gb ram and a Geforce 7950GT. Runs Fallout 3 with very little chopiness on full detail. Still gonna buy a better CPU fan though, the temperature hovers around 55-60C when playing EB1.

[Aemilius Paulus]

you could have gotten a 2.6ghz Dc if you forked out just a few more dollars...

I do not believe there was a compatible one for my motherboard model, otherwise I would have gotten it. :shrug:

[a completely inoffensive name]

Don't worry, by the time EB 2 comes out, the medium range computers out then should be able to play it very easily.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Don't worry, by the time EB 2 comes out, the medium range computers out then should be able to play it very easily.
Gah, ACIN got all of us there :S

Oh well, better have an EB II equivalent of EB 1.1 than a CA generic TW 1.0, with more bugs than beneath a musty, rotting log in a tropical rain forest...

[antisocialmunky]

Most people don't upgrade that often so 'medium' range does not actually equal playable by everyone. Should be alright if oyu have an old highend system though.

[Skullheadhq]

I'd buy at least 3.2 dualcore or 2,66 quad with a > Geforce 9800GT card and at least 2 gigs of memory.

[a completely inoffensive name]

I'd buy at least 3.2 dualcore or 2,66 quad with a > Geforce 9800GT card and at least 2 gigs of memory.

Oh I am so screwed then.

[antisocialmunky]

I don't think that MIITW can take advantage of quadcores.

[Ibrahim]

What kind of PC will I need for EB2?

a darn good one:clown:

but seriously, if EB1 is any clue, you will need a computer that is capeable of smoothly running Empire: total war on minimal settings.

I can't do that, so I do not plan on playing EB2 on this laptop.

[SwissBarbar]

I buy an new PC, EBII better run on it:

- IntelCore I7 920 Quad Core, 2.66 GHz, 8MB Cache
- Harddisk HDD WD VelociRaptor, SATA-II, 10000rpm, 16MB Cache, 4.2ms
- Windows 7 Professional, 64 Bit
- Graphicscard ASUS ATI Radeon 4890, 1GB DDR5 RAM,850 MHz, RAM 3900MHz, 256-bit
- OCZ Memory 3x 2GB DDR3 2000MHz

[Skullheadhq]

I buy an new PC, EBII better run on it:

- IntelCore I7 920 Quad Core, 2.66 GHz, 8MB Cache
- Harddisk HDD WD VelociRaptor, SATA-II, 10000rpm, 16MB Cache, 4.2ms
- Windows 7 Professional, 64 Bit
- Graphicscard ASUS ATI Radeon 4890, 1GB DDR5 RAM,850 MHz, RAM 3900MHz, 256-bit
- OCZ Memory 3x 2GB DDR3 2000MHz

Lol I think it'll work on an i7 and 64bit W7 and 8 gigs(!) of memory.

[applebreath]

I'm going to buy a new graphic card to make sure I can play on the highest graphics, or at least almost everything on highest.
And Applebreath, I'd buy some more RAM, doesn't have to be expansive.

Ram will probably be the last thing I upgrade. Its solid, fast RAM. Unless I upgrade out of XP to Windows 7, then RAM will probably be needed if it's anything like vista (awful). But, I'll probably stick with the solid XP OS.

I think my PC will be bottlenecking with this CPU. So that's probably what I'll upgrade first, but perhaps the video card before that. Or maybe both if I can swing it.

I just hope they take their time with the game and release a solid, stable version that has at least a "decent" battle/campaign AI (one that might actually conquer you).

[antisocialmunky]

TW games will most likely always bottleneck at the CPU. Your best bet is to find the most overclocked Dual Core if you want to do something completely ridiculous.

I've done 20,000 Rohirim against the Harad Oliphants so you don't need something completely crazy.

[bobbin]

Unless I upgrade out of XP to Windows 7, then RAM will probably be needed if it's anything like vista (awful). But, I'll probably stick with the solid XP OS.
IIRC Windows 7 is supposed to require less ram than vista, haven't tried it myself though.

[antisocialmunky]

I think the Win7 OS loads into ~256-320mb of RAM

[Tellos Athenaios]

IIRC Windows 7 is supposed to require less ram than vista, haven't tried it myself though.

Windows 7 minimum specs mention a whopping 1GB of RAM; the Vista ones claim ‘only’ 512MB. How much it actually may or may not use is a different matter and largely depends on the amount of junk and settings.

In short: it's quite atrocious.

[Parkev]

Windows 7 minimum specs mention a whopping 1GB of RAM; the Vista ones claim ‘only’ 512MB. How much it actually may or may not use is a different matter and largely depends on the amount of junk and settings.

In short: it's quite atrocious.

*cough* Linux

That said since I haven't bought M2TW yet, I don't whether EBII will run, so hardware permitting, I may get my comeuppance yet.

[antisocialmunky]

Windows 7 minimum specs mention a whopping 1GB of RAM; the Vista ones claim ‘only’ 512MB. How much it actually may or may not use is a different matter and largely depends on the amount of junk and settings.

In short: it's quite atrocious.

Its 1 GB on the box but Win7 itself only requires 256-320 to load itself(not anything else). Vista loaded all your often used files into memory and took like 90% memory usage all the time.

[Tellos Athenaios]

You can tinker with SuperFetch (i.e. turn it off) and see the memory consumption drop.

[a completely inoffensive name]

M2TW works fine on my 8600 GT I am assuming it will be fine for EB2. Am I going to be disappointed?

[-Praetor-]

I'm currently playing EBII with an 8600GT myself, and it can handle the graphics without mayor problems. You should expect some lag, but not much. :2thumbsup:

[a completely inoffensive name]

I'm currently playing EBII with an 8600GT myself, and it can handle the graphics without mayor problems. You should expect some lag, but not much. :2thumbsup:

Thank you!

[Horatius Flaccus]

Windows 7 minimum specs mention a whopping 1GB of RAM; the Vista ones claim ‘only’ 512MB. How much it actually may or may not use is a different matter and largely depends on the amount of junk and settings.

In short: it's quite atrocious.

I'm not a computer expert, but I'm now running Windows 7 and it seems much faster in comparison to Vista. So it's at least less atrocious then Vista.

[Cute Wolf]

*cough* Linux

That said since I haven't bought M2TW yet, I don't whether EBII will run, so hardware permitting, I may get my comeuppance yet.

Did M2TW could run on Linux?!? :inquisitive:
Well, I know that linux was definitely faster, because we can drop everything we don't need...

[DaciaJC]

Taken from DxDiag:


System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/26/2009, 16:17:42
Machine name: *************
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.090803-2339)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Inspiron 530
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 2036MB RAM
Page File: 1354MB used, 2676MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode

Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) GMA 3100
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_29C2&SUBSYS_020D1028&REV_02
Display Memory: 286 MB
Dedicated Memory: 0 MB
Shared Memory: 286 MB
Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor: Dell S199WFP(Analog)

I realize that my graphics card hardly deserves the name, and I hope to buy a new one in a while. Other than that, any suggestions? I can barely play MTWII, so I have no doubt EBII will require some major upgrading.

[Horatius Flaccus]

Get at least 4 Gig's of RAM, it's cheap and it will make MTWII run much better.

[antisocialmunky]

More Ram = Crash Less Often.

[Parkev]

Did M2TW could run on Linux?!? :inquisitive:
Well, I know that linux was definitely faster, because we can drop everything we don't need...

The Wine AppDB seems to suggest so; fingers crossed.

[antisocialmunky]

Just stick it on a VM...

[Apázlinemjó]

I play on an ACER 5535 laptop; and M2TW on high settings runs faster than EB1 and RTW vanilla on low settings for me (I don't really know why.). So I really wait the Gaza campaign to find out how EB2 will run on the laptop.

My rig btw:

Processor: AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core QL-60, ~1.9GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM DDR2
Hard Drive: 250 GB HDD
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 3200

I have Vista Ultimate SP2 (32 bit) as operating system, so it uses only 3,3 GB RAM from the 4.

[teh1337tim]

Just my comp specs

Intel i7 920 D0 @ 3.36ghz (very low OC )
Nvidia GTX 260 Sli (1x Asus, 1x EVGA)
9gb DDR3-1033 mhz ram...
Asus Rampage II Gene motherboard...
Corsair 850w PSU
a 23" Monitor at 1920x1080

....
Runs Every game xept Grid, Crysison ultra high maxed out (sometimes take down notch on AA/AF settings tho)

Even when i had a single GTX 260, I could run ETW at maxed out with over 30 fps w/ 8000 -10,000 troops all fighting...

MTW2 I could get about 35-60ish depending on terrain...

ANd since im a very tech savy person who plays RTS and a lot of FPS games

Ill put my estimates here (im well up to date)

Minimum---
Processor--- Intel petnium 4 2.8ghz or Intel petnium dual core 2.6ghz (wolfdale cores too)
Memory--- 2gb minimum
Hard Drive- 4GB + 8gb for page files (others)
Graphics Card--- Nvidia 6800gt + or ATI X1900XT +

Recommended---
Processor--- Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.6ghz + or AMD Phenom II X2 550 or AMD 5000+ serries
Memory--- 4gb
Hard Drive--- 4GB +8gb of free space (for othe stuff)
Graphics Card--- Nvidia 7800GT + / AMD HD3850 +


Note* Laptop chips are quite different as their naming schemes are totally different compared to desktops, Example-- GTX280M is equivilant to a 8800GT

Also* Lower end chips such as Nvidia X100-6xx are Low end/ medium perf chips --- ATI X100-700 are low end/ medium perf chips

Now for Newer Nvidia /ATI chips
GTX 260 onwards are the newer old nvidia chips/ GTS 250 is an 8800gt with die shrinks/lower power envelope (TDP)

ATI atm has the 5XXX serries out.. impressive things imo


thats my .. lil take onto the min specs things...
keep in mind , these are very similar to the requirements on modern FPS shooters meaning if FPS games run it, then RTS games will run it for sure.