The M2TW hardware thread: please post all hardware queries here

my laptop specs are below

Toshiba Satellite Pro A100
Intel Duo core T2500 @ 2.00GHz
1 GB DDRII @533 MHz RAM
nvidia geforce go 7300
Windows XP Pro

I am having troubles with battles even on "Low" settings the movement is very sluggish.

Any suggestions??

What resolution are you running at?

1280 x 760

With everything else being equal, is there a big in-game improvement from having 3gb dual-channel vs 2gb dual-channel ram? Does 1 more GB make any difference?

I also have a EVGA 7600 GS 256mb ddr2 PCIe with the passive heat sink because I wanted a quiet machine and I had a weak power supply. I have a dell so upgrading the PSU is not an option I think. Is this card decent enough for MTW2 with decent visual settings? I run it at 1440 X 900 on a 19" widescreen.

I also run the game on a WD Raptor 10K hard drive. I'm pretty sure that makes a difference.

The main reason for these questions is that I want to make sure I am running the game at the optimal level for my machine. I don't mind spending the money to upgrade if it would make a noticeable difference. Right now, my PC sometimes get bogged down but I don't know if it is my PC's hardware limitations or bugs in the games that are causing issues.

Sometimes, my mouse control on the campaign map is less than smooth. I play NORMAL size and battles are for the most part not too bad even with up to 4-6 stacks on screen. I think I have most of my video setting on low though.

MY Gaming PC
Intel Dual Core 2.8GHZ
3 GB Dual Channel Ram
eVGA 7600 GS 256mb ddr2 passive heat sink
WD 10K Raptor 74 GB 8mb cache


Any help and/or comments appreciated.
Especially with what are the recommended video settings for MTW2 with the 7600 gs.

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think the current build of Windows can properly utilize over 2GB of RAM. I'm not sure why exactly, but that's what my tech-savvy friends tell me. Vista is supposed to be able to harness more RAM. Your performance issues I think are more CPU and GPU related. I've got a 7900 GT with an Ahtlon 3200+ (which clocks at around 2.2 ghz) and can run the game at full specs, but I do take performance hits when I've got two full stacks on the screen. Turning off extras like Anti-Aliasing and, especially, vegetation detail will help tremendously.

@laconic - xp can utilise 3gb of ram if you turn the pagefile down

@chosun - how exactly did you get 3gb of dual channel ram? I wasn't aware of there being 1.5gb sticks...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sapi

@laconic - xp can utilise 3gb of ram if you turn the pagefile down

@chosun - how exactly did you get 3gb of dual channel ram? I wasn't aware of there being 1.5gb sticks...

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Can you elaborate on the pagefile please? Not having one or having a small one?
I am running XP Pro. I thought XP couldn't handle 4 gigs of ram, that's why I only bought 3 gigs.
I have 2 X 512mb and 2 X 1gb all by the same manufacturer and same type of memory. Is that wrong? Diagnostic says it's 3 gb of dual channel. Is that not possible?

XP can handle 4gbs of ram, so if you turn the pagefile (virtual memory) down to 0 you can theoretically have 4gb of physical ram - it's not reccomended though.

As to the dual channel question, most mobos only have one set of dual channel slots, but some modern ones have two (usually 1,3 and 2,4 but it varies) and that must be what you're running. My mistake.

Any thoughts on what would be the recommended video settings for my rig yet?

Thanks!

Your computer should be able to handle the lowest settings with no trouble. I'd just start there, check your performance, and bump things up to see how your computer handles it. Not really any science to it, just keep increasing your video settings until it slows down too much for your tastes.

laconic it is better to have all of your ram exactly the same in manufactur and size

@xdeathfire - that only applies if you want to run dual channel, and in that case you only need 2x whatever sticks the same (if your mobo supports 2 dual channel pairs of slots, you can use different matched pairs in each)

@Chosun - do what laconic suggested - performance is subjective so you have to go with what you're happy with

hey everyone,i have question,i will buy SAPPHIRE X1300PRO 256M/AGP tomorrow,& i wonder can i be able to play M2TW?Or not.

sorry for my english :) .........

It's not a great card but it should manage on low settings.

Someone with more knowledge then me should be able to give you the specifics.

Ok thanks SAPI, I got SAPPHIRE X1600PRO 256M/AGP ,because a super salesman who make a good offer.A New SAPPHIRE X1600PRO 256M/AGP for a 55 dollars.

I'm shopping around for a video card, mostly to improve MTW2 performance, and saw a good review of the Radeon X1650 PRO on tomshardware.com. Has anyone here got any experience with this card? It's a low-end card but I'm on a tight budget.

I'm also looking at the Geforce 7600 GS.

Thanks!

Not sure if this is the right thread for my question (its not a 'problem', more of a query)

Is it worth leaving BLOOM turned on in the game video options? I thought bloom was more of a light-source effect - like the sun, lamps, fires, stuff like that. As there's not much of this in the game (flaming arrows maybe), is it worth turning BLOOM off to get a big performance improvement?

Cheers

@zarker - yep, i've used the same reasoning and turned bloom off asap.

Compared to HDR it looks rubbish anyway.

In a game such as oblivion, it (hdr) makes a huge difference, as it does in games that have been built to support it (source engine games such as day of defeat: source and hl2:ep1 are prime examples); but in m2tw i just can't see the need.

Cheers SAPI :)

currently have a NVIDIA 6200 LE.
M2 runs pretty nice.
but plan to upgrade to 7600 GT which is even faster than a Xbox 360 gfx processor I believe.
so when i upgrade how will M2 play?
i want all options on
and at least Trillenear and AAX2
how well will that play?

It will definitely run much better but the actual benifit depends on your resoultion.

alright! i just run at 1024X768!
thanks.

Well, I just got a new Comp.

I have just got some kind of dual core from intel, maybe 2.4 or sommin.

I have also got a 7600GT.

But Unfortunatley only one Gig of DDR2.

I have yet to get my copy of M2TW back from my Brother, whom is using the new Alienware comp (waste of money, but he has it to burn ight now) and it runs like silk. I wondered if it would run ok on my own?

It should run fine - one gig of ram should be enough for most current games; the main reason that 2gb is reccomended is for smoother operation rather than a huge performance increase (in most games)

I dont really know about graphic cards, and Im wondering if Geforce 6500 512Mb is good enought for this game?

Personally i wouldn't go for it.

It's a rather old core and getting 512mb of ram on it would be a waste.

Hi i want to know if i will be able to play MTW 2 with these laptops, and if so which will be the better one to get? Thanks in advance.

Alienware Aurora m9700
AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile ML37 2.0GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache
17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology
1GB Dual Channel DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz - 2 x 512MB
60GB 5400 RPM SATA with NCQ
8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS
High-Definition Audio with surround sound

Dell XPS M1710
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM
60GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS
Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy® ADVANCED HD Audio

From what i can see the second is the better choice, but you'd best wait for more info from members who know more about laptops than me

I was asking because, i have a choice to get one of those two laptops for free and mostly wanted to know if those laptops could handle Medieval 2 Totalwar.
so any will do as long i get to play MTW2. lol

Thanks for the reply. :)

Building a PC from scratch with the aim being to be able to play M2 at really decent levels. The build list I have so far is:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Socket 775 1.86GHz

Sapphire Technology Radeon X1950PRO 256MB DDR3 PCIE Dual DVI TVO

Asustek S775 Intel 945G MATX Audio Lan Graphics Motherboard

Kingston ValueRAM 2x1G 240Pin DIMM PC2-4300 Non-ECC DDR2 CL4

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 80GB S300 internal HDD

550W PSU Gold 12cm SATA PFC

Trust 5.1 Surround Soundcard SC-5100


Does this list “fall down” anywhere obvious? Perhaps in the choice of RAM??

(note: haven't bothered to include optical drive or case info...guessing they won't make much difference)