Compiling minimum & recommended system requirements for EB: post PC specs!

[V.T. Marvin]

Desktop computer:
1. System specifications:
* CPU: Athlon A64 3000+ 64-bit
* RAM: 2GB DDR (400 MHz)
* Graphics Card: ASUS EAX800XL, 256MB DDR3
* OS: Windows XP Proffessional, 32bit
* Monitor resolution: 1024x768
2. RTW settings:
* Unit size: Huge
* Unit Detail: Highest (EB units deserve nothing less than that!)
* Other settings on medium, shadows and reflections OFF, anti-aliasing 2x
3. Ballpark figures:
* Turns take: 60-80 seconds
* Loading game: 3-4 minutes
* Loading saves: 60-80 seconds
* Loading battles: 50-70 seconds
* Loading the campaign map: 40-60 seconds
* Activating the script: 1-2 seconds.
* Navigating on the campaign map: smooth, no noticeable delays
* Navigating on the battle map: smooth, no noticeable delays
* Transitioning to/from event cut scenes (general fallen, etc.): fast, smooth
* Stability: good, random CTD's after battles (waiting until the music plays out helps a lot)
* Running other programs in the background: only FRAPS/Howie´s Quick Screen Capture, other programs and useless processes are turned off to free resources
5. EB rating: 'smooth'. Compared to other computers I am pleasantly surprised that my "not-exactly-high-end" copes with RTW/EB rather well. It seems that CA had done a good job in optimizing the game for the average hardware of those days. I believe that this might be good example of the lowest recommendable configuration where the game runs fine and looks good.


Laptop: ACER Aspire 5930G
1. System specifications:
* CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, 2 GHz
* RAM: 3GB DDR2
* Graphics Card: GeForce 9600M GT, 512 MB DDR3
* OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit
* Monitor resolution: 1280 x 800
2. RTW settings:
* All the graphics settings to the maximum
3. Ballpark figures:
* Turns take: 20-30 seconds
* Loading game: 2-3 minutes
* Loading saves: less than 1 minute
* Loading battles: less than 1 minute
* Loading the campaign map: less than 1 minute
* Activating the script: 1 second
* Navigating on the campaign map: smooth, fast
* Navigating on the battle map: smooth, fast
* Transitioning to/from event cut scenes (general fallen, etc.): smooth, fast
* Stability: excellent - about 20 hours into EB 1.2 campaign and NOT A SINGLE CTD YET
* Running other programs in the background: have not tried it yet
5. EB rating: 'smooth and fast'. The new laptop is much stronger than the 3 years old desktop computer and EB feels much better on that. However, the biggest difference is in the AI turn time and the eye-candy. Loading times are comparable: I suspect the slower HDD (and maybe Vista) to be a factor here.

[Yyrkoon]

CPU: Intel Pentium M 2.00 GHz
RAM: 2 GB (I used to run it on 1, but it's much smoother on 2)
Video: Intel Integrated 128.0 MB video card
OS: XP Media
Resolution: 1280 x 800

EB Settings:

Unit Size: Large (Huge is too unwieldy + it can cause performance issues)
Most details set to medium for smooth playability

Load Times:

Opening EB: 2-4 minutes
New Game: 3-5 minutes
Load Game: 1 minute
turns: 30 - 60 seconds
cutscenes: some trouble occasionally
script: 2 seconds
Smooth battles except the occasional slowdown for an event (i.e. death, cutscene)
Campaign map is smooth with no noticeable lag.

[blank]

Specs:

CPU: Intel C2D OC @ 3,2 GHz
Graphics: Nvidia 8800GT
RAM: 2GB
OS: Windows XP Pro
Res: 1280x960

Settings: everything on max

Performance: fast and smooth (don't know actual load times)

[The Celtic Viking]

1. System specifications:
   
   • CPU: Intel Pentium 4 @ 3.4 GHz
   • RAM: 1GB
   • Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 6800
   • OS: Windows XP Professional
   • Monitor resolution: 1280x1024.
2. RTW settings:
   
   • All maxed on huge.
3. Ballpark figures:
   
   • Turns take: ~1 minute.
   • Loading game: ~3 minutes.
   • Loading saves: ~ 1 minute.
   • Loading battles: ~ 1 minute
   • Loading the campaign map: ~ 1 minute
   • Activating the script: 1 second
   • Navigating on the campaign map: smooth, except the first second after the first time a save is loaded after the game has started up.
   • Navigating on the battle map: smooth.
   • Transitioning to/from event cut scenes (general fallen, etc.): fast, smooth -- no artefacts, no arbitrary pause while the game works out what to render.
   • Stability: good.
   • Running other programs in the background (using the -ne switch): no problem at all, the switch is immediate.
4. System oddities (inexplicable settings which improve system stability/performance)
   
   • None.
5. EB rating: 'smooth'.

[||Lz3||]

I need a new laptop

[Ibrahim]

I need a new laptop

save some money and get one then