Any recommendations for next comp to run Empire on

**Haudegen** · 02-27-2009, 22:59

Depends.

The Quadro is optimized for CAD and stuff. This card simply isn´t made for gaming. Look here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd285359.aspx

If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you´ll find a list of benchmark results of the Quadro. It shows that the Quadro is even weaker than, for example, a GF 8400 GS when it comes to 3d games. And even a GF 8400 GS would be a terrible choice for a brand new gaming PC by todays´ standards.

Therefore: From a gamer´s perspective, you´ll want a Geforce 9600 or better, like Marten said. All of these cards have at least 512 MB video RAM, some have 1 GB. But the amount of video RAM doesn´t mean a lot by itself. More important are the quality of the GPU (Quadro < GF 8400 GS < GF 9600 < GF9800) and the quality of the video RAM (DDR2 < DDR3 < DDR5).

**Fridgebadger** · 03-01-2009, 00:56

I've got a Quadro FX 4600 with 768MB and I'm running the demo on all ultra settings, with AA etc up to max. Haven't checked the fps, but it looks perfectly smooth. It runs other 3d games (like Far Cry 2) fine as well.

It comes with a dual quad core Xeon E5420 @ 2.5GHz and 4 gig of ram. I'm not arguing that it's a better card for gaming than the others you've mentioned, just that it seems to run Empire fine.

**Haudegen** · 03-01-2009, 09:02

Originally Posted by Fridgebadger

I've got a Quadro FX 4600 with 768MB and I'm running the demo on all ultra settings, with AA etc up to max. Haven't checked the fps, but it looks perfectly smooth. It runs other 3d games (like Far Cry 2) fine as well.

It comes with a dual quad core Xeon E5420 @ 2.5GHz and 4 gig of ram. I'm not arguing that it's a better card for gaming than the others you've mentioned, just that it seems to run Empire fine.

Alright, but a graphics card that costs easily more than € 1000 should excel in every aspect.

But the OP here has a Quadro NVS 290 that is sold for a modest price of € 120.