Talk about Black Sea...

**Hortensius** · 01-23-2005, 01:15

Take your stevie wonder glasses off!!!

**MoROmeTe** · 01-23-2005, 02:28

I've had an issue where after a battle the entire strat map went black, only showing setlements, armies and agents. Pretty unplayable. At first I used to do a save/load to fix it, then my little brother (yo, BOgdan!) discovered that simple alt-TAB would bring the strat map back to normal. Try it... I still don't know if it is the hardware or the modified map from RTR 4.1

**Red Harvest** · 01-23-2005, 08:46

Wonderland,

What vid card do you have and how much system memory?

**Dooz** · 01-23-2005, 09:52

Red Harvest, I have Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (...is that the graphics card?...), 132 GB free, 12.3 used (that's what you mean by specs right?).

Moromete the Dacian, doesn't Alt+Tab minimize the game screen? Cause that's what I use it for...

Oh and I have RTW 4.0 When I install the 4.1 patch, the entire game doesnt work. Just a screen that says "display setting not available", or something to that effect.

**ShellShock** · 01-23-2005, 10:14

The Intel Extreme Graphics chip is integrated with the motherboard. Such "onboard" graphics tend to have problems with the latest games, and the general recommendation is to upgrade to a dedicated graphics card. For this your motherboard must have an AGP slot (where the graphics card will go). However, many motherboards with onboard graphics do not have AGP slots. This is really inexcusable, but it is how the manufacturers save money.

So, what is the your motherboard model? If you do not know this, what is the model of your PC (if it is one of the big name brands).

**Dooz** · 01-23-2005, 11:52

Computers a Dell Dimension 3000 I believe. I'll have my friend look into it. Then off to the monthly computer fair I go to buy my videocard!... Thanks for the help everyone!

**ShellShock** · 01-23-2005, 12:40

Bad news I'm afraid. The Dell Dimension 3000 does not have an AGP slot, as you can see from this review.

Your cheapest option is to replace your motherboard for one with an AGP or PCI Express slot, and get a dedicated graphics card. If you do this you need to take into account:

Is the existing case the right "form" factor (size and shape) for the new motherboard?
Is your existing power supply sufficient for the new graphic card (some require at least 400 watts)?
Is your existing memory compatible with the new motherboard?

Most motherboards will accept IDE hard disks, which is probably what is fitted in the Dell.

Another option is to buy a PCI graphics card - the Dell has two free PCI slots. PCI cards are much slower than AGP, and this might not be any better than what you've got at the moment. You are limited as to the choices of PCI cards - you cannot get the latest and fastest cards in PCI format.

Do not confuse PCI with PCI Express. You've got PCI, not PCI Express. In terms of performance, the sequence is PCI->AGP->PCI Express. Also note AGP comes in different speeds: 1, 2, 4 and 8 (8 being the best).

Or you could buy a complete system. Make sure you get one with an AGP slot, or even better PCI express; then you will have a choice of which graphics card to get. I can recommend a Nvidia Geforce 6800 GT - top end of the market, and pricey, but you pay for what you get.