What spec of machine do I need?

**Dragoncrusader** · 04-01-2006, 10:14

Hi Lemur
I was aware that Dells do not upgrade easily and so was looking at replacing it. I do not mind getting another Dell so will find out what they can do for me as one option. Option two is to buy a machine that can be upgraded in the future.

I am trying to stay off the question of budget and to keep focussed on the minimum spec of machine that is needed to run RTW on huge unit size with most of the graphic effects on and the same also for MTW2. If I know that then I can probably get a deal on a "last years model" or some other way to keep the cost down.

For instance is 512k RAM sufficient or do you need to go up a step? What sort of processor is best and if I look for a mid range graphics card - what am I looking for?

cheers

**Beirut** · 04-01-2006, 13:04

Originally Posted by Dragoncrusader

I am trying to stay off the question of budget and to keep focussed on the minimum spec of machine that is needed to run RTW on huge unit size with most of the graphic effects on and the same also for MTW2. If I know that then I can probably get a deal on a "last years model" or some other way to keep the cost down.

For instance is 512k RAM sufficient or do you need to go up a step? What sort of processor is best and if I look for a mid range graphics card - what am I looking for?

cheers

Unfortunately, it's all about the budget.

RAM is cheap. Get a Gig.

For game CPUs, AMD rules. Some of their lower end 64bit CPUs can be bought very cheap and give great performance.

As for the video card, a lot depends on whether you are going AGP or PCI-E. AGP will save you money and allow you good range of medium to high power cards. PCI-E will cost more but then the best ($$$) cards will then be available.

For example, an AGP setup with an AMD64-3500/1024RAM/7800GS-AGP is a hot system that you could get for a reasonable price.

**Lemur** · 04-01-2006, 18:39

Dragon, I second everything Beirut just said. 512 megs of RAM is sub-par these days; a gig is minimum wage for gaming. And like B said, RAM is cheap, so why not go for it?

And he's absoultely right, a comination of a lower-end AMD64 chip with an Nvidia card will make all gaming a breeze. I don't know your budget, but the 7800GT is a great AGP card, and the 7900GT is a great PCI card (although possibly more than you need).

Once again, Beirut is right. We need to have some notion of your budget to go much further.

**Dragoncrusader** · 04-02-2006, 01:00

Hi Guys
thanks for your suggestion so far. However I would like to know what the suggested machine actually does with RTW. Does it run the game with units on huge unit size with all the effects switched on, or does it do something less than this?

With regard to budget, I had not given it any thought and have not bought a computer for a few years, so I am a bit out of touch with current prices. So I could spend up to £2,000 on just the tower but would prefer to spend the minimum to do the job and then have money over to upgrade the screen, speakers, etc.

cheers

**Proletariat** · 04-02-2006, 05:29

For 2K£ these guys could find you a monster. Personally (and I'm definately not very tech savvy), I would sink as much cash into the things you can touch and see and hear. Since these are the things you are actually interacting with, I think it makes the most sense to have a mouse that best suits the games you play, a set of speakers that brings out a good game-soundtrack's atmosphere, and then a dazzling monitor.

With a budget like yours, I think you could put together a real stunner. Good luck.

**Beirut** · 04-02-2006, 13:21

Originally Posted by Proletariat

For 2K£ these guys could find you a monster. Personally (and I'm definately not very tech savvy), I would sink as much cash into the things you can touch and see and hear. Since these are the things you are actually interacting with, I think it makes the most sense to have a mouse that best suits the games you play, a set of speakers that brings out a good game-soundtrack's atmosphere, and then a dazzling monitor.

With a budget like yours, I think you could put together a real stunner. Good luck.

What she said.

2000P is about $4000Cdn. Gah! The gloves are off.

You could put together a real beast with that budget. A system for that budget could be along these lines: (Cdn. funds. Divide in half for pounds)

AMD64-4000 - $400
2 Gigs fast RAM - $300
Asus SLI MB - $250
Nvidia 7800GTX - $700
Viewsonic VX922 LCD screen - $450

This would be a dream system and still leave a lot of budget free for the peripherals; HD, sound card, CD/DVD, good game mouse, HOTAS flightstick system(!), etc.

(The ASUS SLI MB will let you install a second 7800GTX card later if you feel you need the power. But it's been said you need at least an FX-55 CPU -$1000- to fully exploit the power of twin 7800 series cards.)

I think even for $3000 you could build a rocket if you put a little thought into it.

**Dragoncrusader** · 04-02-2006, 14:08

Hi Guys,

I have been having a look at one of the guides about Maximum Resolution Fix. If you look in totalwar/data/descr_auto_optimise_options.txt it gives the best set up for any given machine.

Using this I can see that my current machine is fine except for the video card because I cannot get 80 unit size on it. Bumping the card up to 128k gets me the unit size of 80 but still normal detail on units and buildings. Going up another notch gets me high detail on units but not buildings and I would need a 512 card to get both. So option one is to see what my old Dell can take in regards to new graphics cards. The screen resolution is fine.

Following Sod's Law that the Dell will not upgrade, lets look at a new machine. In fact to get unit size of 80 and high effects and unit and building detail only takes:

3 Ghz processor
Vertex shader 2
512 video card
256 RAM

My current screen resolution is fine though it COULD go up to 2048 by 1536. So it looks like a new screen would be a good buy and I could get a larger size.

Your point about RAM is excellent as other games I play require 512 RAM so a 1024 RAM seems worthwhile. This seems pretty much in line with Beiruts suggested

For example, an AGP setup with an AMD64-3500/1024RAM/7800GS-AGP is a hot system that you could get for a reasonable price.

So the next question is where in the UK would I get it?
cheers

PS
I have just seen your latest post Beirut! Thanks for that.

**Beirut** · 04-02-2006, 14:53

Make sure your new video card supports the Shader 3 option. The Nvidia 6800 cards and up do, as well as the ATI-1800s and up. For my money I would not buy the lesser series cards that support Shader 3, like the ATI 1600 (bad reviews) or the Nvidia 6600 (better choices available). Many of the new games make heavy use of Shader 3. The ATI 1900 is the king of the hill as far as Shader 3 goes. But the cooling fan is very, very loud. My 7800GS AGP handles Shader 3 and is quieter than my 9800Pro.

Also, don't be fooled by the AMD64 specs that say these cards only run at about 2.2 Ghz. They run as fast as much higher clocked Pentium chips. Conventional wisdom these days is that if you're going to play games - then get an AMD CPU.

Even on beastly machines, resolutions higher than 1600x1200 are usually unrealistic. Also, the R:TW in-game res specs can be changed so that you can define the res you want, regardless of your card, but it's a chore to figure it out. I got 1600x1200 with my 9800Pro. It was gorgeous, but I had to limit the size of my units to avoid getting low FPS.

I get my machines built by my local computer dude. he's good, honest, and I know where he lives.

Ask around for reputable computer builders, get references, ask exactly what parts he uses and ask for all the empty boxes when he's finished with your machine, as well as a detailed bill listing those parts and the warranties for the parts as well as the warranties for his work. Don't hand your cash over to some shmuck, make sure you know he's good.