M2TW: suitable nVidia video card

[glasket]

Currently I have the nVidia Geforce 4 Ti 4200 128MB card and that is no good to run the game smoothly as it crashes sometimes.

I am obtaining the nVidia Geforce PX 7300GS video card (256MB) which is above the 128 minimum requirement to run the game.
Does anyone know if there will be problems with running medieval 2 on this card with its default drivers.

[sapi]

Is it an agp card?

[glasket]

Sorry I am not sure.
The full title is nVidia geforce PX7300GS PCIe

The specs are
memory interface - 64 bit
memory bandwidth - 6.5GB/s
fill rate - 2.2 billion pixels per second
vertics - 413 million per second
RAMDACS - 400Mhz
Graphics bus technology - PCI Express
It Suppots Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and true high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting

that is all I have on it.
I hope I will be able to run Medieval 2 smoothly.
Anyone know?

[sapi]

I'm afraid that that's not going to work with your computer :(

That's a pci-e card (the new format for video cards) and no computer running a geforce 4 has a pci-e slot, so the card won't fit.

You're best off not getting that one and looking for a good agp card (which is really not my area of expertise)

[glasket]

sorry I should make myself more clearer next time. I am getting a new computer and the geforce PX7300GS PCIe comes installed as standard with that computer.

[sapi]

Ah - my mistake - i assumed too much

That's a pretty good card, but a computer also relies on other things, so do you have the full specs available?

[glasket]

Thanks for all your help.

Yeah the computer will be Intel E6400 core 2 duo processor
1GB DDR667 RAM (2 x 512MB)
160G SATA2 Seagate harddrive
MBDQ965GFEKR motherboard

I think the computer should be ok to run the game. It was the video card i was worried about.
Hopefully it will all be ok.

[x-dANGEr]

I'm not sure how smooth would that be for you.. It is not that good a card am afraid, but sure it will run the game.

[Grimmy]

I'm no expert but you should be fine with what you listed.

My system's not a whole lot different, I have the 7800GTO vid card and 1 gig of RAM on my sys with an amd duel core and I can run it at High to Highest settings across the board at the higher rez with huge units and get almost no noticable lag or problems.

[sapi]

Looks fine to me.

[antisocialmunky]

It'll be fine. I haven't figured out a way to put the processor load over 60% on my 6400. That and it'll over clock to silly speeds.

[katank]

If you can, assemble a machine yourself. More RAM would help and a 7600GS even would be a better for not much more.

However, your setup should be fine for running the game.

[Quillan]

I would definitely recommend going up to the 7600 series card. The 7300 has lots of memory, but not a lot of power or bandwidth. The 7600 GS or GT cards have 128 bit memory interface, twice the size. Judging strictly by benchmarks from older cards, the half-size memory bandwidth is absolutely crippling. Back during the Geforce FX series cards, the suffix LX (if I remember correctly) denoted one with the lower memory interface, and they performed terribly. You would be better off buying to highest of the lower range cards or the lowest of the higher range cards than you would be buying the LX, and there were similar problems with the ATI cards designed the same way.

Do NOT get a card with a 64 bit memory interface. Assuming you can afford it, I'd recommend going with a 7900 series card, which will have a 256 bit memory interface. You can get a 7900 GS with 256 megs of memory for about $160 online. I don't know if that's within your budget, or if the company building the computer will give you that option even.

[katank]

In rough order, 7600GS ~$100, 7600GT ~$130, 7900GS ~$160 are your best bets. Great bang for the buck deals. Consider a SLI motherboard for easy upgrading later.

[Atticus Finch]

I have that video card, with a similar system. Campaign map runs perfectly (even w/ shadows), Battle map runs well but the settings have to be low.

[Shahed]

I just bought the 7600GS 512MB, and the game cannot run with 10,000 soldiers on 8XAS and 16XAA.

If you want top end performance that card won't do it, that system won't actually. But I think, like the 7600GS that one will run much better than your current one.

From my brief experience with the 7600GS 512MB it's a GREAT value for money, but it isn't top end.

If you are a hardcore gamer, you should consider a better card.

[BlackAxe3001]

You don't have to stick with just nvidia either you know. ATI makes cards too. It might be worth checking them out also. I guess it would be easier for us to lead you in the right direction if you give us a price range that you want to spend on the card. Oh, the 7300 is the lowest of the 7 series cards. My Go6800 in my laptop will beat it, although mine doesn't support shader model 3, it will still out perform the 7300 in shader 2. Just because the card supports something doesn't mean that it has the horsepower to perform well while using that feature. I just got a x1950pro agp 512mb for one of my agp systems and it runs GREAT. The x1900 series cards are really nice. Give me a price range and I will be able to help you out better.

[Shahed]

How about 250 US Dollars ? Am asking for myself (if nobody minds).

[Quillan]

Where are you located, Sinan? A $250 USD limitation on price won't take you as far if you're in Europe or Australia as it will in the US; prices seem to be lower here. In the US, you can get a 7950GT or an X1950XT for that much.

[Shahed]

I'm in Europe. It's much more expensive here. but I'm not willing to pay more than that. Unless I spend outright for a top end gaming machine. Not sure I want to do that, just some inbetween price-value fix. Make it 300 then.

[BlackAxe3001]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102067

If I had only $250 and I wanted to get a card, that would be it right there. Go with the x1950xt. It out performs and out classes the 7950gt anyday. Right now the x1900 series cards will beat the 7900 series cards, mostly. You can ask in any hardware forum and that is what they will tell you. I'm no ATI fanboy by any means. I am gaming on a Go6800 right now. I just hate to see people spend money on one thing when for the same price they can get something much better. I'm in the US so sorry for the non-Europe link. x1950xt is the way to go for that price range.

[Shahed]

Cool. Thanks. It's no problem I found it on amazon.de: http://www.amazon.de/GeCube-X1950XT-...e=UTF8&s=ce-de

So this is better than 7600GS 512 MB yeah ?

[BlackAxe3001]

Memory size has little to do with it. Don't even worry about 256 vs 512 unless you are comparing very similar cards at the same price. x1950xt will wipe the floor with a 7600GS... x1950xt will own the 7950gt for that matter. The new x1900 cards are better than the 7xxx cards. It would be crazy to choose a 7 series card over the x1900 series cards. The one you chose should be good.

* One note *

Make sure you have a power supply that will be able to handle the new card! This is very important because the new cards are quite power hungry. Just make sure you have a good power supply with a good amount of amps on the 12v rail.

[Quillan]

Better? Yes. An order of magnitude better? Close. The X1950XT effectively has 48 pixel shaders, while the 7600 GS has 12. It will drastically outperform that 7600 card.

[Shahed]

OK great ! Thanks for the tips.

Last question: can that card run a full 4vs4 M2:TW (maybe 7500 soldiers or more) with a P4 2.6 and 2 GiGs RAM on max hardware AA and AS ?

[Quillan]

I don't know. If it can't, no single card can. I expect with that number of soldiers on the map the limiting factor would be the CPU anyway. Quad-core Kentsfield and 4 gigs of ram plus that card, perhaps.

[Shahed]

Ok. Thanks for the help.

[baron_Leo]

Hi!

I have Nvidia GeForce 7300 Gt, and it is good enough for MTW2. I have a PIV 3,0 64 bit with HT, Asrock DULA-VSTA Motherboard and 1 GB DDR400 RAM. And the runs smooth with medium prefs on huge unit size. But if you have some more money Iw ould recommend the 7600 GT or Radeon X1600PRO.

[Shahed]

Hey I just noticed something important probably. My power supply is 350W maximum, whereas on the box of the GS7600 512 is says minimum 400W power supply required.

Should I continue to run on the current power supply ? Will that do any damage ?

[PaulTa]

Hey I just noticed something important probably. My power supply is 350W maximum, whereas on the box of the GS7600 512 is says minimum 400W power supply required.

Should I continue to run on the current power supply ? Will that do any damage ?

NO NO NO!

You, as a rule, want to exceed minimum requirements of your card by a safe margin, just to play it safe. For example, if you require 400 watts, go for at least 450 watts, and probably 500 watts. See, you card may draw X amount of power, but you also have to account for the other things you might have plugged into your PC.

Watt rating isn't actually the big deal that everyone makes it out to be. What you really need to be concerned with is the Amp rating on the 12V rail.

If you look at a power supply on newegg, for example, (I know that you're Europe, but bear with me), you'll see output ratings listed in specifications. Look at the 12V output rating, and figure that you need at least a total of 35-40 amps on the 12V line for a good graphics card (7900 range). See, the graphics card will draw off of the 12V line, and will probably require something around 20 Amps. But the Motherboard will also draw off of the 12V line, and will probably consume around 10-12 amps. If you don't want either of those components to crap out any time soon, then you need sufficient Amp rating on the 12V line.

In the mail for me is a E-POWER ZU 550W power supply. It supplies a total of 550 watts, but it also has two 12V lines rated for 20 amps each. This will be enough to cover my 7900 GS that I ordered as well, and my motherboard. I'm replacing my old parts not just because I want an upgrade, but because my current power supply didn't have the amps needed to run my X800 GTO and my mobo (motherboard) at the same time. I got lucky, and only my graphics card is frying to death. My mobo appears fine so far, but it might have also suffered significant damage. Unless you want to pay anywhere around 400 Euro for a new motherboard and a new graphics card, you should shell out the 45-50 Euro on a sufficient power supply.

Not all power supplies are the same, either. Try and check for reviews before you purchase one, and make sure that your motherboard and power supply use the same connections. For example, if your power supply is ATX and your mobo is BTX, you'd need an adaptor. These are easy things to check as far as specs go when you're buying new products, but don't forget about them when you see a great deal and want to impulsively buy something.

So key points ordered by importance-

1) Proper compatability between PSU and mobo.
2) Sufficient Amp rating on the 12V rails.
3) User reviews. If the product is crap, then someone else has probably seen it and fried their system. Let them suffer the crap and you learn from it.
4)sufficient watt rating, about .2 - .3 over what you require as minimum.


Now for graphics cards, for anyone interested. I don't know where everyone lives, but newegg currently sells a 7600GT OC from BFG Tech. for 143 dollars. eVga sells a 7900 GS KO for 175 dollars on newegg. Keep in mind, both of these graphics cards are factory overclocked with lifetime warranties from the manufacturers, but they both require 20 Amps to the 12V rail. That means that you'll need a sufficient power supply that provides at least 30-35 Amps on the 12V rail.


If anyone needs any help because they are making a purchase and aren't sure about campatability, you can either PM me on here or E-mail me at VeryLowSodium89@hotmail.com

I'm no expert, but I have learned quite a lot while recently making my own purchases and spending a week studying this stuff. I'll try and help you, but I am not a final authority.