The M2TW hardware thread: please post all hardware queries here

[Malcolm Big Head]

I am looking at a video card after several months of battles with low settings. I just thought I would see if anyone had suggestions. I would like to limit my spending to 100-150 USD. Thanks in advance.

CPU: AMD Athlon™ 64 3400+ Processor (512KB L2 cache, 2.4GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
Operating System: Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Chipset: ATI RS480
Memory: 1024MB DDR (400MHz)
Expandable to 2GB (no free slots)
Hard Drive: 200GB
Video: ATI Radeon® Xpress 200 (PCI-Express® )
128MB DDR shared video memory
300 Watt power supply

[sbroadbent]

I am looking at a video card after several months of battles with low settings. I just thought I would see if anyone had suggestions. I would like to limit my spending to 100-150 USD. Thanks in advance.

SAPPHIRE Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP $154.99 ($134.99 after $20 MIR).

I have an Asus x1950 Pro and it is quite decent, particularly for that price point.

EDIT: I just realized you will likely need to upgrade your Power Supply for that card. You'll want something along the lines of a 450Watt power supply that can supply atleast 30A on the 12v.

EDIT 2: Since selecting a power supply is an important task, I'd recommend avoiding anything rated Tier 3/4/5 in the: Official XS Tiered PSU Manufacturer Brand Listing. I got a 500W Seasonic M12 myself.

[Whacker]

Two things never to skimp on: Good RAM and a good PSU.

Link to a calculator to help you determine what kind of PSU you should get: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/p...ulatorlite.jsp

I'd recommend PC Power and Cooling PSUs, been using them for awhile now and they are bulletproof. Only problem is they cost $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

[Malcolm Big Head]

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess i need to decide if I want to throw 200 in this computer or wait a bit and get a new one.

[Shahed]

I'd like a rig which can run M2:TW on absolutely maximum AA, AF etc, whole works.

What's everyone's dream gaming rig spec ?

[sapi]

Money no object?

Quad core Conroe
2x8800gtx in sli
4gb ram
30" dell monitor
7.1 speakers + an X-Fi

Realistically?
Some sort of core2 (conroe)
2gb ram << a must
a dx10 compatible card (give it a while for more to come out)

[sbroadbent]

Regarding whether to wait and buy a complete system in a few months, or buy a "small" upgrade now depends on how soon you'll be able to afford the new system, and how desperate you are for better gaming. In my case, the money was available and it became a must have.

Still, with a 300W power supply I'd be concerned about any video card you might be looking at. Even if a video card does not eat up a crazy amount of power, you need to look at the amps required on the 12v rail. In this case the x1950 Pro needs to be supplied with atleast 30A on the 12v rail which is a minimum of 360Watt PSU. Under full 3d load the x1950 Pro only uses 65.7 Watts (23.2 at Idle and 36 at full 2d load).


As to what kind of system to max out Medieval 2, here's mine:

C2D e6300
Patriot 2GB DDR2 (PC2-6400)
Asus P5L-MX
Asus x1950 Pro 256MB
Seasonic M12 500W

All in a nice Antec Solo case

As to DX10, I'd definately wait for ATI to bring out their line of DX10 cards. Crysis isn't even out yet, so there's no need yet for the expensive 8800's. To be honest, I'd wait until christmas before jumping into DX10, and that's 8 months away.

Until then build a system that will be ready for DX10 gaming and then drop in a decent card once they have come down in price.

[Garnier]

What performance should I expect with:

AMD Athlon 64 2.6 ghz FX-55
X1900 XT 512mb
2 GB Corsair RAM
SB Audigy 2

at 1280x1024 (19 inch monitor)

[sapi]

Good, but I'm wondering why you'd be buying an AMD cpu instead of a Core 2?

[sbroadbent]

I agree. Unless it's amazingly cheap, or you've had it for a while, I definately wouldn't go for a FX-55, as I believe it's single core, and more games will be coming out with multi-core support.

The C2D e6300 is at a good price point for its performance. As much as I would like to recommend an AMD processor, I'd wait for AMD's quad cores to hit.

[sapi]

And if you're willing to spend the price of a FX-55, you could get a damn good Core 2

[Garnier]

I already have that whole machine except for the X1900. I've been using it machine since last august. I have an X850 and am getting an X1900 at some point as a hand-me-down from my brother.

If I was putting together a machine out of my own pocket I'd get a nvidia 7600 and a dual core intel.

[sapi]

Ah ok, that makes sense then

[Xhin_Akuma]

ummm I tried the system Requirements test and I can run everything. I failed recommended though, it was my graphics card and my CPU.

Specs:

1 gig Ram
Nvidia Geforce 6200
Intel Pentium 4 2.00 Ghz.

I think thats all...
I don't care if I have to put everything on low, but will it play smooth? and can I atleast put anti aliasing on?..I hate Jagged edges...

oh yah Have I got the worst hardrive space ever with only 30 gigs.

[Gallicflair]

This game runs really badly on my current machine which Is obviously a lot older than I thought it was

Specs -

AMD 64 3500+
2 * 512MB DDR
250 GB Sata HD
256 MB FX 6800 GT +


like I said the game seems almost unplayable at present even with the setting turned right down so I'm looking at an upgrade.

Any ideas?

[sbroadbent]

like I said the game seems almost unplayable at present even with the setting turned right down so I'm looking at an upgrade.

Any ideas?

Without further details, it'd be hard to make a recommendation.

What is your budget? Where are you located? When do you plan to build?

The reason these questions are important is because the budget determines whether we recommend a completly new machine, or maybe recommend a specific upgrade. Your location would determine how expensive particular components might be. As to when you plan to build, I might make a different recommendation if it was necessary NOW, as opposed to in several months.

For instance, AMD is set to finally release their DX10 video cards some time in May. When these come out, expect prices across the board for video cards to drop. Nvidia will probably release additional models to compete therefore holding off for that may allow you to get a better card for less. If it's within budget, I'd definately recommend a DX10 card, though it's not essential, particularly because you'd need Vista and there aren't much in the way of games yet. If that were not enough, AMD may also bring out their quad cores, which will likely reduce CPU prices, though I don't believe that will be for several more months.

[craziii]

what do I need if I want to play this game on the following settings:

huge unit size, max all graphics - except the following : I don't need AA or bloom or hdr, with 3 full armies fighting a siege battle in a huge city without lag?

what do I need hardware wise? I been holding off on my upgrades since ati still haven't come out with their dx10 gpu. I don't want the best there is, I just want the hardware that allows me to play the game at the above settings.

[deadmeat36]

Can my laptop run this?

BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Genuine Intel(R) CPU 1500 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 480MB RAM
Page File: 347MB used, 774MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

[sapi]

What video card have you got?

If it's an integrated one, as I suspect, you probably won't be able to run it.

[a120d]

Helo me... i got this spec.. but i always lag when a battle with 1000 soldier...

P4. 3.0ghz.. (631. Cedarmill)
Gigabyte DS3
Geforce 8600GT
512x2 MB @5300
320GB SataII

any suggest why i got lagging??

thz

[sapi]

What settings are you playing on?

Either the CPU or the RAM could be bottlenecking you - try turning some things down...

[deadmeat36]

What video card have you got?

If it's an integrated one, as I suspect, you probably won't be able to run it.

I think it is so crap

[Katana]

I'd like a rig which can run M2:TW on absolutely maximum AA, AF etc, whole works.

What's everyone's dream gaming rig spec ?

this isn't the most powerful rig on the market, but it's still pretty beastly and it's under 2k USD. i've got one in the mail (arrives friday; i'll likely phone in 'sick' at work), and i'm lookin' forward to loading up a historical battle with the everything cranked when it arrives.

[Agent Smith]

Ok, I'm not sure if this type of question has been asked, but I have to ask it after watching that Britania trailer.

What system specs do I need to make the game look that good? I'm talking highest quality everything, huge unit settings, 10,000 people on the screen, etc.

I'm asking because I'm taking the Bar Exam in July and, God willing if I pass, I hope to find myself in a nice cushy job so I can afford a brand new rig Any suggestions? Is Alienware any good?

[sapi]

Alienware is mostly overpriced junk that you can get for much cheaper elsewhere.

You'd do well to pop in to your local computer shop and explain to the guys there what you want; they should be able to do a good price with a system that suits your needs.

Post it up for us to check first, of course

[Agent Smith]

Alienware is mostly overpriced junk that you can get for much cheaper elsewhere.

You'd do well to pop in to your local computer shop and explain to the guys there what you want; they should be able to do a good price with a system that suits your needs.

Post it up for us to check first, of course

Thanks for the advice. I'm slowly getting better and better in the inside of a computer, but I still don't feel entirely comfortable building it from the ground up.

So, what is needed to get everything as good as possible for M2TW?

The funny thing is, I could come up with a system now, and it would probably be outdated by August or September when I'm ready to buy it!

[Seville]

Hello,

I have ordered a computer and it'll be here later this week.

Specs:

Windows XP
Dual AMD 2.4ghz processors
1 gig of RAM
Geforce 8600 gts


I'm not really a fan of running things on max settings, I just want smooth gameplay.

Any idea how this pc will work? (low, medium, high settings.)

(Sorry if someone has posted about the same thing, I don't have time to read the entire thread.)


Thanks.

[Shahed]

Thanks for the answers earlier. I'm not sure what benefit having core2 is for M2:TW because AFAIK M2 does not use the capacity of dual core. That's what I gathered anyway.

I have one more question: What is the BEST (money no object.. I hope) LAPTOP for gaming?. That is a normal sized laptop which I can work on AND play games at MAXIMUM MAXIMUM MAXIMUM settings.

[sapi]

It really depends.

You can get really good laptops for games, but they'll usually have barely any battery life, thanks to the strain of having to power a high-end video card.

If you do intend to use it for work, probably best to get a business orientated one and just game on your desktop...

Oh, and there's no reason not to go dual core these days

[FactionHeir]

Thanks for the answers earlier. I'm not sure what benefit having core2 is for M2:TW because AFAIK M2 does not use the capacity of dual core. That's what I gathered anyway.

I have one more question: What is the BEST (money no object.. I hope) LAPTOP for gaming?. That is a normal sized laptop which I can work on AND play games at MAXIMUM MAXIMUM MAXIMUM settings.

Well, my old specs were:

P4 2.8GHz
512MB (really bad, 266MHz) DDR RAM
64BM GeForce Go FX 5600

Now I got:

Pentium Core2Duo 2.16 GHz @ 667MHz
2GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM
256MB GeForce Go 7800GS

Both laptops.
My new one can run M2TW on near max settings (I prefer below max because I rather want smoothness than visuals) and have other progs running in the background and have no probs tabbing out of M2TW to do other stuff at the same time at all. So while M2TW may not be using the second core, you can.

Funny aside is that the game will keep telling me reinforcements delayed quite often even though I got no problems running a large scale custom battle for instance.