EB on my laptop - strange "recommended settings"

**Intranetusa** · 08-25-2007, 16:47

My old desktop is a 3ghz P4 Dell with 1 gb Ram and nvidia 5500 graphics card...for EB, it says the recommended limit is 6000 soldiers, and I usually can play this number with slight lag.

My new laptop is 1.6 ghz duo core, 2 gb ram and nividia 8400 gs, for EB for some reason it says the recommended limit is only 3000 soldiers! (same settings, same video settings, large unit count)...wtf However, when I tested it out, I can play 8000 units with barely any lag.

Is the recommended "unit number" for RTW broken, is it changed by EB, or is it different for laptops/desktops, or does RAM/processor have something to do with it?

thanks

**Tellos Athenaios** · 08-25-2007, 17:03

Well; as you can see: the Desktop did have a lill more clock speed.

**bovi** · 08-25-2007, 17:59

EB has not done anything to the hardware detection.

**Intranetusa** · 08-25-2007, 18:00

Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios

Well; as you can see: the Desktop did have a lill more clock speed.

Still, a duo core is a duo core....wouldn't that count for more?

**bovi** · 08-25-2007, 18:21

I think that depends on whether the game is written to take advantage of the two processors. I don't know if RTW is, but I think so as both CPUs do work (with the latest drivers, that is).

**Bootsiuv** · 08-25-2007, 19:05

I don't think any game from 2004 is written to use two processors. Dual Core was still a few years off when RTW came out.

**Tellos Athenaios** · 08-25-2007, 23:00

Also, the second core usually gets what the first core can't handle.

*But.*

1) Both need to run OS & stuff. Decreasing the free amount of proccessing a bit; which means 2* 1.6Ghz may turn out to be not as effective as 1*3Ghz.
2) Also, RTW might just be unable to detect the second core; after all the OS decides when the second core leaps into activity. So when the second core is not availabe for RTW (because the OS tells it's not neccesary) it may just think you've got only 1.6Ghz of clock speed.
3) Also, I suspect the type of memory your GFX card uses combined with the amount of RAM on the machine may be a clue.
Your desktop has only 1 Gb of RAM; your laptop has 2. Now the thing is, if your first GFX card is based around Hypermemory, or Shared memory or some such thing; and the latter is based on actual onboard memory (dedicated; located on the card itself) yet the total of the first exceeds that of the second... Then it might just be that RTW does not know how to interpret the different types of memory in conjunction witht the amount of RAM on the machine. (It may think the bulky hypermemory allows for lot's of men on the field; *but* hypermory relies on actual RAM of the machine to deliver the performance.)

**Intranetusa** · 08-25-2007, 23:25

Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios

Also, the second core usually gets what the first core can't handle.

Your desktop has only 1 Gb of RAM; your laptop has 2. Now the thing is, if your first GFX card is based around Hypermemory, or Shared memory or some such thing; and the latter is based on actual onboard memory (dedicated; located on the card itself) yet the total of the first exceeds that of the second... Then it might just be that RTW does not know how to interpret the different types of memory in conjunction witht the amount of RAM on the machine. (It may think the bulky hypermemory allows for lot's of men on the field; *but* hypermory relies on actual RAM of the machine to deliver the performance.)

See, that's the thing. Both cards are dedicated. my Gfx 5500 has 256 mb dedicated while my geforce 8400 gs on my laptop has 128 mb dedicated + 768 mb that it can take from the laptop-RAM. Neither uses shared memory persay.

As for hyper memory, the gfx 5500 is an old card, I don't think it has hyper memory.

yeh...so it's kinda weird

**Tellos Athenaios** · 08-26-2007, 00:53

Well; 2Gb RAM should be able to provide your GFX card with it's 768Mb. Add the 128; and a poweful 896Mb appears 'out of thin air'. However; if RTW for some reason ignores the Hypermemory, then it may think your other GFX card is about twice as capable as far as unit numbers are concerned. That would also explain why the laptop RTW advices you exactly half the amount of men on a battle field of the desktop version...

EDIT the 768 is shared memory; btw. ATI calls it Hypermemory; NVIDIA usually Shared.