The Official ETW Hardware Problem Solving Thread

[A Very Super Market]

You have less than 1 GB of RAM. Simply not enough.

[Barkhorn1x]

You have less than 1 GB of RAM. Simply not enough.

...yes, that looks like the issue. And get 4 gigs if you can as Vista needs RAM.

[risker]

but i've installed the game. if this doesnt matter could i uninstall other games?

or should i think about getting a new comp.

And does memory really affect the graphics????

[Barkhorn1x]

but i've installed the game. if this doesnt matter could i uninstall other games?

or should i think about getting a new comp.

And does memory really affect the graphics????

Just get more RAM. It's only like $15 per Gig - tops. Look up your mobo specs on the manufacturers website and get enough to give you 4 Gigs.

These are probably your specs - but I would cross check against the S/L # on the box.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=3419521

I would look into the box and figure out if you have one stick (probably one Gig) or two (probably 512MBs). The goal is to get to 4Gigs.

[Dvbnocos]

Hello all,

I've got a pretty old rig, and I thought it wouldn't play the game, but turns out it actually worked -- albeit only slightly, and on pretty low settings.

Seeing as my machine managed to play The Witcher decently, as well as Medieval II total war on medium-high settings, this has given me hope in actually improving my machine rather than spending a whole lot of money on a new one.

it's a 3.06 Ghz single core Pentium 4; I guess the weak spots are the RAM (1Gb) and the crappy graphics card (Nvidia GeForce 6200SE turbocache 256 mb).

So my question is, would adding 3 gb of RAM and a decent (say, a Geforce 9800 card or equivalent ATI) allow me to play decently? Is it worth the investment, or should I just get a new machine?

Thank you in advance!

[Barkhorn1x]

Hello all,

I've got a pretty old rig, and I thought it wouldn't play the game, but turns out it actually worked -- albeit only slightly, and on pretty low settings.

Seeing as my machine managed to play The Witcher decently, as well as Medieval II total war on medium-high settings, this has given me hope in actually improving my machine rather than spending a whole lot of money on a new one.

it's a 3.06 Ghz single core Pentium 4; I guess the weak spots are the RAM (1Gb) and the crappy graphics card (Nvidia GeForce 6200SE turbocache 256 mb).

So my question is, would adding 3 gb of RAM and a decent (say, a Geforce 9800 card or equivalent ATI) allow me to play decently? Is it worth the investment, or should I just get a new machine?

Thank you in advance!

Adding RAM and a good card will improve things yes. You may want to check what your mobo can handle in terms of a CPU and buy the most poweful one. I am planning on doing exactly that as I have the RAM (4 Gigs) and the card (9800GT) but my CPU is little faster than yours.

BTW, I do manage to play on medium/high and it is very smooth - I do not check any of the "special" boxes on the bottom of the graphics menu tho'.

[Dvbnocos]

Gee, thanks a lot for answering so quickly! It really helps to get some outside guidance I'll post my impressions once I've upgraded my stuff (hopefully tomorrow -- I might drop by my local hardware store).

Cheers!

[risker]

Just get more RAM. It's only like $15 per Gig - tops. Look up your mobo specs on the manufacturers website and get enough to give you 4 Gigs.

These are probably your specs - but I would cross check against the S/L # on the box.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=3419521

I would look into the box and figure out if you have one stick (probably one Gig) or two (probably 512MBs). The goal is to get to 4Gigs.

So basically I cant do anything about it apart from buying RAM...I cant uninstall anything or what?

thanks anyway...

[Barkhorn1x]

So basically I cant do anything about it apart from buying RAM...I cant uninstall anything or what?

thanks anyway...

Nope. Un-installing only frees up hard drive space which has zero effect on performance**.

**Unless you have next to no space.

Bottom line = you're running Vista with less than a Gig of RAM and that just will not cut it from a gaming standpoint.

And that brings me to another question and I believe I did ask this before. What kind of video card are you running? That 894 mbs of RAM indicates that you have on-board video but I thought that you had a card. You did not copy over the first 11 lines of the DXDIAG Display Devices that would tell us what we need to know in this area.

Do that and then we'll talk.

[risker]

Ok Barkhorn , i think this is what you wanted:


---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03D0&SUBSYS_2A5A103C&REV_A2
Display Memory: 312 MB
Dedicated Memory: 122 MB
Shared Memory: 190 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.8208 (English)
DDI Version: 10
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 2/18/2009 14:44:00, 6082560 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4090-11CF-9C53-510A02C2CA35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x03D0
SubSys ID: 0x2A5A103C
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Video Accel:


then there is a hell of alot of numbers. i fear i may have the same problem as that other dude. i dont have a graphics card just a video one. I'm just confused.

[A Very Super Market]

JEBUS CARLO

Nvidia 6 series + 1Gb RAM = Horrible, horrible, gaming computer.

[Barkhorn1x]

Ok Barkhorn , i think this is what you wanted:


---------------
Display Devices
---------------
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC

then there is a hell of alot of numbers. i fear i may have the same problem as that other dude. i dont have a graphics card just a video one. I'm just confused.

Yep - you have integrated video - so your "video" is cannibalizing your RAM. Not good. To play ETW you will need 4 Gigs of RAM and a decent video card. Sorry, but that is the way it is.

[risker]

OK so a trip to the harware store is needed. i want to know if its worth it though. if i do get 4gigs of RAM will it work really smoothly or just on low? i might as well buy a new pc otherwise.


last question (i promise)...

thanks alot for your help.

[rajpoot]

Right, I don't this is a bug, but I'll leave that for the people here to judge.....it sounds something more serious to me anyway.
So, I finally get the game, I install it and everything, and I start it. Now, it works fine until the main menu. There I try to run the Road to Independence campaign, and after loading about 1/3 of the way, the game crashes with the infamous white screen, and the Windows message that ETW has encountered a problem and needs to close............
I restart the thing, and run it again, this time trying for a battle tutorial. Same results, it crashes after loading 1/3 of the way. Same thing happens with custom battles......any kind of battle for that matter. The Grand Campaign on the other hand starts and goes on smoothly. However, even in there, as soon as I engage in a battle, and it starts loading same thing.

Now I tried reinstalling the game.....updating my drivers etc etc.....it just isn't working. I even tried using the err........ahem .......for the game, off the net. Even it gives me the same results.
So any suggestions?

[Barkhorn1x]

OK so a trip to the harware store is needed. i want to know if its worth it though. if i do get 4gigs of RAM will it work really smoothly or just on low? i might as well buy a new pc otherwise.


last question (i promise)...

thanks alot for your help.

You need both the RAM and a decent video card to get the most out of ETW.