Empire Total War: Running slow and limited graphics options

[CraigyBL2]

I'm not very computer literate but I was highly disapointed when I purchased my new computer and came to find Empire: Total War was struggling to reach the level of gameplay I was expecting from it. I've used "CanYouRunIt" to gather details on my system specs and what's required and here's what I've been issued

CPU
Minimum: 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium or greater or AMD Athlon equivalent CPU
You Have: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU E3300 @ 2.50GHz
PASS

CPU Speed
Minimum: 2.4 GHz
You Have: 2.49 GHz
PASS

RAM
Minimum: 1GB RAM (XP) 2GB RAM (Vista)
You Have: 3.0 GB
PASS

OS
Minimum: Windows XP (Service pack 2), Windows Vista
You Have: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (build 7600), 64-bit
Unfortunately Windows 7 was not available when this product was released, so it is not OFFICIALLY supported. In some cases if the product runs on Windows Vista, it may also run on Windows 7. Please review the publisher’s website for more information.
Video Card
Minimum: 256 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible, (Shader model 2.0), Minimum screen resolution 1024 x 768
You Have: Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family
PASS
Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card
Required My System spec
Video RAM 256 MB 1.3 GB
Hardware T&L Yes Yes
Pixel Shader version 2.0 4.0
Vertex Shader version 2.0 4.0

If this is the case why is the highest I'm able to play Empire on "Medium" .. it looks sloppy and it runs awfully slow.. I'd appreciate any kind of help, I've only just bought this computer and one of the soul purposes was to finally enjoy this game after having no luck with it on my previous system...


Free Disk Space
Minimum: 15 GB
You Have: 241.6 GB
PASS

[Mussels]

well since you havent listed a single part of your PC's specifications, we have no way to tell you what might be happening.

go here

http://forums.techpowerup.com/profile.php?do=specs

fill out every field (yes, all of them) and then change the drop down at the top to 'yes'

about the only think we have details on is the CPU, and since its a celeron i'd be willing to bet you've bought a very cheap, low end PC. it likely is not a gaming system.

[DrPepper]

It says you have intel integrated graphics that's why. You can't realistically play any games on that.

[digibucc]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

It says you have intel integrated graphics that's why. You can't realistically play any games on that.

+1 million

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

It says you have intel integrated graphics that's why. You can't realistically play any games on that.

i missed that, i thought it was just detecting his motherboard chipset... if that is really saying he's got intel onboard video, then he's got problems.

celeron CPU + intel video card = office machine. useless for gaming.

[CraigyBL2]

Ahhh, that would probably make sense :/

[DrPepper]

Originally Posted by CraigyBL2

Ahhh, that would probably make sense :/

You might possibly be able to salvage some of it by purchasing a 5770 and adding it in however if you've no idea what your doing I'd take it to a computer shop and tell them to put a 5770 in it.

[CraigyBL2]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

You might possibly be able to salvage some of it by purchasing a 5770 and adding it in however if you've no idea what your doing I'd take it to a computer shop and tell them to put a 5770 in it.

Yeah I liked the system itself so bought it on those merits, I'm not much of an avid PC gamer but I did kind of hope I could play Empire on there. The only PC games I've had in the past are mega outdated and they played fine on my older systems, a lot has changed it would appear. 5770? I'm guessing that's a graphics card of some sort? Sorry if I'm coming across uneducated but I'm really not keyed up in computers at all.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by CraigyBL2

Yeah I liked the system itself so bought it on those merits, I'm not much of an avid PC gamer but I did kind of hope I could play Empire on there. The only PC games I've had in the past are mega outdated and they played fine on my older systems, a lot has changed it would appear. 5770? I'm guessing that's a graphics card of some sort? Sorry if I'm coming across uneducated but I'm really not keyed up in computers at all.

we really need the specs of your computer to tell you more.

They're suggesting video card upgrades which may solve some of your problems, but we dont even know what video cards (if any) are compatible with your system without more information.

[CraigyBL2]

How can I find out?

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by CraigyBL2

How can I find out?

documentation that came with it, for a start.

CPU-Z and GPU-Z are programs that can give detailed information on CPU, GPU, motherboard and ram.

[GENTLEMEN]

We've all been there, not knowing what to tinker with and trying not to break anything.

Ontopic: run CPU-Z. that should tell you (and us) about most of the hardware in your PC.

[CraigyBL2]

I don't currently have that at hand but hopefully this link might be of some use to you:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/dell-i...44033-pdt.html

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by CraigyBL2

I don't currently have that at hand but hopefully this link might be of some use to you:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/dell-i...44033-pdt.html

CPU-Z and GPU-Z are easy to download, google for them. i'll look at the specs now.


edit: you're screwed. that cant be upgraded at all.

[CraigyBL2]

Oh that sucks, I guess I could still take it back.. I thought this was like the ultimate system, being undeducated on these matters is a big kick in the teeth.

[DrPepper]

Originally Posted by CraigyBL2

Oh that sucks, I guess I could still take it back.. I thought this was like the ultimate system, being undeducated on these matters is a big kick in the teeth.

Yeah you'd better take that back I thought it would be some sort of desktop instead of a pc in a monitor.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

Yeah you'd better take that back I thought it would be some sort of desktop instead of a pc in a monitor.

its what i was afraid of from the start, that he'd got an all in one or half height system.


This system is completely unsuitable for gaming, and is very overpriced - the extra money you paid was basically to integrate a weak system into the screen, like some modern apple systems.

if possible, return it and get a full desktop PC - even if its dell, its going to have some limited upgrade options.

[CraigyBL2]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

Yeah you'd better take that back I thought it would be some sort of desktop instead of a pc in a monitor.

I'm stuck with it :/ PC World's return policy is only applicable if the box hasn't been opened, since I'm on the computer as we speak I'm pretty sure that will be void.

[GENTLEMEN]

Well, if that were the case, I'd start saving for a new pc. Though, read through their terms and see if you can get even a partial refund.

[DrPepper]

Originally Posted by CraigyBL2

I'm stuck with it :/ PC World's return policy is only applicable if the box hasn't been opened, since I'm on the computer as we speak I'm pretty sure that will be void.

Well that's shit because you need to open the box to figure out if you want to return the friggin thing.

[GENTLEMEN]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

Well that's shit because you need to open the box to figure out if you want to return the friggin thing.

Well, they'd probably allow returns if it was opened and found damaged/defective or something like that. But no returns on opened stuff is just

[CraigyBL2]

Originally Posted by GENTLEMEN

Well, they'd probably allow returns if it was opened and found damaged/defective or something like that. But no returns on opened stuff is just

I would hope so.. I guess my best bet is to check it out with them, I wanted the ultimate system... should have known you can't get anything close to that for £500... :/

[crazyeyesreaper]

500 euro can get you a damn good gaming rig just not one thats prebuilt if you want to game and game right its pretty much Do It Yourself or forget it cause youll have to drop a big ol stack of cash to do it


example yesterday i built 2 amd x3 440 3ghz triple core machines with 4gigs DDR3 and a 4850 1gig vapor X for $610 usd that included my labor charge of $50 the cpus on both rigs as they were identicle unlocked to quad cores meaning for $478 euros i built a gaming rig capable of playing 90% of todays games at medium to high settings

if you want to game on PC it comes down to 2 choices... spent money hand over fist to OEMs or learn adapt and build it yourself i was in the same situation once with a prebuilt and never again will i make that mistake

[Dent1]

Originally Posted by CraigyBL2

I would hope so.. I guess my best bet is to check it out with them, I wanted the ultimate system... should have known you can't get anything close to that for £500... :/

Your main issue is the integrated video card, you will not be able to play any current games at an acceptable level without a dedicated video card. Not any dedicated video card but a decent one. Even with a good dedicated video card your processor (E3300 dual core) @ 2.5GHz is only borderline.

£500 is enough to to max out games, but not if you're buying in stores, you'd have to build your own computer to get anything decent for £500 and if you're not computer literate you'll struggle to do that without a few weeks/months of learning.

As for a solution:

A.) Buy a dedicated video card in the £100-150 price range - Except medium visuals at 720p, but you'll be able to play games.
B.) Return the system, learn to build your own with that £500 budget and build something alot better.
C.) Keep your rig and don't play games.

Edit: If you decide to go with A.) here are the video cards to buy at minimum. 5670, 5750, 5770, GTX460 (might require new PSU + could bottleneck)

Sapphire HD 5670 512MB GDDR5 HDMI DVI VGA PCI-E.. ...
XFX HD 5750 XXX 512MB DDR5 DUAL DVI DISPLAYPORT HD...
HIS HD 5750 iCooler 1GB GDDR5 DVI HDMI Display Por...
XFX HD 5770 850MHz 1GB DDR5 HDMI Dual DVI Display ...
PALIT GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 VGA DVI HDMI Out PCI-E.....

[douglatins]

Some games, have their specs really and i mean really underestimated.