# Empire total war, graphics card.



## Breza (Jun 10, 2009)

Hi,

I have a Dell Dimension 5000 desktop PC which has not been modified from the original state. My current graphics card is an ATI radeon X300SE, 128mb.
I would like to purchase a new graphics card that will be able to run the game "Empire: Total War" at medium to high graphics. I have been looking at 512 mb graphics cards and i was wondering if anyone knew a graphics card that would be compatible with my PC. My PSU is 305W, if that helps. I was also wondering what maximum mb/gb card would be compatible with my PC.

Many thanks for reading. Hope to hear from you soon.


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## kookooshortman55 (Jun 10, 2009)

If you want to play that game, you will most likely have to upgrade your power supply.  There is not much that you can run off of 300W.  What processor do you have in that build?  The only things you need to consider in terms of compatibility are the PSU and CPU, because the PSU powers it and the CPU can potentially bottleneck it.  Aside from the physical limitations, like putting it in the correct type of slot and having room for the card.  I would say you would need a 9600GT and a 450W PSU, which would probably run you around $130.


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## Breza (Jun 10, 2009)

My processor is as follows:

Pentium 4 processor with HT technology (3.00GHz, 800fsb, 1MB cache)

My knowledge of computers is limited.  

Also, i know this is the wrong place to post this, but i need guidance on inserting RAM into my machine. My machine supports 4gb of RAM, i currently have 1gb inserted but i would like to maximise my PC's potential. Is it as simple as slotting RAM into my machine? Or do i need a certain type/wattage etc? 

Again, many thanks for your help.


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## kookooshortman55 (Jun 10, 2009)

You need to check to see the speed of the RAM and then buy the appropriate RAM that matches the other sticks.  As for the game, you could try going for the 9600GT, but your processor is most likely going to bottleneck the video card's performance, along with the game's performance.  If you are considering adding RAM, you might be better off building a new computer.  If you're going to upgrade the video card, power supply, and RAM, and possibly processor, you might as well make it a new build.


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## Breza (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks for the information.

Do you have any idea what it will cost to build a computer with the above specs? Also do i need any electrical expertise to construct a PC from scratch?


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## kookooshortman55 (Jun 11, 2009)

That hardest part is ordering compatible parts, but we can help you with that.  If you're looking to build a computer you may want to start a new thread in the Desktop Computer section so you can get more responses.  I would estimate a good budget build would cost you around $700, not including the operating system.  Aside from ordering, it's nothing too complicated.  It should be obvious where all the power and component connections go, but there are plenty of guides and videos to help online.


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## Breza (Jun 12, 2009)

Again, thanks ever so much.

Is there a ready made computer that can meet my needs? If so is it cheaper or am i better off building one?


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## Bill16857 (Jun 12, 2009)

much cheaper to build your own, you can always pay someone to built it for you.


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## Breza (Jun 21, 2009)

http://www.computerplanet.co.uk/custom/core2duo/step6.html

Will this PC run Empire?


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## ronster667 (Jun 21, 2009)

That computer isnt really that much faster then the one you have now, Just get a new graphics card, I looked it up and your computer is a pci express slot for graphics, that 128 your looking at isnt a graphics card its onboard graphics, that's why it is so slow, I would suggest you upgrade your memory to about 2 gigs and put a graphics card in your computer, Your power supply will be able to handle basically any graphics card you want to put in it, Every get's so excited over power supply's, they think 400 watt's isn't enough for this or that when really it's more then enough, even with just the ram upgrade your going to notice such a big proformance boost it's crazy


There's plenty of people running good computer's with more then 2 graphics cards off of a 400 watt psu

For a graphics card I would look at this 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131084

its 30 bucks after rebate, and it has free shipping!
Also while your at it i would also upgrade your ram it's pretty cheap

RAM - 13 dollar's with free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144151


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## Breza (Jun 21, 2009)

Damn, the link i posted is not the finished article 

Computer Case Black & Silver ATX Tower Case    
 CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (2 x 2.8 GHZ) 1066FSB - 3 MB    
 Motherboard ASUS P5N73-AM S/V/L M-ATX 1333FSB (NVIDIA 7050)    
 Memory 4GB PC-6400 800 MHZ (2 x 2 GB) (DDR2)    
 Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT - 1 GB - 2xDVI/VGA/HDMI (Palit) - OverClocked     
 Power Supply 450W PSU    
 Hard Drive 1 250 GB SATA-II HDD UDMA 300 7200 8MB    
 Optical Drive 1 Samsung (SH-D162D) 16x DVD-ROM Black (IDE)     
 Sound Card Creative Audigy SE 7.1 (PCI)    
 Networking Motherboard Integrated Ethernet Lan (Broadband Ready)    
 USB Ports 4 X USB 2.0 Ports    
 CPU Heatsink Speeze QuadroFlow VIII - Low Noise    
 Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 64-BIT (Genuine DVD & COA Included)    
 Security Software No Security Software Included    
 Backup Solution Standard Operating System Backup 

That was it. Will this run Empire? Also the Graphics card on the site says it's 1gb but elsewhere the same graphics card is 512mb? Can anyone confirm what a Nvidia Geforce 9800gt is?

Many thanks.


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## kookooshortman55 (Jun 21, 2009)

That video card will play ETW.  What resolution are you playing on?  If it's anything smaller than 1920 x 1200, you don't really need the 1GB memory.  If you have enough system RAM, enough of it can be allocated as shared memory.


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## ronster667 (Jun 22, 2009)

there's differnt models of it, made by differnt company's like the evga could be a 1 gig card and all the other ones could be 512 megs


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## kookooshortman55 (Jun 22, 2009)

Breza said:


> Damn, the link i posted is not the finished article
> That was it. Will this run Empire? Also the Graphics card on the site says it's 1gb but elsewhere the same graphics card is 512mb? Can anyone confirm what a Nvidia Geforce 9800gt is?
> 
> Many thanks.



Oh sorry I didn't read that right.  The NVidia GeForce 9800GT is the name of the GPU that is built into the card.  Different companies make different models of the card, but are all based off of a reference board.  Any 9800GT that you buy would be able to run this game, but this model 9800GT comes with an extra 512MB video memory.  It will help to provide more stable framerates, but will really only improve performance on larger monitors.


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## Breza (Jun 22, 2009)

Is my CPU up to scratch, or would it be wise to improve it? I'm on a pretty tight budget so if this CPU would suffice i wouldn't like to pump more money into my purchase for a slight improvement to my performance.

Also is the above desktop a good price for £489? This is just the tower and includes VAT and shipping.


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## bomberboysk (Jun 22, 2009)

Copy and paste the spec list at the last page, if you dont do that it just shows the minimum specs of the rig.


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