What is the Optimal - Best PC to Run Rome Total War on Absolute MAX ?

[Valentin]

Hello,
I've been wondering what is the best rig to run Rome Total war?
I have a desktop PC and a laptop and both computers run 5 to 20 FPS max (Huge unit size, full stack).
I want to run the game to its complete maximum graphics, unit size and everything.
Can I have higher FPS with this game?
My old desktop PC specs are:

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Pentium E5200 @ 2.50GHz 48 °C
Wolfdale 45nm Technology
RAM
4.00GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 399MHz (5-5-5-18)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. EP43-DS3LR (Socket 775) 36 °C
Graphics (GPU was replaced recently!!!)
VW225 (1680x1050@59Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 (Gigabyte) 29 °C
Storage
232GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (SATA (SSD)) 31 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20 ATA Device
DVDFab Virtual Drive SCSI CdRom Device
Audio
High Definition Audio Device
------
What CPU do I need ?
As I understand it, the game needs powerful single core. But what brand -model?
PS
There was a TV show that used Rome Total War called "Decisive Battles" on BBC
What rig did they use???

[piper.spirit]

There isn't really an optimal rig, it's more down to the game being so old modern pc's have issues running it well.

Avoid intel integrated graphics cards. If your running an intel cpu, with dedicated graphics card like you have- make sure your game is running your dedicated graphics card.

All else fails, there is a .dll you can download and place into your rtw folder. This significantly speeds up the game. Just try and avoid alt tabbing, and adjust the settings at the start to make it work well. I uploaded a copy of the .dll at the top of my steam guide.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1639724696

[margalus]

The best would be a pc that has a cpu with a high ipc and high clockspeed. I would think any modern gpu that was intended for gaming would suffice.

[Valentin]

Thank you for the replies and the fix, |CoH|-piper.
Does a modern CPU have the power in a single core to run Rome Total War or the old CPUs have more power in a single core?
Why can I not run RTW to the max on my old desktop PC ( the specs above)? It lags a lot even when I lower the settings. Should I upgrade something?

[margalus]

There is a replacement dll that needs to be downloaded and installed that fixes the lag on the map if that is your issue. Later when I get home I will look for the link.

[margalus]

Ok, I got home and started to look for the link for the dll and now I see it's posted at the very first reply. Click on the guide he created and posted and you will find a download link for the dll that fixes modern systems so that they play properly.

[Valentin]

Thank you for the reply margalus! I've tried the replacement dll on my laptop and my desktop PC now. The laptop now runs Rome Total War better, I do not see any noticeable improvement on my desktop PC. I guess the game is too old of a build to run perfectly on any PC.

[margalus]

Originally posted by Valentin:

Thank you for the reply margalus! I've tried the replacement dll on my laptop and my desktop PC now. The laptop now runs Rome Total War better, I do not see any noticeable improvement on my desktop PC. I guess the game is too old of a build to run perfectly on any PC.

Well one problem is that the pc you have listed in the op is an extremely old low end cpu that is as old as the game itself and it's surprising that Win 10 even works on it. Then you have a video card that was made for word processing and watching videos on, not for gaming. Still, I'm surprised that the dll didn't help at all.

What are the specs of your laptop?

[margalus]

One wild thought here, did you try running the .exe in compatibility mode for Win XP while having the new dll installed also?

[Valentin]

My Desktop PC was built in 2009. It had a HD 4770 GPU but I had to replace it last year. Upgraded Windows 7 to 10 and I have Lubuntu Linux as a dual boot for browsing. Tried to use the dll with XP compatibility mode. I don't see any difference. I have the box Gold Edition of RTW and also steam version with a key. Medieval 2 Total War it seems works better on the desktop PC. I wonder if I install actual XP 32 bit will RTW work better. Maybe I will try running some kind of VirtualBox or something.

Here is my laptop specs:

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 6700HQ @ 2.60GHz 42 °C
Skylake 14nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel Unknown @ 1063MHz (15-15-15-36)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. N551VW (U3E1)
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 530 (ASUStek Computer Inc)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GXPTX 960M (ASUStek Computer Inc) 43 °C
ForceWare version: 419.17
SLI Disabled
Storage
931GB Hitachi HGST HTS721010A9E630 (SATA ) 29 °C
119GB TS128GMSM360 (SATA (SSD)) 28 °C
300MB Hitachi HGST HTS721010A9E630 (SATA (SSD)) 29 °C
Optical Drives
Slimtype DVD A DA8A6SH
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

[Valentin]

Well, I installed Windows 7 64bit on my desktop PC. Installed both disc and Steam version to test. Tested both versions with 8000 people on screen. The disc version 20 - 30 FPS ; Steam Version 8 - 10 FPS. I think there is something wrong with the optimization of the Steam version.

[_______LANDO_____]

As already stated try to get a cpu with a high clock speed. i was playing rome with the Q6600(2,4ghz, was perfect to play it smoothly) like for 14 years, when they "updated" the game it also struggled to run more than 10,000 units. Last year i changed the cpu to the i7 8700k, which runs the game very well on Win 8.1

[Levitate]

just go in taskmanager when the game is running and only assign 1 core of your cpu to the game.
My game runs smoothly at 40-60 fps now

[Valentin]

Originally posted by Sir_Lando:

As already stated try to get a cpu with a high clock speed. i was playing rome with the Q6600(2,4ghz, was perfect to play it smoothly) like for 14 years, when they "updated" the game it also struggled to run more than 10,000 units. Last year i changed the cpu to the i7 8700k, which runs the game very well on Win 8.1

Yes, I think I will use the disc version for single player and mods and " updated" for online play.

I heard that the game uses only one core .
So, what will be the ULTIMATE Specs to run RTW ?
How about a the GPU ?
How many units or people can the game support on the field ?
How many people have you fielded in one battle ?

[76561198814511849]

Let me put it this way: I use the integrated Vega11 of the Ryzen 5 2400G. Still RTW runs at max settings. RTW is from 2004, current computers should have no troubles.

[TallestDavid]

get LAA it helps like 15 percent boost.