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CPU upgrade for Rome 2

Jono8

Jono8

Jono8

Caporegime
Joined
20 May 2007
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41,028
Location
Surrey
Hi folks

There is one game that i am very much looking forward to and one game that i will be mostly playing in the near future and that is Rome 2: Total War.

I therefore want to make sure that my rig is up to it!

Now i have learnt from the past that the CPU makes a HUGE difference in the minimum fps you get in Total War games. I went from a Q9650 @3.6GHZ to an i5 2500k @ 4.4GHZ and the difference was MASSIVE in Shogun 2.

Now i am thinking if it will be worth upgrading to Ivybridge/Haswell? My i5 will only clock to 4.4 ghz without needing more volts and therefore better cooling (water) so it isn't the most prolific of clockers!

What interested me was these two bits of information i have seen:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2012/05/01/intel-core-i5-3570k-cpu-review/6

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?542432-Shogun-2-CPU-Test-Sandy-Bridge-vs-Ivy-Bridge

Both of these would suggest that an Ivybridge (or indeed haswell) clocked at the same frequency that my 2500k is at would give me a pretty significant frame boost in Shogun and i would assume therefore Rome 2. In the Bit tech article the stock 3570k (3.4ghz) is better than a 2500k at 5ghz!!!

"here are notable exceptions: Shogun 2: Total War saw huge improvements going from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge, at stock and overclocked settings. "

I sort of do fancy a change and an upgrade anyway (maybe to an i7 rather than an i5 for my music/cubase work) but i am debating whether it is worth it due to the fact that ivy/haswell run hot and apparently don't overclock very well..
 
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Another option is to keep the same board and find something like a cheap 2700k on MM that is a good overclocker ( One that does 4.7-4.8ghz)
 
You do realise that Rome 2 apparently still uses the WARSCAPE engine as found in S2 and FOTS and can only use 1 if not 2 cores efficiently. If that is still the case you'd be better off setting your cpu to 2 cores and overclocking it. This game responds to high cpu clock frequency and IPC compared to core count. (above 2 cores).

I have a love/hate relationship with Total War games. A (AAA) game of this quality should be optimised for quad core technology especially with 1000's of soldiers and visual animations when you zoom into the action. Even the highest spec pc's lag because of the poor cpu optimisation overwhelms a single core performance. (If this game could use 4 cores it would run so much better I bet)

I've been a player of the series for over 10 years since Shogan Total War...
 
Can't see how going from a 2500k to a 2700k will make any difference. On shogun 2, I only notice one or two cores being used. Therefore switching to a ivy/haswell will net you minor gains. Maybe wait for new IB-E or has been mentioned, disable 2 cores and overclock your cpu past 5gz if possible.
 
They said a few days ago in a Q&A the multicore usage was improved but who knows by how much.Shogun II is a Haswell loving game.


I think the best frames per second comes from high clocks and the Haswell IMC.8GB of 2400mhz memory with really tight timings is better for this game as its only a 32bit program ans haswell will show these memory gains in fps.


IMHO if you do not mind going 8GB over 16GB then 4770K Z87 and 8GB 2400-2600mhz.
 
I honestly don't that the HT on the i7 would benefit much comparing to i5 for Rome 2 (unless the game would use up to 6 threads, which is unlikely).

The best bet is probably a Haswell i5 together with high speed memory (it's already been show that Haswell CPU benefit from higher speed memory and directly bring improvement on frame rate (around 1-3fps when frame rate is at 60fps or below) comparing to the standard 1600MHz memory.

However whether or not the improvement is worth the cost is up to individual to decide. The difference on frame rate between a Sandy i5 and Haswell i5 at 4.70GHz for Total War is probably for example something like 25fps vs 30fps.
 
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