AOE3 Performance

[martinez]

I'm looking to upgrade for AoE3.

My current Rig..

Athlon64 3500+ Clawhammer@2.2 stock
2 Gig of value RAM
Gigabyte SLI ultra Mobo
6600GT extreme Leadtek 550/1120 stock
Seagate 120 gig HDD NCQ
550W Antec Truepower
BenQ FP937s+ 8ms 1280x1024 19" monitor

I would be grateful for anyone posting what FPS they get on New England Map, at the start of Discovery Age whilst settlers gather from the crates.

1280x1024 resolution, with and without Bloom, Shader and Shadows on V.High, shader and shadows on high.AA high+ AF set to 8x in GfX card settings.

Results I'm most interested in seeing are similar CPU to mine(not overly important), 6600GT SLI rigs, any new Gen cards X1800XL,7800GT/GTX etc.

Thanks in Advance to anyone who can do this..

 

[Inappropriate4AT]

Wow, never thought I'd see the day someone wanted to upgrade a rig like that for an RTS. What kind of framerates do you get?

 

[Sunrise089]

I hate to break it to you OP, but AOE3 isn't a good enough game to justify spending $$$ on a better video card.

 

[LostTime77]

I hate to break it to you Sun, but that is a total opinion. If he wants to upgrade he can upgrade. As for fps, I am getting about anywhere from 20-50 with 1280 reso with 6xaa all settings high with my X800XT , 500/500.

 

[aatf510]

I have only tried the demo.
Somehow I don't think it looks that good (my brother even thought I pulled up AOEII and I was playing an old game).
Plus, the gameplay isn't anything special from other RTS.

 

[Fadey]

AOE3 is crap , it doesnt even look good and game play was to slow.

 

[martinez]

Well, I play the Age series fairly competitively, and from what I have been told by various online friends the game rocks. The game is an age game, ergo, it is something special in the RTS genre. The new Home City concept from those that have played online, seems to add significantly to the replayability of the game.

Basically I'm not interested in opinions on the game. As far as I'm concerned it will keep my interest for a long time to come, just as AoE2 and AoM have for the last 4-5 years. What I need to know is....do I a)get another 6600GT(cheapest option), or b)get a 7 series or X1K series card(really expensive option here in Aussie).

Thanks Losttime for that guide. I don't think I'll get anything to play smoothly in big battles at the highest settings. I'm sure I'll get improved frames if I upgraded to the card you have, but it still wont play the game at those settings.

The game looks great with bloom off, and the shader and shadows set to high(as opposed to V.High), but at those settings I get only 20-30 FPS with AA/AF enabled.

Anyone can please bench the start of discovery age at those settings so I can compare to what I have? Thanks..

 

[martinez]

Originally posted by: Fadey
AOE3 is crap , it doesnt even look good and game play was to slow.

Compared to what? Show me an RTS that looks as good plz.

Play it online vs a decent player and tell me it's too slow, ROFL.

 

[Sunrise089]

Originally posted by: martinez

Originally posted by: Fadey
AOE3 is crap , it doesnt even look good and game play was to slow.

Compared to what? Show me an RTS that looks as good plz.

Play it online vs a decent player and tell me it's too slow, ROFL.

I think the arguement is this: the gameplay is the same as AEO2 - a 5 year old game. Yes AEO4 is pretty, but so is Quake 4, in fact Quake 4 is MUCH MUCH better looking. In all fairness, if AOE4 is a great game than so is Doom 3. Personally I don't like how some games get tons of flak if they don't innovate (specifically games using id software engines recently) while other games seem to be excused.

 

[martinez]

If you are going off the original demo, and using that as your benchmark for how the game looks, then you aren't doing it justice.

The gameplay is completely different from AoE2, it is innovative gameplay. Personally I would've been reasonably happy if the gameplay was similar, but it isn't even close.Quake 4 and Doom 3 are shooters right? You can't compare the way they look to AoE3. Compare AoE3 to EE2 which came out not that long ago. There is no comparison.

Anyway, this thread wasn't to debate the various pros and cons of the game. Let us say that it has been established in my mind that it is a game I will play for a long time to come, I will most likely not even bother to play any other game for the next 18 months+, so all I really want is some benches. I don't need people who may or may not understand the reasons why I think this game is great, to tell me why it isn't.

Anyone doubting the first Demo was a crapped out version of the real thing, download Demo 1.1 and see the difference in the smoothness etc.

 

[CraigRT]

I think you should grab a 7800GT, man. They are the best deals out right now... That or the X800GTO2.

 

[martinez]

I know they are great deals over there in the U.S. They aren't really all that great a deal in Aussie atm. I really want to see what another 6600GT will do for me, because if I can help it, I don't want to upgrade in this generation, and I don't need future proofing for the next two years. I need adequate performance in one game and that game is here now.

 

[coomar]

i have the game, if your going to turn off bloom anyways, you should be able to play everything on high (shader model and something else have a very high option) at 1280x1024 with 50+ fps on a 6800gt (at ultra speed)

if you turn shader model to very high, fps drops to 20-30 but i think there is a noticeble improvement in IQ

specs in rig

your probably going to need a 7800gt for everything on highest

1 gig of ram is more than enough though

 

[XBoxLPU]

7800 GT

 

[tuteja1986]

Dream world
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Magical RIG
100Gigaplops CPU
MAGICAL TATICAL GAMING OS WITH AIM BOT
128GB GDDRXTPEUGTX
XXX1111111111111111118888888888888888888888888888800000000000000000000000XXXTTTTTPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEE mirco 800x Crossfire
TAICAL ULIMATE OC BEAST DFI ULTRA LAN PARTY KILLER MOTHERBOARD

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 FPS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like my rig :?)

This rig lives inside my mind with other crazy things that shall remain a secert.

 

[Mickey21]

Originally posted by: toattett
I have only tried the demo.
Somehow I don't think it looks that good (my brother even thought I pulled up AOEII and I was playing an old game).
Plus, the gameplay isn't anything special from other RTS.

This is completely ridiculous... Gameplay isnt anything special??? What's special about most any other game that is usually part of a genre? Why dont we just stop watching baseball and football, they're just the same game after all? Why dont we stop playing FPS or Simulations or really any other genre? Almost nothing new ever comes out of those genres either. The thing is enjoying the gameplay of a genre doesnt mean that it has to be completely revolutionary. MMO's are the same game over and over again and yet millions play those thousands of hours at a time...

And I cant believe ANYONE can mistake this:
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4

for this????
Image 5

Just plain insane... I am not saying the game is a gift from the gods, but let those who enjoy RTS's enjoy them for what they are and give proper credit to a game even if the game isnt your style...

It's the fun of playing against others that can bring me to any of the genre's. That's what gaming is all about, the people...

 

[Inappropriate4AT]

Originally posted by: Mickey21

Originally posted by: toattett
I have only tried the demo.
Somehow I don't think it looks that good (my brother even thought I pulled up AOEII and I was playing an old game).
Plus, the gameplay isn't anything special from other RTS.

This is completely ridiculous... Gameplay isnt anything special??? What's special about most any other game that is usually part of a genre? Why dont we just stop watching baseball and football, they're just the same game after all? Why dont we stop playing FPS or Simulations or really any other genre? Almost nothing new ever comes out of those genres either. The thing is enjoying the gameplay of a genre doesnt mean that it has to be completely revolutionary. MMO's are the same game over and over again and yet millions play those thousands of hours at a time...

And I cant believe ANYONE can mistake this:
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4

for this????
Image 5

Just plain insane... I am not saying the game is a gift from the gods, but let those who enjoy RTS's enjoy them for what they are and give proper credit to a game even if the game isnt your style...

It's the fun of playing against others that can bring me to any of the genre's. That's what gaming is all about, the people...

Wow, those screens look fvckin amazing. I'll bet Starcraft is still more fun though.

 

[CaiNaM]

what's with all the threadcrapping? the op didnt ask for opinions on whether anyone liked aoe3 or not, he just wanted some insight on performance. wtf is wrong with you ppl?

martinez, how do you measure framerate on aoe3? fraps, or is there an internal perf tool?

 

[coomar]

i used fraps

 

[moonboy403]

i get around 30fps with everything on high (except low aa) with a resolution of 12 X 10

 

[Avalon]

AMD A64 Venice @ 2.52ghz, 270HTTx9
2x512MB PC3200 Mushkin C2 @ 221mhz 2-3-3-6
DFI NF4 Ultra-D Motherboard
Leadtek 6200 unlocked to 8pp/3v @ 400/700mhz
IBM Deathstar 60GB 7200RPM 8MB cache boot drive
Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM 8MB cache storage
460w Enermax 24pin ATX PSU w/33A 12v rail
Samsung Syncmaster 997DF-T/T 19" CRT

My game settings:

1024x768, all graphic details enabled and maxed, AA set to low.
Vsync disabled. Nvidia forceware version 71.89 (I know, I know, I need to upgrade)
High quality enabled in my driver control panel.

Fraps recording after 10 minutes of playing the first campaign mission (I lost btw, lol I suck)

2005-10-20 14:32:11 - age3
Frames: 15059 - Time: 553676ms - Avg: 27.198 - Min: 3 - Max: 45

A little jerky, but for an RTS it was fairly playable. There were a couple points though where my FPS just tanked, as shown. Hope this is what you were looking for, Martinez, as opposed to all the crapping in this thread. Some people need to heed the sticky that's been posted by the mods, before they find themselves on vacation.

 

[rise]

Originally posted by: Avalon
Some people need to heed the sticky that's been posted by the mods, before they find themselves on vacation.

yep, or use common sense. as in, if you're not answering the OP's question why are you replying at all? not just this thread but all of them.

thanks for the input Avalon. my son is addicted to the demo so i was thinking of picking this up today. of course i'm certain his card (x300) won't handle it so it will end up on my machine

i like rts but i personally have my eyes on civ4.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: rise4310

Originally posted by: Avalon
Some people need to heed the sticky that's been posted by the mods, before they find themselves on vacation.

yep, or use common sense. as in, if you're not answering the OP's question why are you replying at all? not just this thread but all of them.

thanks for the input Avalon. my son is addicted to the demo so i was thinking of picking this up today. of course i'm certain his card (x300) won't handle it so it will end up on my machine

i like rts but i personally have my eyes on civ4.

Civ4 for the win
I simply cannot wait. The entire Civ series has been nothing but genius in my eyes.

 

[erwos]

Upgrade why? I've been playing it on a 256mb FX5700, and it runs just fine.

-Erwos

 

[martinez]

Thanks to everyone who posted benches, they all help show just how demanding the game is. I've found I can play the game smoothly with Shader and shadow to high(2nd best Q) and water reflection and bloom disabled. I do take quite a hit in IQ from those.

i have the game, if your going to turn off bloom anyways, you should be able to play everything on high (shader model and something else have a very high option) at 1280x1024 with 50+ fps on a 6800gt (at ultra speed)

Thanks Coomar, yeah you seem to be getting the same thing as me, only no doubt your 6800GT is getting 10+ more FPS or so. If I turn all options to V.High I get about 20FPS max Probably an indication that another 600GT would likely be a waste of money. Would still like to see someone post some accurate benches at both settings, before I totally trash that idea.

This is completely ridiculous... Gameplay isnt anything special??? What's special about most any other game that is usually part of a genre? Why dont we just stop watching baseball and football, they're just the same game after all? Why dont we stop playing FPS or Simulations or really any other genre? Almost nothing new ever comes out of those genres either. The thing is enjoying the gameplay of a genre doesnt mean that it has to be completely revolutionary. MMO's are the same game over and over again and yet millions play those thousands of hours at a time...

No sh1t huh, some people. Age series games lose my interest offline in about as long as it takes me to work out which civ I enjoy most. After that it's all about the frantic nature and competitiveness of games vs other dedicated(read obsessed) RTS junkies.

Thanks for your comments, and yes, it should be impossible for someone to mistake AoE2 and AoE3 as being the same game.

what's with all the threadcrapping? the op didnt ask for opinions on whether anyone liked aoe3 or not, he just wanted some insight on performance. wtf is wrong with you ppl?

I use Fraps, thanks for your comments.

i get around 30fps with everything on high (except low aa) with a resolution of 12 X 10

Looks like a 7800GTX is still not enough, once you consider team games and large battles online, if you are getting those frames with low AA, I might be better off just playing the game with what I have. Once the next generation comes out, there might be something that can play this beast.

I really need 40+ FPS during battles otherwise I can't focus fire accurately enough. Looks like nothing out there now can provide that with all the eye candy.