Empire: Total War running slow. Suggestions!

[terzdesign]

I've got an early 2009 24" imac

-8 gb ram
-Nvidia GeForce 9400 chip
-2.66 ghz Core 2 duo processor
-10.8.2 OS

I hit the minimum system requirements to play this game, but I have to say, with everything on super low settings, the game is pretty much unplayable with the Framerate being soooo low. Are there any tips for getting a game to run faster? If I upgraded the ram would that help or is it more of a graphics card issue? ...Or is my processor just too slow to handle this game? My comp plays Rome: Total War just fine!

 

[edddeduck]

I've got an early 2009 24" imac

-4 gb ram
-Nvidia GeForce 9400 chip
-2.66 ghz Core 2 duo processor
-10.8.2 OS

I hit the minimum system requirements to play this game, but I have to say, with everything on super low settings, the game is pretty much unplayable with the Framerate being soooo low. Are there any tips for getting a game to run faster? If I upgraded the ram would that help or is it more of a graphics card issue? ...Or is my processor just too slow to handle this game? My comp plays Rome: Total War just fine!

That machine is the lowest supported specification. Make sure you are playing on the lower resolution that the game defaulted to. The 9400M does not have the power to run on high resolutions or with any settings turned up. However if you drop the settings including resolution to 1024x768 (or similar) the game should be smooth and playable.

We have tested it here on the 9400M and we also have many other customers playing so we know it performs smoothly if you keep all the settings including resolution down.

Edwin

 

[terzdesign]

That machine is the lowest supported specification. Make sure you are playing on the lower resolution that the game defaulted to. The 9400M does not have the power to run on high resolutions or with any settings turned up. However if you drop the settings including resolution to 1024x768 (or similar) the game should be smooth and playable.

We have tested it here on the 9400M and we also have many other customers playing so we know it performs smoothly if you keep all the settings including resolution down.

Edwin

I turned the res down all the way to 800 x 600 and still have issues with the game. If there are more than two armies battling, especially in a fort or town, the game slow to a whopping 4 fps. Its literally unplayable.

Is there a graphics card I can upgrade to to fix this issue? One that is better suited for games?

 

[terzdesign]

I just talked to a customer service dude at apple about the graphics card. He said I was at the max, but then again he seemed a little unsure. If I upgrade my ram from 4 gb to 8 would I notice a significant difference in the framerate at all?

 

[edddeduck]

I just talked to a customer service dude at apple about the graphics card. He said I was at the max, but then again he seemed a little unsure. If I upgrade my ram from 4 gb to 8 would I notice a significant difference in the framerate at all?

The 9400M card is soldered to your mother board and cannot be upgraded. The current 27" iMac for example has a graphics card that is over 30 times more powerful!

RAM will help the performance of the game (and your entire OS) but it cannot perform miracles with the performance.

Check that your shader model is 2, your unit size is Small and everything else is off or low. You could try reducing the sound channels as well as that might give you a small boost.

Edwin

 

[terzdesign]

The 9400M card is soldered to your mother board and cannot be upgraded. The current 27" iMac for example has a graphics card that is over 30 times more powerful!

RAM will help the performance of the game (and your entire OS) but it cannot perform miracles with the performance.

Check that your shader model is 2, your unit size is Small and everything else is off or low. You could try reducing the sound channels as well as that might give you a small boost.

Edwin

30 times more powerful? Wow, wish I could upgrade.

Anyways, I wrote Feral an email stating that my game runs only like 4 fps on the lowest settings with my setup. We'll see what they have to say. Game is unplayable right now though.

 

[mrmarts]

I have a 2010 iMac with 8gb of ram with 512mb video it runs great however I noticed when my fort was seized by rebels the in gameplay only ran slow when they launched fire flares.

 

[edddeduck]

I have a 2010 iMac with 8gb of ram with 512mb video it runs great however I noticed when my fort was seized by rebels the in gameplay only ran slow when they launched fire flares.

I think this was a Mac PC cross platform thing with the game engine effect but if you email support with a description we can log it and double check for you.

Edwin