Panzer Leader Posted July 18, 2002 Share Posted July 18, 2002 Smeone asked me if I know what the CMBB minimum requirements are, and as far as I can tell, there have been no (recent) be-all end-all minimum system specs posted, so I am taking it upon myself to post what I think are the minimum systems. These are all best-guesses based on scraps I've read on theses pages for the past few months, especially those of the venerable Schrullenhaft Please add to this thread if you notice any discrepancies, and let's bump this for a while to keep these interminable threads from popping up. Thanks! **** There have been no OFFICIAL requirements posted, but I think any post by Schrullenhaft (and there have been many lately) will pretty much tell you dead on what you need. To summarize I'll tell you what the going rate is. Basically any computer that can play CMBO should (SHOULD) be able to play CMBB. That is as far as processor and RAM are concerned. The one exception to this is the Graphics card. While CMBO requires a minimum 4 meg card (and some people with 2 meg onboard cards have gotten it to work) CMBB has officially stated that 8 meg cards are absolute minimum, 16 meg cards are still underpowered (resulting in loss of hi-res graphics - the game will automatically down-sample the graphics) and a 32 meg card is reccomended, Here is what I would say is an absolute minimum system: P3 350 mhz 128 meg Ram 8 meg Vid Card Reccomended minimum: P3 or T-Bird 500 mhz 128 meg Ram 16 meg Ram Good System, Reccomended: 600 mhz 256 Ram 32 meg Card. Hope That Helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_WARHAMMER Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I love it when you talk tech stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuka Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Bloody computer grog! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 He didn't say anything about Macs. I feel left out. [sniff] Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Leader Posted July 19, 2002 Author Share Posted July 19, 2002 Yes I purposely left Macs out since I know nothing at all about them. IIRC they have lower processor speeds (in general) but don't need as fast processors? Also, don't they have special video cards made for them? If someone would like to add specs for Mac CMBB I think it would be great, this is supposed to be a sort of FAQ anyway. I do know that Mac will not work under Mac OS X (right?) but that you can boot into Mac OS IX (right?) to run CM. Also, I want to re-iterate that these are not OFFICIAL at all, but only my best guess. I hope more knowledgeable people than my humble self post here. I just wanted a thread for newbies and those curious to be able to find with ease. Oh, and if your computer does not meet minimum requirements, UPGRADE w00t! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Originally posted by Panzer Leader: Also, don't they have special video cards made for them?I don't know about special. My G4 has an nVidia GF 2 MX. Apple is currently offering the GF 4600 Ti. I do know that Mac will not work under Mac OS X (right?) but that you can boot into Mac OS IX (right?) to run CM.Well, your Mac will run under OS X (if it's a suitably recent model), but CM will not. And yes, you can reboot under 9 (notice the Arabic numeral) and run CM as long as you get rid of the Classic Rave extension. Well...actually, you can run CM even with the Classic Rave extension, you just wouldn't get hardware 3D rendering, which would be kind of a drag. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameroon Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Originally posted by Michael emrys: And yes, you can reboot under 9 (notice the Arabic numeral) and run CM as long as you get rid of the Classic Rave extension. Well...actually, you can run CM even with the Classic Rave extension, you just wouldn't get hardware 3D rendering, which would be kind of a drag. MichaelNo offense, but that's partially misleading/incorrect I dual-boot my Mac and have two bootable partitions (one 9 the other X). The OS 9 partition is also the partition used when Classic is started in X. And you do NOT have to delete the Classic RAVE extension, RAVE works fine. The extension only loads when running under OS X anyway. Now, I place a caveat on that. I do not know if that is also the case for systems where the OS 9 and OS X systems are on the same partition. As for my video card, I've got an ATI Radeon 7000 'cause I've got a B&W G3 (thus PCI graphics... oh well, no FSAA). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Leader Posted July 19, 2002 Author Share Posted July 19, 2002 So does everyone agree with my minimum specs then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Petersson Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I think the absolute minimum is a more personal matter. There is probably some absolute minimum RAM required to make the program run at all. How much I don't know. 16MB, more? To handle all that RAM you'll need at least an Intel 386 CPU, and probably even a 486... More important questions: - How long are you willing to wait for the CPU to process a turn? 5 minutes, 15, 50, ... The longer you're willing to wait, the slower the computer may be. - How large battles are you really interested in playing? This effects the processing time. - What's your definition of "acceptable" framerate? 1 fps, 2, 4 ... The lower the better. For a comparison I can mention a game I bought some years back; F-16 Fighting Falcon. Minimum requirements were set at: P90, 16MB RAM I had it run on: 486SLC2/66, 8MB RAM (Using specially designed boot files.) Of course I couldn't use any sound, the framerate was about 1fps, and the buttons were only checked sporadically. Still I managed to do somewhat controlled ILS landings (at least one time out of four...) Cheers Olle P.S. I currently have something slightly better than the "Good system", and is planning to upgrade (mostly because of CMBB). D.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Information is very helpful, guess there is no way to determine the absolute minimum based on all variable factors. At least I know I dont need a CRAY to play CMBB. I guess it would be a matter of personal choice, pocketbook, and how great you want the graphics to look. I really just want to PLAY the game, although hi-res graphics add to the immersion factor, I can enjoy the game more if my battle replays dont freeze, and my mouse control stays true. Cant wait to battle it out in the Tractor Factory, I hope there are a few Stanlingrad scenarios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 What Olle said. I have Autocad 14 running on a P90 with 32MB and a 1MB video card. But then again, I get paid by the hour... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Leader Posted July 19, 2002 Author Share Posted July 19, 2002 Wow, I tried to put Autocad on my 233 at work (was using 12) and it stuttered like an old woman. Of course, now I have a 700mhz w/ Acad2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Acad-2K on my home P2-233 works fine. I also have no problem running Mechanical desktop as long as I design in wireframe, with an occasional peek into solids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzman Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Originally posted by Panzer Leader: Yes I purposely left Macs out since I know nothing at all about them. IIRC they have lower processor speeds (in general) but don't need as fast processors? Also, don't they have special video cards made for them? Well, lets put it this way... my 300MHz G3 is faster then a PIII with 355Mhz. So it may be lower, but not slower. Also they tend to be more efficient so, yes they don't need as much speed. Not really special cards, just less selection, like everything else. Although older machines need PCI cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarFleet Captain Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I just had to do a forced upgrade (due to a bad motherboard) from a ASUS A7V133 w/ a 1.2 Ghz Athon w/ 256MB PC-133 SDRAM to a ASUS A7V333 w/ a 1800+ XP Athlon w/ 256MB PC2100 DDRRAM. The new CPU actually runs at 1.533 GHz, but it's equivalent to a 1.8 Ghz P4. Unfortunately I still had to keep my 64MB GF2, because I couldn't afford an additional $375 128MB G4 Ti4600. But later if I find that CMBB will run better with a better video card, I'll go ahead with the G4. But right now, that additional $375 on the ol' credit card would be a bit too much. Oh, BTW, I only paid about $500 for the CPU, mobo, and memory upgrade. And not only that, but I got a new 10x DVD-ROM drive and a new v.92 56K modem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Originally posted by Cameroon: No offense, but that's partially misleading/incorrect My comments were intended to apply only in cases where both 9 and X are on the same partition, or on an unpartitioned drive. Sorry if that wasn't clear. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted July 20, 2002 Share Posted July 20, 2002 For fellow mac heads Upgrading the graphics card etc web page Apple If you have problems with CMBO or in the future with CMBB this will help sort you out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SnarkerII Posted July 20, 2002 Share Posted July 20, 2002 Actually, check here: Appears to be a legit response or somefink to a sys requirement question by the Mad One hisself. http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=3D35E291.2040408%40hut.fi.invalid&prev=/groups%3Foi%3Ddjq%26as_q%3D%26as_ugroup%3Dcomp.sys.ibm.pc.games.war-historica l [ July 19, 2002, 09:22 PM: Message edited by: SnarkerII ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted July 20, 2002 Share Posted July 20, 2002 Yeah, I saw the Usenet post by Matt too, he did emphasise that these requirements were provisional and may change on release though. [ July 20, 2002, 05:03 AM: Message edited by: Firefly ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Petersson Posted July 20, 2002 Share Posted July 20, 2002 MM state something likes "with little VRAM the game will automatically downsample the textures". From that I draw the conclusion that this downsampling will require some CPU power on its own, thereby increasing the need of a fast CPU if the graphics card is substandard. Cheers Olle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameroon Posted July 20, 2002 Share Posted July 20, 2002 Originally posted by Olle Petersson: MM state something likes "with little VRAM the game will automatically downsample the textures". From that I draw the conclusion that this downsampling will require some CPU power on its own, thereby increasing the need of a fast CPU if the graphics card is substandard. Cheers OlleMaybe if it were downsampling TONS of textures on the fly. I'm pretty sure it would do the downsampling during the "Loading 3D Graphics" phase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarFleet Captain Posted July 20, 2002 Share Posted July 20, 2002 How's this downsampling going to work? I've got a 64Mb card and I'm probably not going to have top worry about it, but exactly what is it going to do? Shrink the sizes, the dpi, or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted July 21, 2002 Share Posted July 21, 2002 I'm not sure if downsampling involves excessive texture compression (which can be done by a number of video drivers) or some other CPU-based scheme to reduce the resolution (sampling) of the textures so that they occupy (and require) less video memory. The end result are textures that look a bit less detailed and 'blurry' compared to the non-downsampled/compressed textures. The compression/down-sampling will probably increase (resulting in even worse looking textures) with the lesser amount of VRAM available. So if an 8Mb video card works with CMBB, the textures will be of noticeablely lesser quality. However CMBB will still look fairly good, just not as sharp as a video card with 32 or 64Mb+ of VRAM. 16Mb probably won't look too bad (perhaps barely noticeable to some extent in most game views), but the performance may vary. I'm not sure how Charles has tweaked things in regard to downsampling, which offers a bit of variability to the texture quality and speed of CMBB (which isn't user adjustable to my knowledge). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFCElvis Posted July 21, 2002 Share Posted July 21, 2002 Dear Cpt Janeway, It is in poor form to brag about ones dial-up modem. Those of us with DSL and cable merely laugh. Love, Elvis [ July 21, 2002, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: Elvis ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Leader Posted July 21, 2002 Author Share Posted July 21, 2002 Dear Elvis: Try 'merely' or 'nearly' but not a mix of both. Posted Through Roadrunner High Speed Online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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