We are forever being asked about the best computers to run RCT3 - whether ATi or Nvidia is better, is this computer 'good enough' and so on, and how to make a particular system go faster.
RCT3 was designed to run well on both ATi and Nvidia cards; personally I've seen fewer problems on Nvidia cards, but from time to time we see problems on both - particularly when new drivers come out.
Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but one very important thing when speccing out a machine (not just for RCT3) is to ensure there are no obvious 'bottlenecks'. There are (at least) six separate causes of slowdown in a machine:
1. Processor speed and cache size
2. Main memory size and speed
3. Graphics card speed and memory size
4. Speed of transfer between graphics and main memory
5. HD speed
6. Sound card speed and settings
The first four are pretty obvious - but it it worth making sure they are well matched. For example a good 'rule of thumb' is to have at least four times as much main memory as graphics memory - eg a 256Mb card in a 1Gb machine.
For RCT3 particularly:
1. Processor speed and cache size
A secondary cache size of 2Mb makes a big performance difference. This dwarfs any typical increase in clock rate, particularly for RCT3. Also, if it is a dual core machine - 2Mb shared cache (as Intel Core Duo have) is fine, but the 1Mb+1Mb as the earlier Pentium 4 dual cores have are not.
RCT3 does not take much advantage of dual core, but it can help for (eg) sound cards that do their processing in software.
2. Main memory size and speed
For RCT3, the difference in speed between a paused and unpaused game (with the same 3D view) is accounted for mostly by processor and main memory speed, and is particularly noticable when you have a lot of peeps in the park.
If your HD light flashes continuously when playing the game with a particular park (with a fixed viewpoint), then getting more main RAM should speed things up.
3. Graphics card speed and memory size
The card speed is often hard to find out - but this can make as much as a factor of two difference in speed. This is the main difference between differently priced cards with seemingly similar specs. 'Imposters' can help greatly for a slower card.
Card memory size determines the detail and number of textures, and a large graphics card memory often means less data had to be transferred from main memory each frame. A game will show a sudden slowdown as such a transfer starts - as can be noticed in large parks.
Edit: A good way to check to see if the graphics card is the limiting factor on your machine is to change the detail level. If it makes little difference, then you are probably limited by something else - usually the processor or main memory.
4. Speed of transfer between graphics and main memory
This is a big issue for laptops, and also for graphic cards with smaller amounts of RAM. PCI Express x16 cards are the current best - but it may well be that your motherboard does not run at the full speed of a card.
5. HD speed
This affects load times - there is a huge range of HD speeds. If your load times are long, then you may have a slow HD - or it may need defragmenting.
6. Sound card speed and settings
Many newer (cheap) sound systems do their 3D positioning in software, so only set your system to do 3D sound if you have it set up. If not, then you are likely to be burning quite a lot of processing power.
I hope that helps.
RCT3 was designed to run well on both ATi and Nvidia cards; personally I've seen fewer problems on Nvidia cards, but from time to time we see problems on both - particularly when new drivers come out.
Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but one very important thing when speccing out a machine (not just for RCT3) is to ensure there are no obvious 'bottlenecks'. There are (at least) six separate causes of slowdown in a machine:
1. Processor speed and cache size
2. Main memory size and speed
3. Graphics card speed and memory size
4. Speed of transfer between graphics and main memory
5. HD speed
6. Sound card speed and settings
The first four are pretty obvious - but it it worth making sure they are well matched. For example a good 'rule of thumb' is to have at least four times as much main memory as graphics memory - eg a 256Mb card in a 1Gb machine.
For RCT3 particularly:
1. Processor speed and cache size
A secondary cache size of 2Mb makes a big performance difference. This dwarfs any typical increase in clock rate, particularly for RCT3. Also, if it is a dual core machine - 2Mb shared cache (as Intel Core Duo have) is fine, but the 1Mb+1Mb as the earlier Pentium 4 dual cores have are not.
RCT3 does not take much advantage of dual core, but it can help for (eg) sound cards that do their processing in software.
2. Main memory size and speed
For RCT3, the difference in speed between a paused and unpaused game (with the same 3D view) is accounted for mostly by processor and main memory speed, and is particularly noticable when you have a lot of peeps in the park.
If your HD light flashes continuously when playing the game with a particular park (with a fixed viewpoint), then getting more main RAM should speed things up.
3. Graphics card speed and memory size
The card speed is often hard to find out - but this can make as much as a factor of two difference in speed. This is the main difference between differently priced cards with seemingly similar specs. 'Imposters' can help greatly for a slower card.
Card memory size determines the detail and number of textures, and a large graphics card memory often means less data had to be transferred from main memory each frame. A game will show a sudden slowdown as such a transfer starts - as can be noticed in large parks.
Edit: A good way to check to see if the graphics card is the limiting factor on your machine is to change the detail level. If it makes little difference, then you are probably limited by something else - usually the processor or main memory.
4. Speed of transfer between graphics and main memory
This is a big issue for laptops, and also for graphic cards with smaller amounts of RAM. PCI Express x16 cards are the current best - but it may well be that your motherboard does not run at the full speed of a card.
5. HD speed
This affects load times - there is a huge range of HD speeds. If your load times are long, then you may have a slow HD - or it may need defragmenting.
6. Sound card speed and settings
Many newer (cheap) sound systems do their 3D positioning in software, so only set your system to do 3D sound if you have it set up. If not, then you are likely to be burning quite a lot of processing power.
I hope that helps.
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