Will this computer be able to run Sins at playable speeds?

from Sins Forums

Hi there, SoaSE players/gurus. I'm just curious to know whether my relatively crappy laptop can handle Sins at MINIMUM graphics settings with a relatively smooth framerate. Here come the specs:

 

Processor: Celeron M: [email protected] ghz

RAM: 1526 MB

GPU: Intel 945 Express Chipset

 

I know the GPU is one of the most horrible ones out there right now, no hardware T&L and all that, but I have seen Sins listed on a community-run 945 compatibility list. That said, will my computer be able to run the game at least decently if I turn graphics down to null? Or was my trusty 3rd-party site incorrect? I appreciate any and all responses to my inquiry.

technical
3,634 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

it should be. Sins itself requires a 1.8 GHz single/dual core processor and I think 1 GB (2 on Vista) to run.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Eh...

 

I guess what I'm getting at is that my GPU doesn't like rendering complex stuff. When I played Age III (can't get it working again at all, though, for some reason), I couldn't watch naval battles because of all the particles and smoke. Does Sins have a lot of graphic-intensive instances such as this?

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

It can yes if you zoom in and watch the battles. If you stay zoomed out till you see is icon then its not as bad. Also to help dont use the autopin features. Empire tree is FPS hog. Also dont attempt large maps with 10 players. :)

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Oh boy. Well, I guess I should have expected that given that my processor alone is barely at minimum.

 

One thing, could you explain the Autopin features and Empire tree? (I'm assuming the latter is a tech tree with a ton of high-poly ships or something) Remember, I haven't yet gotten this game. Is the autopin feature something key to playing well or something? Some hotkey or something?

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

The Empire tree is a scroll down list that can show everything in your empire...all your ships, friendly ships, enemy ships, structures, planets....everything. Autopin is an option you disable that 'pins' certaint things on the empire tree so they always shows up. If you disable it less is shown on the empire tree, so its less your Computer has to draw and keep up with. Its not need to play 'well' I dont use it so I have it shut off as much as I can. But others use it alot. Either way keeping it trimmed and having only what you need pinned will help your computer. I noticed a huged differenece in FPS when I killed my empire tree to the bare bones. Especially in huge games with 100's of ships and 10's of planets under my control.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

Never knew about the Empire Tree thing...gotta try that sometime after my computer upgrade. I only used that part for keeping an eye on my capitals anyways.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting BellGoRiiing, reply 6
Never knew about the Empire Tree thing...gotta try that sometime after my computer upgrade. I only used that part for keeping an eye on my capitals anyways.
End of BellGoRiiing's quote

You really should give it a try: It's much easier to give attack orders against specific ships using the tree! Try to shoot down specific ships when two big battle balls are on screen - you won't be able to pick your target otherwise! It often makes moving to the point of action entirely unnecessary and thus makes managing your forces in combat much easier.

Screet

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting AngryTiger, reply 4
Oh boy. Well, I guess I should have expected that given that my processor alone is barely at minimum.
End of AngryTiger's quote

 

You could try downloading the demo to make sure it will run okay. You may not be able to get to large battles with it, but its probably more of a memory issue rather than a processor issue if it only causes trouble with large fleet battles.

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Screet, reply 7

Quoting BellGoRiiing, reply 6Never knew about the Empire Tree thing...gotta try that sometime after my computer upgrade. I only used that part for keeping an eye on my capitals anyways.
You really should give it a try: It's much easier to give attack orders against specific ships using the tree! Try to shoot down specific ships when two big battle balls are on screen - you won't be able to pick your target otherwise! It often makes moving to the point of action entirely unnecessary and thus makes managing your forces in combat much easier.

Screet
End of Screet's quote

 

You can still use it for battles. B/c you cant get rid of it 100%. If you cut it down the bare bones all that will show up in the emipre tree is the planet you have selected. Or if you have ships selelcted it will show them as long as you have them selected. So you can still use it for battles if you select either something in the grav well your fighitng or the planet itself. But if you dont ahve anything pinned or selected then you have no empire tree!  But the key no matter how much you use it is to keep it trimmed. Only pin what you must, if you let the game autopin everything and you play a long large map it will kill FPS while in battle or moving ships around if your zoomed it. Its not so bad if your zoomed out but it does make a difference. For me I went from 10 FPS while watching a battle zoom moderaltly in to 40 FPS after the empire tree trim.

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 8

Quoting AngryTiger, reply 4Oh boy. Well, I guess I should have expected that given that my processor alone is barely at minimum.

 

You could try downloading the demo to make sure it will run okay. You may not be able to get to large battles with it, but its probably more of a memory issue rather than a processor issue if it only causes trouble with large fleet battles.
End of GoaFan77's quote

 

*facepalm*

 

Sometimes, the most obvious solutions are the easiest. I'll just DL the demo and see how it runs -- thanks for the idea!