Getting new computer soon

[Bobbi]

I am thinking about having a new computer built soon. Does anyone know what causes the massive slowdown I experience in Banished at higher (any over about 700 ish) populations? Do I need a better processor? Video card? Ram?

[tomnobles]

Probably video card, I would guess. Mine lags after 1,000, playable but still lags. I have a six core processor with 32GB ram so, I'm assuming it is the video card, after all I went for cheap when I built it  -  video card $89. Here's a portion of my dxdiag;

------------------
System Information
------------------
      Time of this report: 10/24/2015, 11:00:34
             Machine name: TOM1-PC
         Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 10240) (10240.th1.150930-1750)
                 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
      System Manufacturer: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
             System Model: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
                     BIOS: BIOS Date: 01/17/13 20:42:25 Ver: 04.06.05
                Processor: AMD FX(tm)-6100 Six-Core Processor              (6 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
                   Memory: 32768MB RAM
      Available OS Memory: 32726MB RAM
                Page File: 3569MB used, 61924MB available
              Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
          DirectX Version: 11.2
      DX Setup Parameters: Not found
         User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
       System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
          DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
                 Miracast: Not Available
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
           DxDiag Version: 10.00.10240.16384 64bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GT 630
       Manufacturer: NVIDIA
          Chip type: GeForce GT 630
           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
        Device Type: Full Device
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0F00&SUBSYS_8A901462&REV_A1
     Display Memory: 20340 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 3977 MB
      Shared Memory: 16362 MB
       Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
       Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor

[Bobbi]

What I have now is: Intel Core i5-2500K CPU @3.30GHz
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570

[A Nonny Moose]

Without knowing the dependency level of the graphics code on the power of the GPU it is a little hard to say but the prior poster indicates he has ample CPU and memory resource, so I tend to agree what you need is a GPU with the biggest memory you can afford. 

Also, do not skimp on real memory (2GB per core), and you might find that having your operating system and swapping area (if windows) or just the swapping device on an SSD would be well worth the money, but even modern SSDs have their drawbacks on the number of writes they can sustain.  My preference in this regard would be a really fast rotating storage just on hardware gut feelings alone.

[tomnobles]

The i5 is a four core with a speed comparable to mine just two cores less. Probably not much difference if they were bench-marked. Your GPU has 1.2 GB with DDR5 memory and should outperform my 630, even with twice the memory. Could be the 16GB memory my system is sharing with the card actually helps.

Anyway I would go with a similar card to the 570, but with 4GB DDR5 memory. Also, the more memory your machine has, the more is shared with the GPU.

[rkelly17]

Sorry I'm late to this discussion.

I have an i5 3570K with 8 G of RAM. I originally built the computer with an Nvidia GTX 650. Not long ago I upgraded to a GTX 750 ti. The new card has noticibly better performance, but I've not noticed a serious speed up with larger settlements in Banished. The best improvement I've seen is with one of the "no-smoke" mods. Also using the specialized trading posts mod cuts down on the number of TPs needed and having fewer merchants helps speeds too. It would be nice to be able to figure out which aspect of Banished puts the most stress on which part of the computer and what settings might minimize that. I recently got "Grand Ages: Medieval" and found that it was maxing out my video card. After consulting a forum changed one setting (turned on V-synch) and video card usage dropped right off with no performance hit.

But don't let that keep you from getting a new computer!    I'm going to build a new one after the new year when I can set aside the necessary cash.

[A Nonny Moose]

Following this thread avidly.  I haven't the skill set for a self-build but I do have a custom builder or two around.

About smoke.  Smoke is one of the hardware eaters since it is animated and requires constant attention.  In another game, I have turned smoke/clouds off entirely to a considerable pickup in throughput.  In Banished, I turn the weather off, and a no smoke mod would be handy, but I am not sure I would like it.