Terrible Empire: Total War FPS

[Ultracougar]

So recently I bought E:TW

So I have a fairly new computer. Built this year, and I would consider my specs decent, but Empire: Total War just seems to chug for me. Even on the lowest of the low, every single option on low, it still chugs. Heres my specs.

Name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip Type: ATI display adapter (0x9442)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Approx. Total Memory: 2292 MB
Current Display Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor

Drivers:
Main Driver: atiu9p64.dll,aticfx - More jibberish.
Version: 8.712.0.0
Date: 3/2/2010 9:06:34 PM
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
DDI Version: 10.1
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1

System Information:
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 540 @ 3.07GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.1GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Page File: 2187MB used, 5985MB available.
DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Any clues as to why? I should atleast be able to get a decent framerate out of the lowest of the low settings, and apparentlly, that isn't possible.

Help, Please.

 

[saltynay]

At that res the card is the bottleneck

 

[Trotter]

A 48xx card should run a 1920x1080 just fine.

For starters you are running old drivers. You need to go to the Catalyst 10.10 drivers. Download by clicking HERE. You will also need to download Driver Sweeper.

Once you get them downloaded, click Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program (under Programs). Scroll down to you find the AMD drivers or Catalyst entry and have it uninstall. Once it is finished, reboot into safe mode (tap on the F8 key while the computer is booting to get the option). Once in safe mode, run Driver sweeper and have it look for AMD/ATI graphics drivers only and then have it delete them. Reboot back into Windows and install the new drivers.

Yes, that is complicated, but it makes sure that your drivers aren't FUBAR right off the bat because of some old leftovers getting mixed in.

You are running a i3 which may be slowing you down, but it shouldn't be doing that bad on this game.

Give the drivers a shot and post back.

 

[Ultracougar]

I should save the catalyst drivers exe to the desktop, correct? and then after deleting the other drivers and rebooting in safe mode, open and run the .exe that I just had saved unto the desktop, which will install the new drivers?

 

[synergy]

That would be correct.

 

[Ultracougar]

BIG EDIT!

It installed just fine and when I started up Empire: Total War, the difference was amazing.

Them ATI wizards sure know their drivers. ;P

Thanks for all the help, guys. I'll surely be visiting this community again some time.