PC CD or Collecter's Edition DVD?

Hi,

I just bought my laptop (see specs) with a super multi 8xDVD optical drive. I am thinking of buying Battle for Middle-Earth II. Should I buy the collecter's edition DVD or the standard PC-CD? If my optical drive speed is not fast enough for the DVD, will it drastically affect the game's playability?

specs: AMD Mobile Sempron 3100+ (1.8GHz rated at 3.1 GHz), 1GB system memory, 60GB hard drive, ATI Radeon Xpress 200M (128MB)

*I know the graphics card is really poor, but it should be able to run BFMEII at medium settings (I scanned my notebook using the system requirements lab test and it has all the required features).

minimum system requirements: 1.6GHz processor, 64MB ATI Radeon 8500 or better, 256MB system memory, 6GB hard drive space

Thanks

 

DVD's read at different speeds than CD's do. An 8x DVD Drive for notebooks is pretty standard, and plenty fast to read DVD's well. The desktop standard is 16x, but 8x is still good. You wont have any performance difference between the CD and the DVD version. Infact the DVD would be better since you'll just have one, instead of 6 CD's for installation. If at all possible with a game, always get a DVD version. If your still worried about your drive speed, what is the minimum DVD speed on the DVD version, not the CD version, which for alot of games now is like 16x.

[EDIT] I just looked my copy of Oblivion's box. Since its a DVD, the minimum speed is 8x, which is what I have. Even with my weak 7 series card, I can still run the game on medium settings @1280x800 with playable frames. You'll be fine with the DVD version.

 

A CD drive would need to be 72x to match 8x DVD.

 

The CD/DVD is hardly ever actually used while playing anyway. I don't know why they bother to list requirements for it. Maybe because they want the game to install faster? Or just because otherwise their support will get swamped with questions like "Is my DVD drive fast enough?"

Anyway, the disc is used 1) When installing, and *maybe* 2) When launching the game, to perform copy protection checks.

And not after that.

 

Once you get past the splash screen in BFME2, the disk is not used any more, so go for the medium that is easier for you to manage, as it wont affect performance.

Also, youre looking at medium settings at 640x480, and low/medium on 800x600, when it tested it with identical specs.

 

I would go for DVD. I have the PC-CD version of NFS:MW and it was 5 discs. That's just ridiculous, and it took a while to install. An 8x DVD should still read faster than a 24x CD-ROM, which is what most laptops have.

 

Yea if you have a dvd drive, get the dvd version if you can. You will go insane with multiple cd swapping (and keeping track of after the install) and its slower then reading the dvd. Also BFME2 uses protections, and a dvd drive may have problems with cd based protection schemes.

 

Ok thanks guys for replying,

So it wont matter that much if the DVD drive requirement speed is 16x and mine is 8x? I really want the collector's edition DVD

 

YES IT WONT MATTER, the installation will be a little slower but really you wont notice. Enjoy the DVD

 

thanks guys,

I will enjoy it!
(I just wanted to be sure before i bought it)

 

Are you sure that the DVD drive requirement is 16x? I dont think they make drives faster than that. If Oblivion's min speed is 8x then BFME2 cant be higher than that. You'll be fine with the DVD version, it will only affect how long it will take to install so dont worry abou it.

 

Heh, you REALLY wanted to be sure lol.

 

Somebody please correct me if I am wrong, but the Xpress 200M is not a better performer than the Radeon 8500 whether its 64mb or 128mb. I own both of these and the 8500 spanks the 200M. I have never played this game before, but plan on using low settings.

 

Missed that one, yeah the x200m is poorer:

8500: 275mhz core, 275mhz mem (128bit), 4 pixel shader units, 4 ROPs, 2 vertex units
x200: 300mhz core, system memory only, 2 pixel shader units, 2 ROPs, 2 vertex units

While it has more vertex power (and not that much more) the pixel shader power (for those effects) is pretty much half, the bandwidth provided by the ram in the system will also be a LOT less than that of dedicated ram on the 8500 (read my post to find out why).

 

Yeah, I know my graphics card is crap,

But hey, its better than the Intel GMA 900/950. This games supports both of these intel integrated cards. I know the X200M is a better card than both of these, so i should be fine. Im not looking for killer graphic details when playing; just playing the game at lowest settings would be great (especially considering im using a budget laptop).

*In my opinion the X200M is great for gaming. But thats just me. (this is because I have been using a Intel Extreme Graphics card on my desktop previously and am overwhelmed with the difference). I guess I'm just ignorant because I've never used even a mid-range graphics card before, oh well; I guess I can't have everything when I'm broke. (this is the reason why I wanted to double-check about the DVD thing)

Just to be sure, I'm going to download the demo form EA and see how well it plays.

[EDIT] Doh! The file is 1.4GB and takes 5 hours to download using a broadband connection. Its going to be a long wait.

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

...about the BFMEII demo (which is absolutely fabulous):

It runs flawlessly at low settings (default). However, even though it recommended me not to change the settings, I moved it up to medium. At this setting the game looks much better and is still very playable (albeit a bit of slow down during enormous battles). I even got a glimpse of the game t high settings. Even though it can still be played at high settings, i do no recommend it as it is fairly slow and would affect game play by a reasonable amount (but WOW, it looked great). I wonder what ultra high settings look like....lol, I guess I'll never know.

 

Let's not forget the extras that come on DVD versions. I played F.E.A.R. originally on a CD version but then bought the Directors Edition DVD recently on eBay. A short movie, great video on the making of the game and a full self playing commentary video are also included. Pretty cool stuff.

 

Just get teh dvd version for one mayor advantage: everithing on one disc!! I don't think you want to take care of 4 (or as many they are) cds, remenber if you loose one you won't be able to intall again.