Pros: It's Total War, using the new engine. Graphics are good, they aren't great.
Cons: If you're used to the usual Total War screen, you don't get that. They use the "Rome"/Lords of the Realm" set up. Not the familiar Total War map. As with Rome, things are more confusing. How do you enter a governor? Where are my armies? I'm on a Crusade, why do I have to track it? As all of us do, we base everything on Lords of the Realm 2, or the previous version of this game. Med 2 isn't either. I don't care about the internal fights, per Melee. I want faster options to my troops. They also changed Wedge, Loose & such. The keys should be the same, just add better DVD graphics. I will say that I detest the new map. It was hard on my CRT, even worse on my LCD! They should BETA this better.
Overall Review: If you agree that the next one is better, buy it. Wal-Mart offers 2 extra discs. A making of DVD (what a waste of a disc), & a sound track cd, & a printed map (yippee). For those of us who have supported TW for years, Rome & this game are a shame. Add a Governor? I can't click anything. The booklet doesn't help. Most of the cheats don't work. I, personally, think that after gaming for over 30 years, should have some establishment. Some of the cheats work (see your store for details). Of course, I'm looking for the battles. You can "auto-manage" but that takes longer than forever. Personally, I want the old set up back. The ones that we paid for. The ones that helped them become the engine of war for the History Channel, that would be nice. Do a Sony or HP! Make the game better when it sees that you have previous games installed. Please make checks available to me, for that information.
Pros: Out of the box self adjusting/set up Pretty quiet Ready to work Adjusts to game or program or tweak it yourself
Cons: Hot blowing Blocks slots Blocks some connectors The software is on the mobo disc Suggested viewing size
Overall Review: I am happy that I was able to put this card in my build. Like most cards, I can tweak it a little. I am familiar with the Radeon line up, as I had one in my older tower. Of course, the "rated" speed is max, on high (going downhill with a tail wind). But the 8 gigs are there all of the time. You can increase that by shadowing & so on. What I've found out is this is a large drive. In fact, it covers up more than a SATA plug or two. It covers up a PCI slot, & partially covers the battery (see pix). None of that is a big deal if you don't need access to them. Plug in your board & case cables before installing the card. You get 3 display port video out plus 1 (only) HDMI. So you can't plug in three TV's unless they run display ports. This needs a PCIE 8 plug, & a very long ATX cable if your power supply is on the bottom. I had to wait longer to build this, because I had to get cables. Now, maybe you won't have to. Take out two back access points, & have some of your own screws ready to mount. You get a neat envelope to hold the quick start guide, but no mounting screws. No software either, that I found with the mobo. So if this is just an upgrade, you'll proly want to install, uninstall (your old), & update the software to take advantage of the cool stuff. Powah~! This thing is hungry & HOT! Even on the box it says it needs 500 watts itself. Sheesh! So far, running a power hungry 3d art program, the fans aren't insane loud. Actually the CPU cooler fan is louder. Perhaps some of the other reviews about loud, was for old stock or something. This one applies to a mid 2020 card. This card "isn't" the most powerful, bench marks show it quite capable, but could improve. In my real world, it is awesome. I do a bunch of games, but my computers are mostly work stations. Rendering videos, 3D drawing & things like that. It does throw some heat! It has two fans on it's cooler, pushing up to be exhausted, even at low use, you'll want to turn on an external fan or drop the ac a notch. This things gets hot pretty quick. You "won't need a heater" for that attic or basement computer room. It doesn't light, it doesn't glow, it doesn't chortle. It does make games Wowtastic! It also has (software) a few gaming/use options & will learn your game or use. A feature I have been enjoying for a few years now on some other Radeon cards. That about sums it up. If you're on the fence, come over to this side. Heck look at the box & see the life span of this monster! I haven't played with all of the features as yet, just the important ones. I do like that I can configure each program or game to be more video or less intense; or just let the card figure it out while I bang keys or save the multiverse.