Wanted: Computer Recommendations for Civ IV

[inca911]

I'm in the market for a new computer to play Civ IV. It doesn't have to be a laptop, and I'm looking to be cost conservative. I want to walk into a store a walk out with a new computer. Anybody have suggestions or experience with getting a new box for CIV?

[wgabrie]

Knowing about Solver's PC would be a good minimum starting point.

I should think:

CPU about 1.5 GHz
512 MB Ram
DirectX 9.0c compatible Video Card 64MB-128MB.

Why not build your own?

[Ninot]

Throw $5000 into an alienware, you'll be set.

[wgabrie]

Check out the The $500 Gaming Machine.

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20051014/index.html

[conmcb25]

get 1 gig of ram

and the best video card you can afford

[Edgar Newt]

PITBOSS / Persistent Server

On a related topic, does the PITBOSS approach mean that the end user will need to have a separate computer up and running 24/7 as the "persistent server" or will Firaxis have a server farm operating...? How is this supposed to work? If the end-user needs to have it up and running, what will be the requirements for that server? Inquiring minds want to know....

And yes, I realize that PITBOSS won't be around until Dec. and that this is all speculation, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

[alva]

does the PITBOSS approach mean that the end user will need to have a separate computer up and running 24/7

I don't think so.

CPU about 1.5 GHz
512 MB Ram
DirectX 9.0c compatible Video Card 64MB-128MB.

Why not build your own?

AMD64 3000 (upwards)
1G ram
ATI 9800PRO or nVidia 6800 (or PCI-Express equivalent)

This shouldn't set you back too much with great value for your investment.

[inca911]

I understand CPU speed, and RAM. But I sure don't understand video cards. I looked online at video cards and there's a huge price spread. I went online to CompUSA and they had a system that contains:

"ATI RADEON® Xpress 200 PCI graphics"

I looked at other's recommendations above, such as the "ATI 9800 PRO", and that is likely the same as this card:

"Radeon 9800 Pro 128 Video Card, 8x AGP, 128MB DDR"

which runs $228.

And then there's the "nVIDIA 6800" recommedation above which must be this:

"GeForce 6800 GT OC Video Card, 8x AGP, 256MB GDDR3"

which runs $400.

So what's the main difference? I'm buying a new computer mainly for cIV, and don't need a lot of realtime graphics. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Ninot]

i recommend instead of a 6800, go for a 6600, either 128mb or 256mb,

I have a 6600 128mb on my laptop, it plays games as new as Madden 2006 on pretty much max settings.

[Sava]

inca911: from what you describe as your gaming needs, mainly civ4 and not a lot of other demanding graphics, I'd recommend checking out Dell at see whatever desktops deal they have at the moment...

are you knowledgable enough to build your own PC?

If so you can purchase components seperately and build a PC for a lot cheaper than buying one from a vendor.

If not, I'd recommend probably Dell or another online vendor. How much do you want to spend? Dell's cheapest gaming PC is around $1,000. That is about what you should be looking at if you just want something to play a game like Civ4.

You don't need a $400 video card if you aren't interested in graphics intensive games like many of the popular first person shooters, etc. A PC from Dell will fit your needs quite nicely.

Let me know if you need any help.

https://www.dell.com

You can pick out what kind of PC you want at their website and everything. You can customize what components and check prices without committing to anything.

I would recommend looking into Dell's XPS line of gaming PC's. Specifically, the XPS 200 or XPS 400. They start in price around $1,000. For your needs, I don't think you will need to upgrade many components in order to run Civ4 effectively. Those machines will do quite nicely.

[Solver]

There's no need for a 6600 or a 6800 for Civ4 . A 5700 will have more than enough capability to render whatever Civ4 needs. It's not such a memory hog to require 1 GB of RAM either .

[alva]

Why spend money on a card that is old the moment you buy it?
I'm not saying you need those cards btw, just that they hit the sweet spot at the moment, as in: they will last a while before you need to start looking ( and fearing) the minimum specs again when looking at a box.

@Inca:

Are those US $'s???? That sounds way off, that's almost twice as expensive as they cost here (we usually pay 20 to 40% more than you guys).

i recommend instead of a 6800, go for a 6600, either 128mb or 256mb,

The 6800 is better though.

[Blake]

The 6600 kicks ass considering it's cost.
I recentely upgraded to AMD64 3000, 1GB ram, GF6600. Seems like a pretty popular setup.
(I reached that setup entirely independently of the $500 gaming machine review)

[Blake]

Oh yeah I also made the mistake of getting a cheap PSU/Case Combo. DON'T! The PSU actually started sparking and selfdestructing! I yanked the cable out, ripped out the cheap PSU and replaced it with a high quality 300W enermax power supply I had lying around. Thankfully none of my other components got damaged (I woulda cried if I'd lost my shiny new hardware) and the 300W PSU seems to power my system okay even if technically it's on the low side.

[Tyranthraxus]

When shopping around for a video card, Find out, if you can, what the power requirements are. I have a Saphire Radeon 9600 XT that won't run with anything less than a 300W power supply. Try to aim for a power supply with 400 W or greater.

Newegg.com usually has the best prices and the fastest shipping. You might also want to try pricewatch.com to find the absolute lowest prices.

Also make sure you get the interface right. Find out if you'll have PCI, PCI-E (Which is newest), or AGP. I wouldn't pay anything more than $250 for a card unless you have disposable money to throw away. (Why pay $500 now for 1 card when you can pay $250 now for a card that'll play everything now, and then get another one that'll do the same 2 years from now?)

My Radeon 9600 XT (AGP) plays World of Warcraft and Half-life 2 at near max settings. So I'm guessing that it'll be ok for CivIV. Retail for this card is Around $90 right now at Newegg (Just checked). Of course I got this card a year ago when it was $179. And I would only recommend getting this one now if you are strapped for cash.

If you get a 9800 PRO make sure it's 256 bit, NOT 128bit.

THE card that is in the sweet spot right now for price/performance in my opinion, (If you are a fan of ATI) is the Radeon X800 PRO AGP 256MB for $230 at newegg. It's one made by Sapphire. That's the one I would get if I were to get a new card right now.

Here's the specs of my machine which I built last year at this time.

AMD Althlon XP 3200+ (Was $200)
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe Motherboard with integrated Surround sound (NForce 2 Ultra 400). (Was $100)
1 Gig PC3200 DDR RAM (Was $80 for each of 2 sticks)
Sapphire Radeon 9600XT w/256 MB RAM (Was $179, Now $90)
Windows XP home full version($100) (Have to buy hardware with the OS so buy a $10 floppy drive with it. Or get a $3 network cable if strapped for cash.)

I probably spent about $700 - $800 for mine and it plays everything at near max settings. Buying a $20 book about building computers can save you about $300 in the long run. After I built my machine I went to Ibuypower.com and Dell and priced the exact same computer. Ibuypower was $300 more and Dell was $500 more.

My wife bought a compaq for about $200 more than I paid and Mine runs games twice as fast and is clean of all the crap software, adware, and spyware that usually comes for "Free" on manufactured PCs.