What's the "BEST" Video Card for Civ IV

[James]

Good points here.

[Raion]

In fact, just looking at the Pirates! box, the requirements are pretty much the same, and both game boxes says that it includes Direct X 9.0c, but when I installed Civ IV, I think Dirext X did some file changes, and I now wonder (since Pirates! is just about a year old now) that something changed with Direct X.

Since I mangled my partition my games were on by shutting down Partition Magic with Task Manager and cross-linking every file (that were my games there) and deleting everything (games) and reformatting the drive, then now only having two games on that partition, I think I will re-install Pirates! and see if the Direct X version wants to report anything.

Since I know that Pirates! right out of the box, plays a very long opening sequence movie, I know that works fine, I wonder if anything will change between what Direct X version is on Civ IV from Pirates!

Just curious, and I need to re-install the game of Pirates! anyway!

Be back in a few minutes!

[Raion]

Pirates! opening plays fine with the version of Direct X 9.0c with Pirates! I think changed some files over the version of Direct X 9.0 c for Civ IV, but still Civ IV played the same in the opening movie.

Sounds skips in and out!
Pirates! does not, and is much louder than the sound of Civ IV opening movie. So loud, I had to turn down my volume when starting Pirates!

Nope, pretty well sure, the game of Civ IV is not working correctly with the *.bik files since the setups of the game are similiar and the requirements of Civ IV are slightly higher than for Pirates!

The game of Civ IV needs a patch!
It is broken!

Now again I have to download the patch I goofed up for Pirates! but that patch is mainly more for decoration than for fixing anything except a few minor issues with that game, so I can play Pirates! while waiting for a patch for Civ IV!

I do suggest a better video card than I have for Civ IV, but probably with my computer which is a PCI 2.0 slot, I am using for the video card, anything like an 8X AGP or a cheaper Geforce 6200 card, will probably play Civ IV when it is patched.

Afterall, opening movies are opening sequences and both would have to be affected if it was not the game, and it is the game of Civ IV that is doing it, not anything else -- on my almost recommended system, except for the video card, and that can be solved with just a slightlly newer card, if you do not want to go full-tilt boogie and buy a more expensive card, but then, those video cards are really not made for my computer, and I do not need one for a newer computer, but still my computer meets the Recommended Specs for Civ IV, and a slightly better graphic card will just make it faster slightly!

Otherwise, the game will play, except it needs a patch, as I have those problems with Civ IV and none with Pirates!

[Raion]

Re-installed the Direct X version that came with Civ IV and restarted the computer (don't really know if it upgraded any files, but they did look similiar) and Pirates! opening plays fine, so the game's sound of Civ IV cutting in and out has nothing to do with Dirext X versions and Pirates! plays fine like before, until I messed up my harddisk logical partition, but now it is installed and Pirates! has no such problems like Civ IV does!

A patch is needed I reasonably sure for Civ IV~!

Well, it is late, so Goodbye!


Oh, one last thing, and that is Pirates! does have a 'Default' setting for the audio, and only a couple of other options like Direct Sound or so, but Civ IV has no 'Default' for its sound, so I wonder if that was left out of Civ IV and should be listed in the Audio Settings for that game like the audio is listed for Pirates!

[Fidel]

Originally posted by Raion
It is broken!

this is my officially first 'broken' sighting. i am not sure if anyone has spotted something earlier. of course, 'thiz game iz br0ken' is still to appear.

back to topic: i have recently bought comp with pci nvidia 6200 GE, 128 mb. it is slighly cheaper than 6600, i guess, and not slow like snoopy's review would make you think. it has been handling rome total war battles with ease, yet to see how it would handle civ.
you really need not spend more than 120 USD (euro 100) on a card, unless you plan on doing FPS tournaments. even then, it is a law of diminishing returns. over 150 USD would be...just a waste of money
my 2 cents

edit: also try pairing grafic cards and motherboards - in my experience (and i might be wrong) - much less incidence of various problems. so go for abit, asus, gigabyte in both motherboard and card, that is, if you are building it from the scratch.

[asleepathewheel]

Runs great on my GeForce 6800

[alva]

I'll post it here again, let's face reality shall we.

If you're going to buy a new card then for a 2005 game you need for:
nVidea: series 6000 and up
ATI: 9800PRO and up

The latter here costs (this is 21% tax included) a little over a 100€ (just noticed my local shop doesn't even sell it anymore)
a 6600 will set you back (depending on the version and there are many) about 120€

Don't go for less..really, don't!
Penny wise, pund foolish.
You'll be kicking yourself in a week and end up buying another card within six months.

[alva]

In fact, just looking at the Pirates! box, the requirements are pretty much the same, and both game boxes says that it includes Direct X 9.0c, but when I installed Civ IV, I think Dirext X did some file changes, and I now wonder (since Pirates! is just about a year old now) that something changed with Direct X.

There has been a change, an extra dll was added which MS has not officialy released yet (in fact it only just added it to the user base of directX, it was previously only availlable is the SDK version).

[nhall70]

Hi Guys,

I agree that Civ4 needs a patch for some minor things. I don't know a single piece of software that doesn't. Some more than others but all software has glitches.

I just think it's entertaining as hell to sit back and watch all the armchair developers make statements like Civ4 is leaking memory and is therefore "broken".

I would expect a game like Civ4 to use increasing amounts of memory as the game progresses due to the increased amount of state information that has to be maintained. On the other hand...I'm sure your correct. Civ4 does have a memory leak; all software does! Windows XP has memory leaks!

From the time that I've spent with the game, any memory leaks Civ4 may have are not significant. I started a new game Thursday night and left it running for three days. I'd play for hours at a time, then get busy with something else (wife's birthday!) and set it aside for several hours, then come back and play some more...but I never saved and closed the game. My computer only has 512 MB of RAM and I never had a crash or any other kind of problem whatsoever.

Memory leak?...blah.

Different people maintain their computers in different ways. But the game developers ALWAYS take the blame when something goes wrong. It's just an occupational hazard you have to get used to!

Cheers.

[Raion]

557mB of Peak Virtual Memory on a standard map with 5 civs by 2750B.C. seems to be excessive.

I have no other game that comes close to using that much memory, especially since the Recommended Specs for Civ IV, I do have, except for a slightly less video card (FX 5200) and not even Pirates! comes close to that kind of a problem.

And since I can compare the two games which both have similiar setups, I think something is wrong with Civ IV, and pehaps a better video card and computer would help, but I am not running the Minimum Requirements for the game, but the Recommended Requirements.

And anyway, buying a better video card may help, except I am running PCI 2.0 Slots and not PCI x 16 slots and running 4x AGP not 8x AGP, so buying a better video card for a computer that is not the latest is not going to help.

If the game is only made for the latest, then Sid is slipping, since he has never done that before, and knows to sell more games, most players do not have the latest greatest computer.

And never needed it before to play one of Sid Meier's games!

The game of Civ IV needs a patch.

A *.bik file is a *.bik file (movie) and Pirates! ones' play fine, but Civ IV movie files do not, as the sound cuts in and out, and probably that is a buffer problem or something else.

When every game I have plays fine, then I suggest that it is Civ IV that does not, despite -- Civilization's Answer to programs with faults in them.

Afterall, why are you using Microsoft OS's then???

The World a long time ago would have got rid of Microsoft OS's if they worked like they should, which the OS's do not, so go download another Critical Patch for your OS!

There are probably another 35mB of those Critical Patches now to download again!



Baba yetu uliye mbinguni,
jina lako litukuzwe.
Ufalme wako ufike.
Utakalo lifanyike duniani mbinguni.
Utupe leo mkate wetu wa kila siku.
Utusamehe makosa yetu,
kama tunavyowasamehe na sisi waliotukosea.
Usitutie katika kishawishi,
lakini utuopoe maovuni.
Amina.

Say the Lord's Prayer in Swahili also!

[Raion]

Yes, and perhaps by the year 2010, you can get your molecular quantum computer, that has a molecular video card in it, and Civ IV will be like playing Civ II on your computer now. And yes, Civ II is still on my computer, and it is --- fast!

[Qwertqwert]

Ming, if you go for the 6600's or 6800's get the GT version, really much better.

[nhall70]

557mB of Peak Virtual Memory on a standard map with 5 civs by 2750B.C. seems to be excessive.

A large memory footprint does not indicate a memory leak. A memory leak is when memory is allocated and then never released. This results in a progressive consumption of more and more memory over time. A large memory footprint simply suggests that the game is maintaining a lot of information, which for a game like Civ4, I would expect (even hope ).

Pirates! is a rather small game compared to Civ4, GREAT game though. I don't know what other games you play but I've got lots of games that use more memory than Civ4. Battlefield2 is an absolute monster! It takes 5-7 minutes just to load the game on my computer. That's fine though...I LIKE content for my money. If I wanted to play Civilization in a spreadsheet I'd use Excel and I wouldn't need Sid.

If the game is only made for the latest, then Sid is slipping, since he has never done that before, and knows to sell more games, most players do not have the latest greatest computer.

Actually, he's not slipping...he's trying to keep pace with technology. Gamers demand this.

The game of Civ IV needs a patch.

Yes, it does. It's got a few issues here and there.

A *.bik file is a *.bik file (movie) and Pirates! ones' play fine, but Civ IV movie files do not, as the sound cuts in and out, and probably that is a buffer problem or something else.

When every game I have plays fine, then I suggest that it is Civ IV that does not, despite -- Civilization's Answer to programs with faults in them.

Not true at all. Video encoding is a rather touchy business in computers right now. Tons of different codecs, bitstreams, compression methods, etc. This is a common problem in games. To this day I have a crash bug in Rome Total War while playing the Senate video in any resolution other than 1024x768 and that game has been out for well over a year now. Some people have that bug (like me) some people don't. Probably doesn't have anything to do with Rome Total War at all but I'm too lazy to chase it down.

Afterall, why are you using Microsoft OS's then???

Because it's the most widely supported OS in the world. Why do you use it?

There's simply more software available for it than any other choice. I know it's popular to attack the leader...always has been. But I don't subscribe to the "I hate Microsoft self-help group". It's boring.

You seem to be upset with Firaxis for continuing to add more to Civ4 and updating it to use current technology. If you want Civ4 without all the graphics bells and whistles, why don't you just play Civ3, or Civ2? They're great games and they run just fine on yesterdays hardware!

Cheers.

[Ming]

Originally posted by Qwertqwert
Ming, if you go for the 6600's or 6800's get the GT version, really much better.

Why?

[Qwertqwert]

Originally posted by Ming


Why?

???

Why what exactly?