Civ 4 Computer Spec Quiz

[Kassiopeia]

Originally posted by Dracon II
How well would Civ IV run on a P4 3.2GHz, ATI Radeon x600 (256mb), and 1gb ram?

You may experience just a bit of slowdown on huge maps, especially near the end of the game, because of the amount of RAM, but otherwise, you will be able to run with maxed out graphics settings and a spiffy resolution without a hitch. This is based on my roughly equivalent rig: A64 3000+, GeForce 6600GT (128 MB), 1 GB of RAM. Large and standard go wonderfully.

[Eagle Scream]

3.06 GHZ pentium, 1MB RAM, running a huge map with a GEforce 6200 OC 256meg card via AGP is SLOW near year 2000. Takes about 5 seconds to register the information every turn, gonna try a smaller map after seeing everyone else post not to use the huge maps, too bad as I love huge maps, oh well.

[Dis]

I'd kill for 5 seconds.

[Dracon II]

5 seconds ain't that bad. Not as bad as Civ3 on my old computer.

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by Dr,ape


What you are refering to is not "bandwidth".
A "band" is a segment of the EM spectrum.

You are missing a very important point. In human languages, and perhaps especially in the English language, the same word can take on different meanings in different contexts. Thus, the fact that one way of using a word is correct does not automatically mean that another, somewhat different way of using it is incorrect. I don't know how much that happens in other languages, but it happens a lot in English.

The use of the word "bandwidth" for maximum data transmission rates is now very well established, and can be found in at least some dictiionaries, including Merriam-Webster.com and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language as reflected on Dictionary.com. If you don't like it, you're entitled to your opinion, but please respect the opinions of those of us who do not share your prejudices.

[nbarclay]

Originally posted by Capt Dizle
slack jawed...hard to wrap my mind around the idea that I might actually decide to buy a dual processor on the basis of being better able to play a strategy game?

no, surely not...someone please tell me i am getting the wrong impression

If you only do one thing at a time, a dual-core processor is overkill unless some of the things you do are coded in such a way as to take advantage of hyperthreading or of multiple processors/cores. The main reason why I place a high value on multiple cores/processors is that it makes multitasking and switching back and forth between tasks smoother.

I actually don't know whether Civ IV would benefit noticeably from a multicore processor if that's all you're running. Is any of its own code multithreaded? Does it use operating system calls that take advantage of multithreading without the game's developers having to take advantage of it deliberately? I don't know the answer to either of those questions. I'm rather doubtful based on how most games (including Civ 3) have traditionally been coded, but since I haven't actually heard anything yet one way or the other, I won't rule out the possibility that Civ 4 takes at least a little bit better advantage of multicore/multiprocessor/hyperthreading systems.

Nathan

[Surgeon]

On the actual thread topic:

For top of the line top performance you dont need SLI. I'm running large maps at 1920x1200 4xAA 16x AF fine on just a x800XT.

A 7800 or one of the new ATi card would be bored If you want the fastest at Civ4 I would recomment the 7800's as they are faster at traditional low pixel shader 3D.

CPU, fastest you can get for what you want to spend, AMD recommended, dual core is not needed, get the single core one with the highest rating you want.

RAM, just get a Gig OK

In the end I dont think Civ4 needs that much grunt, any moderately priced new system should be able to handle it as long as it has a moderately priced dedicated graphics card ($USD150-250)


To the bandwidth argument I requote a post above:

"The use of the word "bandwidth" for maximum data transmission rates is now very well established, and can be found in at least some dictiionaries, including Merriam-Webster.com and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language as reflected on Dictionary.com. If you don't like it, you're entitled to your opinion, but please respect the opinions of those of us who do not share your prejudices."

I also add, get over it, the language changes all the time.

[Blake]

I recentely upgraded (because my old system suffered a meltdown). Going for a good performance/cost ratio (basically aiming at cost/performance breakpoints), I independently ended up with this combo (it's quite popular!):

AMD64 3000+, GF 6600 GT (128mb), 1GB ram.

I would reccomend it for playing Civ4.

I don't believe there's any such thing as a consumer system powerful enough to play Civ4 without any slowdown at all - I mean however good your sysytem, you can still push it to the limits because of how Civ4 works.

[Caltone]

Originally posted by Blake
AMD64 3000+, GF 6600 GT (128mb), 1GB ram.

I would reccomend it for playing Civ4.

I concur, that should suit you just fine for Civ4 and should handle other current games as well.

If you want an ATI card instead, swap the 6600GT above for a X800Pro.