One question on how it runs?

[gorland]

Hi

i don't have the greatest computer in the world and I notice that the scrolling is kind of slow, so i need to ask a question..

I'm running WinXP....amd 2800cpu....768mb of ram..nvidia 6200 card.

Before i buy is the fact when you scroll across the screen the land sort of floats by normal?

I've only played the demo so i want to know how it will play as the map gets bigger.....Are there still tech issues.

lastly with what i got for a computer should i buy?
Old and retired and can't upgrade right now..lol
Tom

[Solver]

I think that the demo is, technically, very old. Patches for Civ4 have improved its memory usage significantly. I originally played on a computer weaker than that and had no problems with standard-sized maps at all.

If you're looking for an upgrade, well, the GeForce 6200 isn't all that great - it's the weakest card in the 6xxx series, and doesn't really have great speed. You could pick up a 6800 quite cheaply now, given how there are newer GeForce series by now.

With the patches, 768 MB RAM is well enough to run the larger maps, though everything also depends on whether you want to do lots of stuff in the background.

[Kepler63]

Note that you can adjust the scrolling speed from the Options (or Preferences, or whatever) screen.

[Elwro]

I played the full game on an Athlon 1400 Mhz with 768 MBs of RAM and a Radeon 9600Pro. I think that after the patches the game really runs better. My rig (notice the really modest CPU) was enough at least to handle maps of standard size. I think you'll be able to have much fun with the game even with your current hadrware!

[Willem]

Originally posted by gorland
I'm running WinXP....amd 2800cpu....768mb of ram..nvidia 6200 card.

lastly with what i got for a computer should i buy?

Your CPU is alright, plenty of power for the game. The RAM's not bad, though it wouldn't hurt to have 1 gig instead. You're weakest link though is your video card. Unfortunately, since your motherboard has an AGP video card slot, you're options are somewhat limited. Most new video cards these days are PCI-E.

That said, there is an NVidia 7800 available for AGP made by BFG Tech, the only one I know of. However, it's not cheap. Here in Canada it will run you about $450. If you wanted to switch to ATI, the X800 is an AGP card and runs the game just fine all the way up to Huge maps, with at least medium resolution. I haven't tried it at High Res, since I don't see a big diference anyway. I figure I may as well go for performance, given the small improvement. Anyway, that one costs about $200-250 CAN, and is roughly equivalent to Nvidia's 7600, according to the benchmarks.

I wouldn't really recommend the 6800 that Solver mentioned myself, you could have a much better card for just a little more money. I'm guessing he mentions that one since it's pretty much the last Nvidia card available for AGP, aside from that overpriced 7800 I mentioned.

[gorland]

guess i should get a new card then..oh well.lol

[John-SJ]

Don't be too quick on buying that new card. I am not having any problems on my NVidia 5500FX w/256Mb ram.

I am unning this on a 2.5Ghz P4 with 512MB, not a hot system by any standard, and I am quite happy with the performance of CIV. So far I have played standard and large maps, but not huge. Likely, you should be able to do about the same with your computer. At least it's worth a try before springing for a new video card, unless of course you are just looking for an excuse to upgrade.

[gorland]

nah..not really..I'll go with what i got then...by the way,,How do you think it compares to civ 3?..Alpha Centauri was my all time favorite though.

[Solver]

Uhmm... Civ4 kicks Civ3's ass, lifts it by ears from the ring, kicks its ass again and roundhouse kicks it into Oblivion .

[Harovan]

Speaking of which, it also gets its ass soundly kicked by Civ4.

[Solver]

I didn't mean that one .

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Solver
Uhmm... Civ4 kicks Civ3's ass, lifts it by ears from the ring, kicks its ass again and roundhouse kicks it into Oblivion .

Q F T!!!

[Willem]

Originally posted by gorland
nah..not really..I'll go with what i got then...by the way,,How do you think it compares to civ 3?..Alpha Centauri was my all time favorite though.

Yes, as Solver so eloquently pointed out, there's no comparison.

As for the video card, you really should think about investing in a new one. There's nothing like playing Civ 4 on a Huge map with Marathon setting. Which, BTW, is a game length setting that came out with one of the early patches. It makes the game last for 1200 turns, the longest ever for a civ game.

[Solver]

A huge map on Marathon, though, has considerable RAM requirements, not video memory or processing.

[zeace]

Huge maps need video memory too... I have a crappy video card and lots of ram. The game comes to a grinding halt on big maps as soon as I start to explore the other continents. I think that the problem is that each civ you can see needs a few sprites in video ram, so there's a limit to how many civs I can know at a time.

Get at least an ok video card if you want to play the big maps. (I'm getting a new card for Christmas )