Recomend me a Civ5 capable computer.

[Dinner]

My old computer won't run Civ5 so I need a new one. I'd like to keep my current monitor, speaker system, and printer but would like a new tower with all new innards. Has anyone seen a good deal on a Civ5 capable system?

[wodan11]

Take $2000 and buy the best system you can. You'll be fine.

[Ferdi]

Indeed, this is what I did two weeks ago... Now, I am quiet for a long time and ready for Civ 6

[MxM]

Oerdin, do you have any budget for your "Civ5 capable computer"?

[Dinner]

I'd really like to keep it below $1500 with the cheaper being better but I still want to have the recommended specs for Civ5. Like I said, I have a good monitor, speakers, printer, and what not so it would just be the tower and it's in sides.

[wodan11]

Weeelll.... in other words, you're trying to just barely meet the specs and scrape by with minimum investment. This seems to me to be asking for trouble. I for one am not going to give you advice that you might blame me for later.

No offense! I would tell my wife the same thing.

[rah]

I just bought one for about 950 that will play the game just fine. So don't go too crazy.

[binTravkin]

Not sure where you guys get figures like 1.5k$+, but here in Latvia one can build a quadcore with 4GB RAM and GTX460 or similar for like $800.
Just choose stuff that offers best bang for the buck, e.g. AMD quad or six core CPU (or older, discounted Intel quadcore), mid-tier, or previous generation high-end discounted GPU, etc.
There is really no use at all to buy the latest and greatest - it comes with a disproportional price increase.

[campm@jor]

I spend 1.500 € but that was with a monitor included.

[Sabre2th]

Not sure where you guys get figures like 1.5k$+, but here in Latvia one can build a quadcore with 4GB RAM and GTX460 or similar for like $800.
Just choose stuff that offers best bang for the buck, e.g. AMD quad or six core CPU (or older, discounted Intel quadcore), mid-tier, or previous generation high-end discounted GPU, etc.
There is really no use at all to buy the latest and greatest - it comes with a disproportional price increase.

This is what I do when I build. For example, I got a quad core almost three years ago for the same cost as a similar dual, because people were not yet buying many quads. Just look for little things like that. Buy the previous generation of hardware after the new one comes out. The price drops like a rock and you still get plenty of performance.

[wodan11]

The $800 doesn't include software, does it? Otherwise, I don't see how you could include the cost of Win7 etc.

[MxM]

I checked http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/C..._Configurator/ Just to meet recommended requirement, including Windows 7 64 bit home premium, one needs just a tad above $700. I myself would never buy such system, I would spend more money to get better video card, processor, etc, just to make it future prove, and better power supply, and cooling for stability, but if you want just to meet recommended spec, that's should be sufficient, at least on paper. However, we do not know how well Civ 5 actually plays on PC which just meets recommended requirements. Also, I doubt that it will play with "everything maxed out". Anyway, this is $718 build:

Case: CyberPower CX-9959 Lan Party Case w/ See-Thur Window [-23]
CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-760 2.80 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1156
Cooling Fan: Intel LGA1156 Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink
Motherboard: [CrossFireX/SLI] EVGA P55 TR Intel P55V Chipset DDR3 Socket 1156 mATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB2.0, SATA-II RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, & 2 PCIe X1 [+1]
Memory: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module (Corsair or Major Brand)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 1GB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
Power Supply Upgrade: 450 Watts - Standard Case Power Supply
Hard Drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Hard Drive)
Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)
Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
Network: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
Keyboard: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard
Mouse: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium [+104] (64-bit Edition)

Edit: Please note, that processor significantly exceeds recommended specs, and Video card also exceeds it slightly.

[Boris Godunov]

I paid $1200 for my system in January, and that included a 23-inch flat panel HD monitor. And I got it from Best Buy of all places. Staying under $1500 should be really easy.

[binTravkin]

My conf would be ($814):

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1CP4PD

Note that I did not choose all the cheapest parts, instead in most cases I chose the ones that offer good value:
- cheapest AMD quad core Black Edition CPU - overclocking these is as easy as changing multiplier in bios
- cheap aftermarket cooler - it's not the high perf one, but still you can do some small overclock without problem, you can also pick one of the cheap air aftermarkets
- GTX 460 - good value for the money
- 8-series motherboard - supports 6-core, so you can upgrade later and some overclocking options
- 800W PSU - again, you can upgrade your configuration later with ease tossing in a more powerful CPU, GPU or a second GPU for PhysX
- left the HDD at default 500GB - most people upgrading already have some leftover HDDs, so it's rarely a real need for more HDDs

This conf should play CIV with ease if the recommended specs are any indication.
And you can also overclock it.

[Dinner]

I ended up buying a AMD Phenom II X6 1075 for $175 from Fry's, mounted it on a Gigabyte brand 880GA-UD3H mother board ($109), 8 GB of DDR RAM $165), a samsung 1TB HD ($85), and a ATI Radeon 5750 ($135). I need to buy a new monitor as mine has the blue cables but I'll wait and shop around a bit; I'm also thinking about returning the video card and buying an Invidia but I did get a good deal on the Radeon. I guess I have 15 days to see if I like it or if I want to return it.

Total cost so far $669 plus tax.

Edit: I forgot the case which costs $60 after a $25 mail in rebate but came with 4 large fans and lots of vents and even has holes for liquid cooling if I want to over clock it a whole lot. I think I'll play a bit with over clocking but probably not enough to worry about liquid cooling. Four fans and the heat sink & the fan on the CPU should provide plenty of cooling.