The absolutely lowest configuration for CIV 5 to be normally playable - share expirience and tips

[krasimir]

I managed to not only run CIV 5 but also to play hole games! As You guys may see we are talking about a very old game configuration: P4-C 2.4GHz (FBS 533), 2GB (DDR266 2x1GB Kingston), Sapphire Radeon HD4650 1GB (running only at 4x because it is the mainboard that does not support 8x), EAX 1.0 capable sound card, Win XP SP3 (32bit)!! YES I know that it is a crap machine BUT IF YOU
1) ARE PLAYING WITH EVERYTHING ON LOW SETTINGS
2) PLAY ONLY QUICK GAMES
3) PLAY ON A MAPS NOT BIGGER THAN STANDART
4) BOOST YOUR VIRTUAL MEMORY (the virtual memory page of the Windows lets say at 1024MB min and 2048MB max)
5) defragment the Hard disk before instalation
6) PLAY "AT ONE BREATHE" (from start to end do not save/exit game and reload/play/save/exit and again BECAUSE IT SEEM that after every reload it became slower) - JUST LET YOUR COMPUTER RUNNING WHEN GOING TO SLEEP and as long as it is a quick game --> You should bring'em down for maximum 2 days x 6-8 hour/day playtime (at least for me IT IS ENOUGHT)

A CONFIGURATION THAT LOW OR LOWER MEANS AUTOMATICALLY THAT YOU HAVE TO RUN IT UNDER A 32BIT XP SP3 WITH DX 9.0C !!!!!!!!!!

I have the game on DVD. It is a standart NON-Babylon edition. YES YES... I know. If I intend to play multiplayer or on larger maps I simply wont be able to. YES the graphics are lets say not awful but "they are not great" or at least not as great as if I use DX11 compatible GPU a QUAD CPU and an infinite amount of RAM
SO I CLAIM that those are EVEN NOT THE LOWEST requirments for CIV 5 to be "playable". However I DO AGREE with one guy ho somewhere on one forum has wrote to another guy that "IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A UP-TO-DATE GAME PLATFORM YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO FULLY EXPIRIENCE THE GENUIS BEHIND THE CIV 5".

If you are able to run it on Your computers ENJOY the game. If some of You guys have a P4 (C or D version) аround 2.4GHz or greater on a AGP slot mobo --> you can buy an ATI 4650 1GB based GPU (or analogue; it is the top-end AGP technology as far as I know) and boost the RAM to 2-4 GB at DDR266 or faster (DDR333 or DDR400).

I have another computer that is within the "official requirment" and I enjoy the game. I think that the official requirments are stated to be so high above the real minimum for the producers to be absolutely sure that You will enjoy all the new stuffs and admire the genuis behind the gameplay. I will soon buy a top-end game platform and will be able to get it on MAX but for me even in "MIN mode" its still great because I dont play for watching the graphics BUT TO LEAD MY PEOPLE INTO A GREATER FUTURE.

CIVILIZATION SERIES AND SID MEYER RULES!!!

[binTravkin]

krasimir, I think that you should better spend portion of

6-8 hour/day playtime

to earn some $ to afford a computer that actually lets you enjoy the game

[krasimir]

READ CAREFULLY --> I DO HAVE a PC within the "official requirments" BUT as I have some friends with problems actually running the game due to LOW PC specification I decided to make it run on my older PC and when successful with this I decided to SHARE my expirience with the gaming community AND HOPEFULLY start this branch of the chat WITH THE IDEA TO HELP the guys with older machines.

HELP THE OTHER ADDICTED GUYS TO TAKE THEIR DOSES of CIV 5

As for my work/worktime --> don't worry I'm a civil aviation pilot in Bulgaria Air (Bulgaria / EU) and I earn good money. I just like running new stuff on older machines.

and oh YES. I saw it. What a shame: "expirience" is correctly written experience my mistake

[Possibility]

Ha, I have almost the same computer, a P4 classic 2.4GHz with 2G of Ram from 8 yrs ago! With a 2 yr old AGP Radeon HD3800 series graphics card. The processor sucks but the video card is good. I played a small map with 4 players and 8 City States, with all the graphics settings set to Medium and Textures set to High, it was totally playable and it ran great at 1280x1024 resolution! It runs Win7 32Bit.

I also have a new computer with an AMD Phenom II X4 955 with 4G Ram, and a 890GX motherboard, so it uses the motherboards integrated graphics which is a Radeon HD4290. This computer has a great processor but sucky graphics, but it also plays great at 1920x1080 with all graphics settings set to low. It still looks good, just as good if not better then Civ4 on all high settings. I can play anysize map with any number of players with this computer.

I just wish I could move my AGP video card from my old PC into my new PC, but the new one of course doesnt have AGP slots. I will hopefully buy a new video card soon.

[krasimir]

Yes exactly the post that I waited... I'm not the only one running a "playable" CIV 5 with and old Pentium 4. For the additional research that I made the minimum specs of a computer running a playable Civ 5 (16-24 FPS with no greater time to wait than 10 seconds/turn on late game FOR STANDART MAPS and smaller!!!!!!!!!) is about Pentium 4 or Athlon CPUs (2.0 - 3.4 GHz), 2GB RAM and a GPU based on ATI RADEON 3850 512MB (or NVIDIA analogue) running at least on 4x AGP!! A 32bit OS is recommended: Win XP or Win 7 (XP SP3 requires less resources and CERTAINLY DON'T TRY WITH VISTA!!!!!!)

Common guys share with us. Don't be ashame of Your old machines. We know they can do it. Who got it playable with a lower PC spec?? --> Let me define "playable" as: 16-24 FPS (depending on zoom level and/or number of units and animated improvements in view - no more than 10 animated objects when FPS measured!!) with no greater time to wait than 10 seconds/turn on late game FOR STANDART MAPS