Is Civ5 playable on a (new) laptop?

[Borowolf]

Hi guys,

I have always been a Civ fan so I have version 5 for some time. When I bought it I did not check the requirements and found out that my Sony Vaio (VGN) just was not good enough. So the game went into the drawer.

Now it is time for me to buy me a new machine. Do you guys play Civ5 on laptops and what models are good enough for it. Any of those in the 1200 dollar / 1000 Euro or less range?

[mkorin]

Borrowolf, I play it on two laptops. A 3 year old apple pro and an 6 month old HP. The game works fine on both. I don't have the game crash problems others seem to have. This may be because I have my graphics and anti-alias set at medium or the NVidia Qutro video card. Beef up your RAM and you should be fine on a $1200 laptop.

Mike

[DCMike]

Runs fine on both my old XPS 1530 and (slightly) newer Studio XPS 16.

@ mkorin: Are you using the Mac version or bootcamp on your Apple Pro?

[mkorin]

Mac version and I actually like it better.

[Borowolf]

Thanks guys
mkorin, what model is your HP?

[mkorin]

Elite Book 8540w.

[Dinner]

I haven't installed it on my laptop (that's used only for work) but I have installed it on both my old and new desktops. It runs great on my new desktop while my four year old desk top runs it but only in DirectX 9 mode so my guess is a brand new laptop would run it at least in DirectX 9 mode while a higher end new laptop would run it in DirectX 11 mode.

[Borowolf]

I looked into some alternatives. Are the systems below have enough power and graphic abilities for Civ5, you think?

HP G72
Intel Core I3
RAM 3 GB (4 max)
ATI HD5470 512 Mb

HP-Paviljoen dv6
Intel Core i5 480M
RAM 4Gb (max 8 Gb)
ATI HD6550 1 Gb

XPS-17
Intel Core i5
RAM 4 Gb (max 8 GB)
Geforce GT 525 M 1 Gb

I like the other specs of the XPS-17 but I read somewhere that Civ5 has quite some problems with the Geforce card.

Thank you in advance for any advice about possible choices.

[Wiglaf]

Get an HP Envy, it has changed my life. When my Macbook Pro was dented I immediately gave it to charity because the only person who could stand working five minutes on a dented Macbook is blind, retarded or has something else wrong with them. There is simply no value. Why pay $2,000 for build quality when THE BATTERY INDICATOR LOOKS LIKE A CAN OF COKE ZERO.

[mkorin]

I would think those computers should be good enough, be leary of the video cards, there are a lot of threads (all of the place) showing video cards that don't work well. I think I remember someone saying the ATIs work well for civ, but check the threads. Sorry, I can't give you a link.

[Dinner]

I like the XPS but supposedly Civ5 just doesn't work well with Geforce cards.

[Borowolf]

Thanks guys,

There is a relevant price difference of about 240 dollars between the G72 and the Pavilion. I guess I will go for the G72 then.

[ColdPhoenix]

Thanks guys,

There is a relevant price difference of about 240 dollars between the G72 and the Pavilion. I guess I will go for the G72 then.

My pc has less RAM, a slower processor and an older graphics card than the G72 and it runs okay on smaller maps. I'd still be tempted to go for the pavilion if you can afford it!

You may already know about this but use quidco or something similar to get 8% cashback from HP.
http://www.quidco.com/electricals/computing/hewlett-packard/