Hello Civfans,

I'm not a very "tech" savvy guy, but I have an IBM Thinkpad A21p (I got handed down to me from my brother).

I love Civ and was wondering if this machine will be compatible / capable of playing / processing CIV IV?

These are my brief system stats:

OS: Win98SE
Processor: Pentium 3
Speed: 850 + step up
Ram: 512
Graphics: ATI Mobility 128 8/16MB

Thanks in advance for help.

Im afread its time to buy new hardware if you plan on playing civ on this laptop as your processor is below minimum but its not really the biggest problem as it might run it anyway but slow of course, maybe playable in small maps but problem is with is your ATI Mobility 128 gfx card which lacks the minimum 32MB RAM and probably T&L too which game simple cannot run without.

Minimum System Requirements for game is:
1 GHz CPU
256MB RAM
32MB video card with hardware transform and lighting (T&L)

recommended Specifications are:
Pentium 4
512MB of ram
a recent graphics card like the Radeon 9800 128MB

It's capable of running it, I suppose, but it will probably not be a very satisfactory experience. :(

what about his opperating system?

thanks for the detailed responses.

i understand that the quality may be poor, but as long as it will run, that's all that matters to me until i can SAVE UP for a new system.

i'm wondering if it will work at all?

i.e. if it's not going to work at all, obviously, i'm not going to buy it.

thanks again guys

You can always try the newest Pirates game which is based on same engine as Civ4 if you know anyone with the game...or you can wait for a demo of civ4 which we hope comes out soon :)

As someone already has pointed out, the graphics chip will be the biggest problem.
As far as I know, it doesn't have the T/L feature, which will - at least - severely hamper the graphics experience.
Another problem could be the Win98SE, although here I am not that sure.

Would be probably a good idea to wait and look for the demo

thanks for the detailed responses.

i understand that the quality may be poor, but as long as it will run, that's all that matters to me until i can SAVE UP for a new system.

i'm wondering if it will work at all?

i.e. if it's not going to work at all, obviously, i'm not going to buy it.

thanks again guys
It Will not run per minimum specs becasue of two things: 1)Graphics card 2)CPU. Minimum specs are the bare basics needed...there is a reason they publish minimum specs so you don't waste your money - even then I assume the game will be very slow and sluggish.

Yes, you may get it to load and I emphasize may...but I doubt it will be any kind of good experience - the graphics card is the real killer here - I doubt the 3D engine will load at all with only 16MB graphics RAM. And Win9xSE is not going to handle it well becasue of the processor time. You may wish for it to work, but wishes don't usually come true. ;)

In all practicality when evaluating software Always aim using the recommended as the minimum...and exceed that with as much as you can afford.

In all practicality when evaluating software Always aim using the recommended as the minimum...and exceed that with as much as you can afford.

So true. As for that laptop, forget it. It's a nice typewriter.

Civ4 is using the Pirates graphics engine. I had no problem running Pirates on full detail with my laptop, which uses an Intel Extreme GPU chipset. These buggers are notorious for their poor performance. They have absolutely NO Hardware T&L capacity.

Still, I'd suggest a more powerful machine.

Civ4 is using the Pirates graphics engine. I had no problem running Pirates on full detail with my laptop, which uses an Intel Extreme GPU chipset. These buggers are notorious for their poor performance. They have absolutely NO Hardware T&L capacity.

This makes me very happy. :D My laptop is a little above the specs, but I also have integrated Intel graphics. I've looked into replacing that, and it seems impossible. Knowing a game with the same graphics runs on the integrated graphics without T&L is calming, because I don't want to have to buy a new computer to play Civ, especially since the laptop is only 6 months old.

Does anyone know anything about replacing, or even upgrading the amount of ram used by video, with the Intel integrated graphics?

Try this tool to check if your system will run civ4 :cool:
http://www.srtest.com

I ran this test and failed the

- O/S (I have Win98 SE)
- Graphics T&L

passed all the others...

This sucks......I have an ATI Rage Pro 128...........No "T&L" :cry:

I guess I am going ot have to buy a new one :cry:

Any one want to suggest a good, low cost, bare-minimmum video card? I don't need anything fancy as Civ is about the only PC game I am in to right now.

Upgrading a laptop is sometimes almost as expensive as buying a new discount pc. Not exactly, but almost. U should buy a new pc... not always easy, but a true civfanatic should :)

Sorry, I actualy have a "integrated" Dell that probably want support this game, but I plan on buying a new vid card for my PC. Just don't know what card to get?????????????