Okay listed here are most modern chipsets along with their TnL capability.
I'm surprised on how many people have their facts wrong. TnL is feature from 2000. Newer cards don't even mention it. Instead what counts in newer cards is pixel shader capability. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertex_and_pixel_shaders. However, hardware TnL support is minimum requirement for CIV IV as you know. Hardware TnL means that graphic card can perform "Transform and Lighning" complex calculations that result in some nice effects; without use of the CPU.

Anytime when graphic card supports pixel shaders, TnL does not need to be mentioned because it is assumed.
GeForce 2- supports TnL
GeForce 3- supports TnL and shader 1.1
GeForce 4MX (420,440,460), and nForce2 integrated - supports TnL *confirmed that works*
GeForce 4Ti (4200,4400, 4600,4800)- supports TnL and shader 1.3
all GeForce FX series: (5) 5200FX, 5500FX, 5600FX, 5800Fx, 5900FX- support TnL and shader 2.0
all GeForce 6 series: 6100 integrated, 6200, 6500, 6600, 6800- support TnL and shader 3.0
all GeForce 7 series: 7300, 7400, 7800GT(X), 7900GT(X)- support TnL and shader 3.0

Radeon 7200/ Radeon VE - supports TnL
Radeon 7500- supports TnL
Radeon 8500, 8500LE, 9000, 9100, 9200, 9250- supports TnL and shader 1. All same chip.
all Radeon 9xx0 series: 9500, 9550, 9600, 9700, 9800, 9800XT and all variations- supports TnL and shader 2.0
all Radeon Xx00 series: X200, X300, X600, X700, X800 and all variations- supports TnL and shader 2.0(b)
all Radeon X1x00 series: X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900 supports TnL and shader 3.0

intel 8xx series - DOESNT support TnL. *however some managed to run game*
intel latest 9xx - support TnL and shader 2.0 but in software acceleration, i.e. CPU will do the math. This card is story for itself; it could run, I'm waiting for somebody to confirm whether it does or not. It is known that this card runs some games that require TnL. EDIT. *confirmed in other threads that game works*

Radeon 7000 - DOESNT support TnL
ATi Rage - DOESNT support TnL
Voodoo x - DOESNT support TnL

Complete gfx chips list here:
http://www.neeyik.info/3dspecs/

EDIT2. To tell what card comes with your Windows 2000/XP computer, type devmgmt.msc in start-> run box and card will be named under "display adapters"

EDIT. Here is very quick speed comparison between most common supported cards. Just to see where you stand at. Some cards might be little out of place.
On beginning of the list- slowest cards. On the middle - mainstream. On the end of list, the fastest cards, for smoking the CIV IV out.

Low-end (basic)
Intel 9xx – GF 2- Radeon 7200 – Radeon 7500 - GF 4MX

Low-end (basic to acceptable- all have shader support but not much 'juice')
Radeon 9200SE- Radeon 200M - GF 5200FXSE – GF 5200FX- GF5500FX- Radeon 300M - GF 6200/6200Turbo

Mainstream (decent - should perform good enough with latest patch and 1024x768 res.)
Radeon 9000 – Radeon 9100 – Radeon 9200/9250 – GF3 –GF4 Ti- Radeon 8500 LE- Radeon 8500 – GF 5700FXLE – GF5700FX/5700U - Radeon 9800SE -Radeon 9500/9550 – Radeon 9600/Pro/XT- GF 5800/U –GF 5900/U – Radeon X600- GF6 6600/LE - GF7 7400 - Radeon X1300

ex-High end (very good - should run with everything maxed out)
Radeon x700 - Radeon 9700/Pro – Radeon 9800/Pro/XT- GF6 6600GT - GF 7400GT - GF 7600

High end (insane )
Radeon X1600Pro/XT- GF 6800/LE – Radeon X800SE/GT - Radeon X800/ GTO/Pro – Radeon X800XL – GF6 6800GT/Ultra – Radoen X800PE/X580PE- Radeon X1800XL/XT/GTO - GF 7800GS/GT/GTX/ - Radeon X1900XL/XT - GF 7900 GT/GTX

Thanks a load for the chart, I was looking feaverishly for my card's specs (without success I might add).

Sweet, I do have it. Thank you! I don't really follow computer technology closely, and I bought my computer a while ago, so I was worried. Thanks again.

I can't believe that with all this graphic card confusion that we don't have sticky thread with supported/unsuported graphic hardware.

Wait, my intel card might support it? That's news. But mine is also the newer mobile chipset, so maybe not.

Thanks for the post, helps idiots like me not panic.

mine is Geforce4 MX does that mean my card should be okay .thanks im comupter ignorant :sad:

will a geforce fx-5700 le support it if everything else is high end?

mine is Geforce4 MX does that mean my card should be okay .thanks im comupter ignorant :sad:

somebody reported issues with GF4MX that are same as issues with cards that lack TnL. This group of cards suport TnL nut but pixel shaders. I hope that Firaxis got their facts straight, that game does not require pixel shader model 1.0. I have laptop with GF4MX Go, you'll know for sure in day or two when I get my copy.

Geforce 4 MX cards...they dont support pixel or vertex shader, but do have TnL.

These things must be nvidia's most profitable product...theyre pretty well standard issue on all new pc's that dont have an intel motherboard...cutting edge technology gets in the news, but I bet its these lower-end cards that keep nvidia and ati in business.

I have a GeForce 4 MX420 that I'm using while my primary card was being replaced (Radeon 9800XT), and it wont run for crap with it.. for the first game I was able to play, but it was incredibly laggy and nearly unplayable.. and now (before and after a reinstall, even with latest drivers) everything is blacked out and its even laggier.. not that it matters, because everything is black

I'm just glad my Radeon will be replaced by this weekend, or I might be climbing a clock tower right now.. this GeForce meets the requirements.. as it has TnL and all.. but not sure exactly where it falls short otherwise

Thanks for the link.

so wat about the fx cards?

Good thread. Good research. Might be sticky-worthy, considering the frustrations people are having with this issue.

so wat about the fx cards?

GeForce 5 (FX) 5200FX, 5500FX, 5800Fx, 5900FX- support TnL and shader 2.0a

:rolleyes:

somebody reported issues with GF4MX that are same as issues with cards that lack TnL. This group of cards suport TnL nut but pixel shaders. I hope that Firaxis got their facts straight, that game does not require pixel shader model 1.0. I have laptop with GF4MX Go, you'll know for sure in day or two when I get my copy.

Is it really possible that they could be wrong about the minimum requirements for the game they themselves made?

How can we recommend that this thread get a sticky?

Is there an easy way to tell what kind of graphics card came with my computer?

I had no problems playing doom3 in low details with XP1700+/GeForce3.
Civ4 cant seriously have higher hardware requirements...

I guess there will be a patch for graphic bugs like the black terrain and such.

Dang. I have TnL, but the video card for my computer (one of the thin computers sold by Dell) is an X300, one of the slowest cards able to support the game.

Oh well. In a few years, I'll buy a second computer. I like this one, though, so I'll start on my own personal network. :)

intel latest 9xx - support TnL and shader 9.0 but in software acceleration


sounds like the one i have..... but on the srtest.com it said that it wont support TnL

Great post!

So frustrating that people dont know anything about video cards and yet think that the answer to all of these bugs are "get a new video card"

Make this a sticky!!

I've seen enough ignorant replys with "get a video card with T&L"

I am running the minimum video specs: GeForce 2 MX400 64MB, w/T&L and using latest Nvidia drivers 81.85.

Other than the opening game credits and intro, game has been running great! Though, I have read people having this same problem with 6800GT cards. So, that may be a software bug, or possibly an Nvidia driver bug (a heard that older Nvidia drivers were fixing up some probs, but haven't tried anything)

Logged in about 3 hours last night, with no probs with gameplay.

Point I'm getting at - don't rush out to plop down $200-$300 on a new video card just yet. Give it some time for a patch, or for these boards to populate with fixes.

Good luck!

So... as usual, my card does not appear because it is embedded. Anyone knows what column the Mobility Radeon falls under?

So... as usual, my card does not appear because it is embedded. Anyone knows what column the Mobility Radeon falls under?

Which mobility Radeon? They all are based on desktop chips based i.e mobility Radeon 9700, x600 etc.

It could be original mobility Radeon (7000) which is not supported.

Thanks for giving me hope, Comraddict! My intel 915GM may or may not work... I should find out this weekend by installing a friend's disc on my laptop to see the outcome.

Has anyone tried running the game on a Radeon 7500 (so with T&L) that is lacking in the ram departement, i.e. that only has 32MB?

i understand from the great research that was done that my intel graghics controller (82865) does not do hardware TnL (intel claims it will do TnL with software but that is immaterial in this case.) My question to you techie types is: is there a way for me to put a video card into my system since the 82865 controller is part of an integrated chip.

Which mobility Radeon? They all are based on desktop chips based i.e mobility Radeon 9700, x600 etc.

It could be original mobility Radeon (7000) which is not supported.

I can only tell you what I can find...

I believe it is the M6-C16h, if that helps.

ATI tools calls it "ATI Mobility Radeon AGP (0x4C59)", it has 16MB DDR SGRAM on board, appears to use an AGP x4 bus, and it comes as part of my IBM X31.

That's the thing: it doesn't anywhere tell me something like 7000 or 9500 or whatever. The only thing is that odd number letter combo M6-C16h.

I CAN say it definitely supports T&L in hardware, but other than that I can find out very little *sigh*

Thanks com, good to know my crappy intel chip set is TOO OLD (at 6 months?) to work. justifies my buying new vid card....hopefully.

and carver, nice avatar. i have to say, that is some freaky crap. i was haunted last night in my dreams by hovering eyes and teeth. creeeeeepy!

Earlier I reported blacking out of terrain with a GeForce 4 MX440 vs. "failed to initialize renderer" with a Radeon 9600. I knew the card didn't support pixel/vertex shading and assumed this to be the same as TnL, consequently going back to the problem with ATI card. Thanks to this thread I know that to be false and with a driver update just got the Nvidia card to run Civ4 fine. (Well I started a game and could see the terrain anyway)

I still maintain, however, that since:

Radeon 9600 with reinstalled drivers/directX = "failed to initialize renderer"

and

GeForce 4 MX440 = Civ4 running fine on the same system with no other alterations.

Doesn't that eliminate Directx as the problem with the "failed to initialize renderer" error. Once again, I am not an expert and I hope this helps. And thanks to Comraddict for clearing up my misconceptions and getting me in game, even if its with my backup card.

Huge thankyou to Comraddict - this is a very helpful thread. I had searched everywhere trying to work out if my video card had T&L, but this place has all the info in one spot. Thanks heaps!

Psst, you omitted the GeForce FX 5600 and 5600 Ultra.

I have a GeForce 2 card. When I first installed the game worked okay except I could not read the city names and what they were producing. So I installed the latest driver for the video card and now I get the "failed to initialize renderer" error.

Any advice?

GeForce4 420 Go (mobile) may have TnL but most terrain graphics are black and leader heads are all shiny

GeForce4 420 Go (mobile) may have TnL but most terrain graphics are black and leader heads are all shiny

get latest drivers first!

There's a list at Intel (http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-011910.htm) of Intel products that don't support T&L. The statement at the beginning of the page may be misleading - the first sentence is "Intel® graphics products do not have hardware support for T&L". I don't know if this is true for all Intel graphics products, since it seems like there are a few people here who at least think that they have something Intel that supports T&L. The list on the page details controllers and chipsets that this applies to.

right when i thought my intel p.o.s would work....

get latest drivers first!
I just downloaded a beta driver - Forceware 82.10 (x32) - from guru3d.com at
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1227
So far, it has not killed my Inspiron 8200 with a GeForce4 440 Go.
This may be very risky but the terrain is visible now although there are still some artifacts in the fog of war.

Which mobility Radeon? They all are based on desktop chips based i.e mobility Radeon 9700, x600 etc.

It could be original mobility Radeon (7000) which is not supported.


So a Mobility Radeon 7500 w/64MB ram is the same as a regular Radeon 7500? It looks as though mine should support T&L, however I'm still having problems.

I have the NVIDIA4 GeForce4 MX 440 as well. I have the dark terrain and tons of flickering on the main page. This post helped and confused me. Someone said they got Civ4 to work with this card?

I tried to update the drivers, but I couldn't figure it out. Can someone direct me to the right place?

I have the NVIDIA4 GeForce4 MX 440 as well. I have the dark terrain and tons of flickering on the main page. This post helped and confused me. Someone said they got Civ4 to work with this card?

I tried to update the drivers, but I couldn't figure it out. Can someone direct me to the right place?

here is page
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_81.85.html
download 20.7MB file and run, and reboot.

I had no problems playing doom3 in low details with XP1700+/GeForce3.
Civ4 cant seriously have higher hardware requirements...

I guess there will be a patch for graphic bugs like the black terrain and such.

I have the same problem. It should be no sweat for my computer to run this game yet it lags even at the lowest settings.

I definitely think it is a compatitability issue with nvidias software and the game. I cruise through most games but on my main machine it gets very choppy at times but an older laptop does ok:confused: There is a memory leak as well, that eats up resources. Hopefully they will find a fix for this in the next month :lol:

My wife surprised me by pre-ordering the game. It was waiting for me at home on the day it came out. Needless to say I was disappointed when I got the black terrain. My display adapter obviously needs to be upgraded (its an NVIDIA TNT2 Pro), but I want to be certain that I get the right card. Will I be able to put any card that's listed that can run the game? Or are there only specific cards that would fit my machine based on the one that's in there now? Please tell me what to look for. We don't have a lot of $$ right now with Christmas quickly approaching, but I'd definately like to get the most bang for my buck (rather 128 Mb than 64 Mb if it's reasonably priced).

[offtopic] Also a question about memory. The game box says that 256 Mb (the amount I have) is the minimum requirement, however the Civ IV site says that 512 is with XP. The game seems to run fine other than the black terrain. Can I hold off on a memory upgrade for a while or are there other issues that might pop up once I get into the game?

Other possibly useful info: I bought the computer from someone who built it (mostly out of HP parts). It has a "very good" mother board (not at home right now & I don't remember the specific type), and a Pentium 4 - 2.0 GHz processor.

Geforce2 Ultra, with latest supported drivers (71.89) confirmed working. I need to use the lowest settings, but it works!

I get a slow down once and I while, but that maybe due to memory leaks, or who knows what. But it works!

got GeForce 5200 so it should work
thx for the info! Will let you know if everything works as soon as I get my hands on the game (still waiting for my pre-order to arrive)

My wife surprised me by pre-ordering the game. It was waiting for me at home on the day it came out. Needless to say I was disappointed when I got the black terrain. My display adapter obviously needs to be upgraded (its an NVIDIA TNT2 Pro), but I want to be certain that I get the right card. Will I be able to put any card that's listed that can run the game? Or are there only specific cards that would fit my machine based on the one that's in there now? Please tell me what to look for. We don't have a lot of $$ right now with Christmas quickly approaching, but I'd definately like to get the most bang for my buck (rather 128 Mb than 64 Mb if it's reasonably priced).

[offtopic] Also a question about memory. The game box says that 256 Mb (the amount I have) is the minimum requirement, however the Civ IV site says that 512 is with XP. The game seems to run fine other than the black terrain. Can I hold off on a memory upgrade for a while or are there other issues that might pop up once I get into the game?

Other possibly useful info: I bought the computer from someone who built it (mostly out of HP parts). It has a "very good" mother board (not at home right now & I don't remember the specific type), and a Pentium 4 - 2.0 GHz processor.

i went out and got the GeForce fx5200. it runs $99 with a $30 rebate (so, $70 total).

it DID solve the rendering (chesire cat) problem. but it still runs choppy and slow. but i don't know if that's a card issue at this point, perhaps memory leak.

2.8G processor, geForce 5500 card, 512 ram. It's a only tiny bit choppy at first, but after I run into a couple of foreign leaders it slows to a crawl. Memory leak somewhere.

Grumbler,

I have a Raedon 7500 on my Dell 600M laptop, and it works (only 32 mb). I use low settings, but I DO allow animation and zoom ups on the battles, and it still works. Late in the game, around 7500, it got a little slow, and sometimes the graphics are a little choppy, but all around still an amazing experience.

I think what 2kgames or firaxis should have done is put up an extensive list of supported video cards and more importantly the unsupported ones. Most game websites have at least a list of supported chipsets.... and yeah.... most 3D games and DirectX 9.0 based games only support ATI and NVidia from the get-go.

I think the bottom line is that if your card supports SOME sort of T&L - either hardware or software - there is a way of getting it to work.

If your hardware does not support T&L in any form.... you are fu**ed. :(

For those with laptops and the "dark world" issue. The ATI Mobility Fire GL 7800 chipset *DOES* support T&L and *DOES* have 64MB of DDR RAM in the IBM A31P (others too?)....

But don't get too excited.... CIV4 doesn't (currently) work with this chipset. Hopefully we just need to be patient for a patch to be released.

http://www.ati.com/products/Mobilityfgl7800/features.html

i went out and got the GeForce fx5200. it runs $99 with a $30 rebate (so, $70 total).

it DID solve the rendering (chesire cat) problem. but it still runs choppy and slow. but i don't know if that's a card issue at this point, perhaps memory leak.It's the card. 5200s are infamous for their poor performance.

another NICE info for intel products...civ iv wont run anway...i wonder it some games make T&L software supported, why civ iv needs HW support for T&L?
atleast, its not a graphics intensive game!

Intel® graphics products do not have hardware support for T&L. In most games, transform and lighting calculations can be performed on the processor with acceptable performance. A small number of games that specifically check for hardware T&L support may fail to run.

I have a IGP 345M Radeon, isn't that equivelent to an 8500? will the game run with this?

I have a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and the game works flawlessly on my computer. Didn't even realize that graphics cards had problems on this game until I read this thread. This is not surprising though, it seems obvious that the publishers tried to rush this game in.
I would really recomend this graphics card by the way. I got it three years ago when I built the computer, so it must be pretty cheap by now (If they still make it). I have played tons of games in the mean time, and every single game has played perfect. Of course Im still limited by its processing power, but I have never had incompatibilities with games. In other words, Im lucky as hell that I got this graphics card.

I'd just like to add a few more video-chipsets that I didn't see covered in the table.

3D Labs Permedia 3 - ?!? (has hardware T&L, but could someone try?)

Matrox G450/G550 - NO (no hardware T&L)
Matrox Perhelia - YES (could someone try the 'triple-head' 3-monitor mode?)

PowerVR Kyro series - NO (no hardware T&L)
S3 Savage3D/4/2000 - NO (no hardware T&L)
S3 SavageIX/Mobile - ?!? (could someone check this out?)
XGI Chrome series (Unichrome, Deltachrome, etc.) - YES (hardware T&L and Pixel-Shader 1.x)

SiS 3xx series (300, 305, 315) - NO (no hardware T&L)
SiS Xabre series - YES (hardware T&L and Pixel-Shader 1.x)
XGI Volari series - YES (...)

Trident "Blade3D series" (Blade3D, BladeXP, Cyberblade) - NO (no hardware T&L)

(some integrated graphics...)
NVidia Nforce2 IGP and later - YES (Geforce2/MX class, hardware T&L)
ATI Radeon IGP - YES (at least Radeon 9000 class, ..., pixel-shader 1.4)
Via K8M800/KM800 - ?!? (should be equivalent to S3 Unichrome)

--- even older cards ---
If you have one of the following cards, you need not bother trying to play the game! I mention these separately, because none of the following cards were ever equipped with 64MB (or more) video RAM. [The above cards are available with 64MB or more video RAM.]

Intel i740 - NO (no hardware T&L)
NVidia NV1 - NO (non-compliant 3D-pipeline, 'quartic surfaces instead of triangles')
NVidia Riva128 or TNT1/2, Vanta, LT - NO (no hardware T&L)
S3 Virge/Trio3D series - NO NO NO NO NO NO (sorry, couldn't resist!)
SiS 6326 series - NO (non-compliant 3D-pipeline)
Matrox G200/G400/G450 - NO (no hardware T&L)
Matrox Millenium, Mystique - NO (non-compliant 3D-pipeline)
Rendition Verite1000/2x00 - NO (no hardware T&L)

...for those still having black terrain issues (especially with laptops)

Check out my earlier thread for Omega drivers (worked for me)

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=135250

Good luck ;)

Hoplite

The game worked on my PC straight off wheeee :)

The game worked on my PC straight off wheeee :)

was this on your computer with the intel 9xx? i need to know! haha

Hi :)

I took some of the info from the page linked in this thread, and some info from a page on Mobile chipsets, and made a table...

It's over at Apolyton, though, my normal home. :) Feel free to use it though, we don't mind visitors. :)
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141405

The page for mobile chipsets:
http://rojakpot.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=98&pgno=0

It has separate pages for ATI, nVidia, Intel, etc.

Has anyone tried running the game on a Radeon 7500 (so with T&L) that is lacking in the ram departement, i.e. that only has 32MB?


Forget it, man. My Inspiron 5100 has a Radeon Mobility 7500 32Mb, also, and it's a NO GO! 32MB just isn't enough. :sad: Tried all the tips and tricks, but it's no use, it's just a matter of not having the right equipment. I'm slowly beginning to accept the fact that I won't be able to play this game until I buy a better computer since my laptop won't allow an upgrade. :mad:

As I said in other thread, Civ IV uses about 128MB of video RAM, even on almost empty map. AGP Aperture allows system RAM to be used as video RAM; but it has to be transferred and plus is slowed. So yes, 64MB is minimum and 128MB is recommended.

Hi :)

I took some of the info from the page linked in this thread, and some info from a page on Mobile chipsets, and made a table...

It's over at Apolyton, though, my normal home. :) Feel free to use it though, we don't mind visitors. :)
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=141405

The page for mobile chipsets:
http://rojakpot.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=98&pgno=0

It has separate pages for ATI, nVidia, Intel, etc.

these is extreamly usefull for many people but not me :( it doesnt mention the intel 945 chipset, does this suport the software emulation as the other 9 somthing series do?

The Intel 945 chipset works fine.

At least it does on my Intel D945GTP

I can say, Snoopy369, That the Radeon 345M IGP (which is essentially the 340)

DOES have Hardware T&L

The Intel 945 chipset works fine.

At least it does on my Intel D945GTP

Thanks hopfully it will work for me too then, my play.com order is now proccsesing as well so it's all looking up for me.:) ;)

Not sure if this is on topic or not, but I've heard some people talking about adjusting the Pixel Shader slider down to 1.4 or 1.1 (is this the same as TnL?) Is this a setting in the game or something specific to each graphics card and where would I find this setting?

All -

You should note in the original post that the relatively new GeForce 6100 integrated graphics chipsets are based on the GeForce 6-series, and should (in theory) have a fully functional Pixel Shader 3.0 included. Pixel Shader incorporates T&L capability, so anyone with the new 6100 motherboards should be able to play this with their integrated chipset, no sweat. Most boards ship with 128MB on-board VRAM, and can be set to share extra system RAM; you won't be breaking any benchmark records on Doom3, but you'll probably be able to handle CivIV.

I'm holding off buying the game until the first set of patches are out, but I've got a 6100 coming in today that should be assembled, tested, and burned-in by the time I get CivIV. I'll report back when I know for sure.

Not sure if this is on topic or not, but I've heard some people talking about adjusting the Pixel Shader slider down to 1.4 or 1.1 (is this the same as TnL?) Is this a setting in the game or something specific to each graphics card and where would I find this setting?

If you had taken look on original topic, you would see difference between TnL and pixel shader, and what card supports what version of pixel shader.

Generally, nvidia GeForce FX series support pixel shader 2.0 but they take insane performance hit when it is enabled. That is why (for example it is done automatically in Half-Life2) running in hardware directx 8 mode, with 1.x shaders gives much better performance.

My Radeon 8500 has very low performance and many system crashes.

Other stats 1.8 p4
512 ram

any suggestions?

omega drivers nearly destroyed my computer, so a no go there.

I know that there is a TnL emulator program that's called 3D Analyzer. It's german and I think it basically makes the system think that your card supports TnL and lets the cpu take care of the 3D instead of the TnL. Could someone give this a try, I'm unable to at the moment but I'd really like to know if it works or not.

I have a 3D Prophet 4500 64MB ram;


will i be able to run the game?

Just to confirm some intel chips work fine, mine for example, no problems at all, slightly slow and jumpy after awhile but no black terrain ect, i have an intel 945 intergrated graphics

yes, it appears the intel 9xxx series works...but no other intel chips appear to work.

Has anyone tried running the game on a Radeon 7500 (so with T&L) that is lacking in the ram departement, i.e. that only has 32MB?


Even if it displays properly, it will probably be unplayably slow. My Sapphire Radeon 9600 starts to choke badly in the mid/late game when there are a lot of improvements on the map and the early game just barely tips 30fps.

I have a Dell Dimension 3000 with an Intel 8xx chipset. Looks like I'm screwed for now :cry:

One question:
If I go get a video card, will this do me any good because of the integrated video chip? :confused:

yes, it appears the intel 9xxx series works...but no other intel chips appear to work.

yes i had heard this but on all the lists going around the was no mention of this particular chip set

However, hardware TnL support is minimum requirement for CIV IV as you know. Hardware TnL means that graphic card can perform "Transform and Lighning" complex calculations that result in some nice effects; without use of the CPU.



Does anyone know which effects do not work as a result of not having TnL support. It is obviously not the rendering of terrain as my Video card (Intel 82865G) does not support T/L but terrain is rendered fine in world builder and indeed in Game Play eventually.
Terrain just does not appear when it should do (e.g. scouts lifting FOW). However if you play for a while terrain starts to appear even without T/L. The opening movie also plays fine on my puter. Perhaps it is just the leaders screens that need T/L. I have not played very far into the game however so perhaps there are other limitations.
It seems to me that there is a bug with lifting FOW that is not T/L related.

Quick question:

Could someone tell me if a ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 is better than a ATI Mobility radeon 600x??

What does the numbers "9000" and "600" stand for?

X600 is better, numbers are just generations
gen 1 7000 to 7500
gen 2 8500 to 9250
gen 3 9500 to 9800
gen 4 X200 to x800
gen 5 X1xxx

Thank you Comraddict :hatsoff:

I understand ATI MOBILITY RADEON 7000 IGP has some T&L capability
http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=98&var2=0

I had a warning message that my video card was below minimum requirements when running AoE III trial version presumably for the same reasons, but it worked well.

Will Civ 4 run on it? (64 Mb/P4 3.4 512 RAM)
If anyone has some ideas/experience - please share.

plz help will the game work on intel gam 900 or noi have try to make it work but
i cann't i have 3.2ghz with 2mb cache and 1 giga ram and msi 915g with intel gam 900 so plz help?

from what ive been hearing it will work on those chipsets...

I am trying to find my laptops video card. It tells me its an Sis m650.

I dont know who makes that and dont see it in the lists. Can someone please help me with my Video card? What is it and do I have a chance of it working? Does it have this TnL?

I have a P4 2.8ghz with 1gig ram. I am getting the black terrain.

Darn, I've got a Dell Dimension 2400 with an Intel 845 chipset. Does anyone know of a PCI (not express) graphics card with TnL?

Here's a card that has t&l and is a pci....there's some out there:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143032

I wouldn't expect miracles, but it should play the game.

Hi everyone.

Just want to report my lack of sucess to the group with my current setup: :(

AMD Athlon XP 2600 + running at 2GHz
256MB nVidia GeForce 5500FX video card
512MB DDR 400MHz ram
Asus A7N8X-E 400MHz FSB motherboard

This is above the specification (I think) - not sure if this is a Geforce 2 or 1? or even if there is a difference - can someone advise me?

It seems that at the higher levels it is just chugging with really low FPS - taking ages to move about the map, respond to commands - even at lowest graphics and no sound. At 1200AD, it has finally died and keeps dropping to windows among a flurry of CPU and page file use.

I've recently bought a gig more ram, and I will tell you how it goes but I am not hopeful that this situation will improve - like a heart transplant, the patient may live for now, but he will only get a couple of extra years :)

I'm thinking there might be something wrong with www.srtest.com.

Last I check GF 6600 is way beyond minimum requirement.

I haven't tried running a 3d game in a while so I'm wondering if I should be surprised that civ4 is feeling laggy (no graphics glitches though). Only one person with my vid card has posted to say it works fine. Here's my setup:

P4 1.7Ghz
512M RAM
Gefore4 Ti4200


With 1024x768, all settings on low I get:

30fps when fully zoomed in over most developed land, 60fps over plain ocean.
10 to 12fps when zoomed out 3 or 4 wheel clicks.
3-4fps when zoomed out fully.
City screen runs at 12fps (and takes about 5 seconds to load up which is the most annoying part in my opnion - but must be a cpu problem not graphics, right?)

Dave

yes, download newest drivers plus you would benefit from more RAM.

I have a GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and the game works flawlessly on my computer. Didn't even realize that graphics cards had problems on this game until I read this thread.
Thats exactly what I have. And until I went back to earlier drivers (as suggested in one of the Nvidia threads) I had all the usual problems (stuttering movies, gradual slowdown, and then death).

Now, with the graphics turned all the way down to low, it only crashes 1 every 4 hours.

To simplify the chart somewhat:

1. Every GeForce ever made supports hardware T&L.
2. Every Radeon ever made except the 7000 (aka Radeon VE) supports hardware T&L.

3. Most of the chart doesn't really matter at all, since you shouldn't use anything older than a [Radeon 9700 / GeForce FX] to play this game (both late 2002). No cards prior to these support DirectX 9. Every ATI and NVIDIA card made after these supports hardware T&L.

So, can someone please elucidate me once and for all:
i've a laptop, and when playing the game, i've got the problems with the leaders' faces (only eyeballs, teeth and pieces of clothing), the black terrain issue, and sound/graphic cuts in the intro and wonder movies. The black terrain was the most serious one, and i managed to play the game by changing one .xml file (can't remember which, right now). That reveals the whole map, but it's playable (putting aside the fact that you always have fog of war around you), as you still dont know were your future friends and foes are.
Reading this thread, i guess i don't have the TnL stuff required for this game, or other games which use that technology. My video card it's a Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics controller, with 64 MB of video RAM. If it does not have, or it's compatible with TnL, as i guess it isn't, is there a way of upgrading this video card that you know of?
Thanks in advance

So, can someone please elucidate me once and for all:
i've a laptop, and when playing the game, i've got the problems with the leaders' faces (only eyeballs, teeth and pieces of clothing), the black terrain issue, and sound/graphic cuts in the intro and wonder movies. The black terrain was the most serious one, and i managed to play the game by changing one .xml file (can't remember which, right now). That reveals the whole map, but it's playable (putting aside the fact that you always have fog of war around you), as you still dont know were your future friends and foes are.
Reading this thread, i guess i don't have the TnL stuff required for this game, or other games which use that technology. My video card it's a Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics controller, with 64 MB of video RAM. If it does not have, or it's compatible with TnL, as i guess it isn't, is there a way of upgrading this video card that you know of?
Thanks in advance

I'm having exactly the same issues with ATI Mobility Radeon 7000 igp. From some websites i understand mobility igp version of radeon 7000 supports t&l which original radeon 7000 doesnt, but black terrain and video playback problems seem nothing to do with t&l hardware support as u can see terrain after revealing all tiles and video should have nothing to do with t&l. Anyway if you don't have t&l accelerated by your video card GPU it can be done by CPU provided it's fast enough to perform the task. Believe it's all software/drivers issue so just waiting for the patch.

Cathar Knight - I have the same exact video card as you. If you figure something out, would you be able to let me know, thanks so much.

Does anyone have any idea when a patch might be out? Are we talking days, weeks or months?

Well I took the chance, bought Civ IV and it turns out, it can run on the Intel 915 chipset. Well at least mine :) I've got it running on a HP Compaq nc6220 laptop - the details of my graphics card:

Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Chipset Family
Video BIOS version 3412

Hope this helps some of you!

this might be a bit of a silly question... but will my (new) laptop with "SiS M760GX Integrated 3D AGP graphics with up to 128 MB of VRAM" support civ4. i managed to get it working before the patch, min settings and single unitgfx, and quite slowly indeed.... but since patch 1.09 it's been giving error upon error.

my laptop running:
3000+ sempron,
512MB RAM.
above stated gfx card.

brought it mainly for uni work.. but would like to play civ4... u know... during... ahem.. between lectures.

my desktop running 3000+ 1024mb ram, 6600Gt runs it fine.

I'm thinking there might be something wrong with www.srtest.com.

Last I check GF 6600 is way beyond minimum requirement.

Not to mention that their test crashes when using Firefox. Pffft.

-An Nord Draoi

OOHHHH great that means Ive got tnl but still black terrain....

It did work until I installed the patch. See this link for details.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=144534

I tried Civ4 on my laptop, and got the black terrain bug as described elsewhere. I think my video card doesn't support T&L - it's a SIS M650, set up for 64 MB of video RAM (and 256 MB of texture buffer). But given as the game plays somewhat, and my computer is otherwise well in excess of the minimum specifications, I suspect the game would play (if slowly) with software T&L. (And it's not like this is a RTS, so the speed isn't as much of an issue.)

Maybe Firaxis could add software T&L as part of the next patch, to be used as a last-ditch option if hardware T&L fails, given how many people are having problems with the hardware T&L?

I tried Civ4 on my laptop, and got the black terrain bug as described elsewhere. I think my video card doesn't support T&L - it's a SIS M650, set up for 64 MB of video RAM (and 256 MB of texture buffer). But given as the game plays somewhat, and my computer is otherwise well in excess of the minimum specifications, I suspect the game would play (if slowly) with software T&L. (And it's not like this is a RTS, so the speed isn't as much of an issue.)

Maybe Firaxis could add software T&L as part of the next patch, to be used as a last-ditch option if hardware T&L fails, given how many people are having problems with the hardware T&L?

Winged cat I am in the exact same boat and have the same graphics chip in my laptop. If you ever find a way to get software TNL or another way to rid the black terrain, would you please post or PM me....the dust on my civ4 game is giving me asthma!

I'm looking, I'm looking! But, seriously, this is something Firaxis should fix - and it's not like software TnL is that hard to add as a library for users to turn on or off (for anyone, not just SIS, who's getting the black terrain bug), is it?

Does someone have a link to a thread that can turn off the message about minimum requirements.

I am convinced my machine will run the wonder movies but it won't stay on HIGH settings.

I thought I read somewhere where that can be controlled.

My thought process is to disable that mesasge and any reset of values.

Turn everything to max my box can take.

Currently, I don't get the little Nimoy talks or any wonder movies etc.

thanks

A lot of memory and CTD issues were resolved by this fix:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=146309&goto=newpost

I tried that fix. No luck so far. It doesn't appear to be a memory issue, and it's certainly not CTD. Thanks, though.

To simplify the chart somewhat:

1. Every GeForce ever made supports hardware T&L.
2. Every Radeon ever made except the 7000 (aka Radeon VE) supports hardware T&L.

3. Most of the chart doesn't really matter at all, since you shouldn't use anything older than a [Radeon 9700 / GeForce FX] to play this game (both late 2002). No cards prior to these support DirectX 9. Every ATI and NVIDIA card made after these supports hardware T&L.

I am considering purchsing Radeon 9600se, about $50 delivered. Seems to meet all the required specs so why would it not run this game?

http://www.pcdirect.com/product.asp?Sku=VICL9600SE%2DGED

128MG, DirectX9.0 support and shaders.

I don't want to spend $50 and it not run Civ IV properly

problem is in that "SE" badge that means it is SEverely castrated, as the memory has 1/2 of bandwidth of the normal version. If you can, find the 9600 pro.

So ... I think I have this figured out.

But I look at the list, and see the Radeon 9250 is listed as better than the nVidia FX5500. (These are the two I'm considering, because they're within my budget for a 128-256MB card.) But the 9250 only supports pixel shader 1.3 and the FX5500 supports 2.0. Isn't a 2.0 version better than 1.3 version? ... does the 9250's better performance have to do with the thing I read about where using pixel shader 2.0 with the FX5500 really stresses the card's processor??

currently I'm using a Dell Dimension 3000 with:

512MB RAM
P4 2.1
intel extreme graphics2 integrated graphics

It works, but while I don't know the actual frame rate, I know it goes slower than it should, and the movies (which I don't watch anyway) are often scrambled.

I had no problems playing doom3 in low details with XP1700+/GeForce3.
Civ4 cant seriously have higher hardware requirements...

I guess there will be a patch for graphic bugs like the black terrain and such.

And let's not forget games like neverwinter nights and the unreal tournament series that run fine on my GF4 MX4000 128MB

patch 1.52 fixes a glearingly stupid bit of design that had non visible units in memory.

I am considering purchsing Radeon 9600se, about $50 delivered. Seems to meet all the required specs so why would it not run this gam

Because running this game successfully seems to have as much to do with total random luck as it does with anything related to your system.

It constantly crashes to desktop and blue screens on me, and I'm running on:

GeForce 6800 Ultra
1GB Dual Channel Corsair XMS (2-2-2-5) RAM
Athlon 64 3500+

Buying new hardware to try to run this game is like buying a ferarri to drive down a dirt road.

Athlon 64 3500+

Buying new hardware to try to run this game is like buying a ferarri to drive down a dirt road.

You have a 64bit processor. Maybe this game doesn't do that well in a 64bit operating system.

All right, so i installed civ 4 and the 1.52 patch. When i run the game, it works for about ten seconds then temporaliy freezes pops up with an error message: "Windows detected and recovered from a device failure. Please reboot to restore full system functionality." After that it closes civ and goes to the desktop, and the graphics are all distorted. After i restart everything is back to normal. Reckon this is a video card issue?

I have a gateway, 2.6 GHz pentium 4 , 504 mb RAM, intel 82845

Okay, this is probably very wishful, but has the 1.52 patch changed anything with regard to T&L? Specifically, my laptop has an Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME graphics card which does not have hardware T&L.

Will I be able to play it, or should I just start to cry :cry:

Thanks

I am afraid a quick *sniffle* maybe in order - sorry .....

You are outside the hardware spec for the game. See below for the issues involved and some background

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=3554189#post3554189

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=3554258#post3554258

Regards
Zy

[QUOTE=Low-end (basic to acceptable- all have shader support)
Radeon 9200SE- Radeon 200M - GF 5200FXSE – GF 5200FX- GF5500FX- Radeon 300M - GF 6200/6200Turbo[QUOTE]

So if I have one of these cards, will I be able to run Civ4, and how well will it run? What potential problems could I have with one of these cards?

[QUOTE=Low-end (basic to acceptable- all have shader support)
Radeon 9200SE- Radeon 200M - GF 5200FXSE – GF 5200FX- GF5500FX- Radeon 300M - GF 6200/6200Turbo[/QUOTE]

So if I have one of these, I'll be able to run Civ4? And if so, what potential problems could result from having a low end card?

P.S. Sorry about the double post, I messed up.

So,

I'm planning to buy an AGP graphic card (I'm sure I'm not the only one), but I'm not exactly sure which cad to get. I was hoping for some experts to give me suggestions/opinions. I'm especially interested in the differences between some different cards and the size of the gaps between the cards (Is it worth it to buy a more expensive in a certain situation?)

Also, does the manufacturer/label have an affect (Sapphire, Club3D, Connect3D, ASUS etc.)?

It should be of a reasonable prize (what's that?), which for me is absolutely under 100eur, preferably nearer to 50eur (or even less).

I have looked for some options, some of them are from internet auctions, so I would really like to know, at what prizes it would be profitable to buy one of those.

Which are good? Which are better? Something totally unexeptable/unrecommendable? Something sticking out in good or bad? I appreciate every advice/opinion.

Thank you guys.
(eur=about $)

Radeon 9550 128MB (about 50 eur)
GF4 Ti 4200 128MB (auction, what would be good price?)
Radeon 9600 pro 128MB (about 80 eur from shop, how much in auction?)
Radeon 9800 pro 128MB (120 eur in the shop, how much in auction?)
GF 6200 128MB (50 eur)
GF 6200 256MB (60 eur)
GF 6600 128MB (100 eur)
GF 6600 GT 128 MB (137 eur) (What's the difference?)
GF FX5500 128/256 MB (50-60 eur)
GF FX5700 LE 128MB (about 100 eur)

I've already kind of ruled these out, but if someone feels to recommend these,

Radeon 9250 128 MB (33 eur)
Radeon 9250 SE 128 MB (22 eur)
GF FX5200 128 MB (about 40 eur)

Thanks for all,
Lance.

A fairly good article for you to get a perspective - as in all articles, note but dont treat as a statement of immutable fact - however Tom's Hardware is ok, so lean towards going with it

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/05/squeezing_value_out_of_lower_end_cards/index.html

The choice of card between ATI & NVidia is a very personal thing. I have been ATI for years, but lately I have been impressed with NVidia, so I am going NVidia in a new beastie coming shortly.

Iwouldnt go for the 4200, its 'old' design and too low powered when you consider it has to do you for 2/3 years - in 12 months that design will be circa 4/5 years old...

Going above a 6600 would blow the budget, and in any case start to hit the top end of what the cpu can deliver to the card. Top end cards would be waiting for cpu time when at lower resolutions they are too fast for yours.

As you on a budget as such, dont bother with 256mb ram - use the cash to get a better card with 128 Mb ram. 256 is handy, but far from essential as its not used to its full extent most of the time, 128Mb is fine.

Differences in the cards is in the article above ("read over " terms you dont understand, you'll get the overall drift)

Your exclusions are on the button , dont buy those new - remember it needs to last 2/3 years, the excluded ones are on the edge already re Civ IV.

I always distrust any card with LE suffix - they are 99% of the time a cut down version, and in reality only as powerfull as the next one down. FX ones will run, 6200 probably better than those 2.

So for my money I would say it comes down to

9550 / 9600 / 6200 (128Mb)

If you have the dosh - no contest 6600 or 6600gt - if not the 9600

But - thats a purely personal view, many will have other choices for other reasons - would be good to hear them

Regards
Zy

Please delete this post. Somehow it duped the next one.

I tried Civ4 on my laptop, and got the black terrain bug as described elsewhere. I think my video card doesn't support T&L - it's a SIS M650, set up for 64 MB of video RAM (and 256 MB of texture buffer). But given as the game plays somewhat, and my computer is otherwise well in excess of the minimum specifications, I suspect the game would play (if slowly) with software T&L. (And it's not like this is a RTS, so the speed isn't as much of an issue.)

Maybe Firaxis could add software T&L as part of the next patch, to be used as a last-ditch option if hardware T&L fails, given how many people are having problems with the hardware T&L?

I see similar messages here and I happen to be in the same situation. I also have a laptop that allows watching DVDs, plays other games, incliding Civ III without any problems but I am yet to try Civ IV after three days of trying it. My minimum specs are double the capacity required, 2.4 Mhz, 512 RAM... First of all the game just crashes my laptop on the second move. I also have a black terrain, describe by other fellow SiS M650 chip users. I have brought down resoulution and lowerd to medium the graphics, installed patch but nothing seem to work. And it's not like I could replace the videocard. It's hardwired into my motherboard.

Is there anything that can be done about this? I'm ready to EBAY my Civ IV I'm so disappointed...

santa, I have the exact same chipset and im afraid I have managed to get everything but the black terrain working. Unless an update of that 3d analyser comes out which supports software emulation on tnl I think we are going to have to throw civ4 to the scrap heap.

I have been trying since release with no success on the black terrain issue.

How about this?

I cannot find it on the chart... The Creative FX5200 64mb card?

I cannot even find it on creative.com?
The only FX 5200 on the chart is Nvidia or is that the same?

You guessed it I am no buff on the subject.... Can anyone help me?

How about this?

I cannot find it on the chart... The Creative FX5200 64mb card?

I cannot even find it on creative.com?
The only FX 5200 on the chart is Nvidia or is that the same?

You guessed it I am no buff on the subject.... Can anyone help me?
It's Creative's card using the nVidia chip. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009OWCX/026-4924829-1369233

OK so it is the Nvidia FX5200 and that is DX 9 and supports about the world...

But is it good enough to run Civ IV? What with only 64mb on board....
That offcourse is the 1.000.000 dollar question, it should I guess as 64mb is recommended....

you can run it, but card seriously lacks processing power, so it is going to lag badly. and that card is like $30, 3D gaming is expensive business.

im looking to buy a new laptop with this chipset.

ATI Mobility Radeon Xpress 200M graphics with from 64MB to 128MB of shared memory (dynamically allocated)

i know this will work but will it work fine? how well will it run the game?

Got my PC with Intel 845 G/GL 64 MB integrated video running Civ4 (patch 1.52). Runs a little bumpy somtimes, but otherwise completely playable. Here were my steps:

- Installed Civ from CD

- Updated Intel driver from http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel845g/sb/cs-009072.htm?iid=graphics+845main&

- Installed patch 1.52

Other PC specs:
Dell dimension 4500S, 1.8 GHz, 512 MB

Once the patch was installed, I started the game, and it reset graphics options on low settings...

Resolution: 1024 x 768
Graphics quality: low
Render Quality: low
globe quality: low
X single unit graphics
X frozen animations
X effects disabled
X low resolution textures

i also got civ 4 working with Intel 845. it crashes all the time, though, and its pretty choppy.

Hi

Recently changed my pc (needed one for work). The card that came as standard is an X800 GT..which i dont see in the list.

Performance is awful ..as bad as on the old pc. I dont think its the cpu (x2 3800) and i have a gig of ram..does anyone know of issues with this card??

I know its not a 'great card' but thought it could handle civ iv?

Cheers

its on the list

Ahh sorry, saw x800..didnt see 'all variants' bit.

So it is supported. Not sure what to do now..i can play Battle for middle earth II on high details, had assumed civ iv would need less juice.

Ahh well thanks anyway

nt (ten chars)

I've decided to upgrade my intel chipset so I can play Civ IV but I am having trouble finding a card that is not AGP or PCI Express. Those will not work with my machine. I can only use a PCI card. Anybody have any ideas?

Is it really possible that they could be wrong about the minimum requirements for the game they themselves made?

There are always inconsistencies in the supported hardware for any game. No testing is, completely, perfect. However, that stated....If you are using hardware that isn't supposed to work...Consider yourself lucky. :D

Excellent research and thread. I highly recommend this one for anyone who isn't sure what cards are supported. :)

One thing I do know, this is a HIGHLY graphics intensive game, and the more up to date the hardware you have, the better you will run.

I've decided to upgrade my intel chipset so I can play Civ IV but I am having trouble finding a card that is not AGP or PCI Express. Those will not work with my machine. I can only use a PCI card. Anybody have any ideas?

Hey frankophile,
I also had an Intel chipset...64MB on board. Obviously not enough for Civ IV. I bought a 256MB ATI Radeon 9250 PCI card from Buy.com. I, after alot of testing and head scratching, installed the Omega Radeon drivers instead of the awful ATI drivers. That has worked for me so far.

I also upgraded my RAM to 1GB.

Hey frankophile,
I also had an Intel chipset...64MB on board. Obviously not enough for Civ IV. I bought a 256MB ATI Radeon 9250 PCI card from Buy.com. I, after alot of testing and head scratching, installed the Omega Radeon drivers instead of the awful ATI drivers. That has worked for me so far.

I also upgraded my RAM to 1GB.

I have been looking at the Radeon 9250 and now that you have advised me that it will work with Civ IV I will probably buy it. Can you tell me a little more about the driver problems you had?

Also, an upgrade to 1 GB RAM is in the cards but not immediately.

I have been looking at the Radeon 9250 and now that you have advised me that it will work with Civ IV I will probably buy it. Can you tell me a little more about the driver problems you had?

Also, an upgrade to 1 GB RAM is in the cards but not immediately.

Well, it worked on my machine...but can't guarantee it will work on yours. Keep the receipt if you buy it.

ATI drivers are notoriously bad...at least thats what i've experienced and heard from friends. I downloaded their newest Radeon 9250 drivers with CCC from ati.com and gave it a shot. It actually worked until the turn that i was going to beat the game. Every time on the victory screen turn, the game would crash to the desktop. I figured it had to do with some sort of graphics problem so I downloaded the Omega Radeon drivers, reinstalled Civ 4, and its worked perfectly since then.

Hope that helps, good luck.

Well, it worked on my machine...but can't guarantee it will work on yours. Keep the receipt if you buy it.

ATI drivers are notoriously bad...at least thats what i've experienced and heard from friends. I downloaded their newest Radeon 9250 drivers with CCC from ati.com and gave it a shot. It actually worked until the turn that i was going to beat the game. Every time on the victory screen turn, the game would crash to the desktop. I figured it had to do with some sort of graphics problem so I downloaded the Omega Radeon drivers, reinstalled Civ 4, and its worked perfectly since then.

Hope that helps, good luck.

Why are they different? Do you know?

Why are they different? Do you know?He makes minor settings adjustments mostly for image quality and smooth gameplay.
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
His kit does not require .Net Framework, which the current ATI breed of Control Center uses. He includes a 3rd party "control panel" called ATI Tray Tools. Some prefer one over the other.

I would not recommend buying Radeon 9250 in mid 2006. It is DirectX8.1 card - obsolete. If you can shell more money into Radeon 9550 or 9600.

He makes minor settings adjustments mostly for image quality and smooth gameplay.
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
His kit does not require .Net Framework, which the current ATI breed of Control Center uses. He includes a 3rd party "control panel" called ATI Tray Tools. Some prefer one over the other.

Okay I got a 9250. I read what the other person read about getting something more up-to-date but my computer is a retarded Compaq. Now Civ IV works great. No complaints about that. But I'm having some problems with my display in other areas. I don't expect this forum to be the appropriate venue for such a discussion so I was wondering if there was somewhere I could go for advice and discussion. I would appreciate any help.:nuke:

Okay I got a 9250. I read what the other person read about getting something more up-to-date but my computer is a retarded Compaq. Now Civ IV works great. No complaints about that. But I'm having some problems with my display in other areas. I don't expect this forum to be the appropriate venue for such a discussion so I was wondering if there was somewhere I could go for advice and discussion. I would appreciate any help.:nuke:

I should also have mentioned I downloaded and installed the recommended drivers & stuff.

www.rage3d.com has a pretty active forum.

pleeease tell me mobility radeon 9000 will work

He makes minor settings adjustments mostly for image quality and smooth gameplay.
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
His kit does not require .Net Framework, which the current ATI breed of Control Center uses. He includes a 3rd party "control panel" called ATI Tray Tools. Some prefer one over the other.
Interesting when I read about Omega driver. Are Omega driver really make different from ATI driver?

What do you think? Is it worth to switch from ATI driver to Omega driver? Especially for Civ4?

Thanks!

Regards,
Arto.

My PC for college has geforce 6150 LE 256MB, so it should run ok even in warlords X-pack.

Thanks for giving me hope, Comraddict! My intel 915GM may or may not work... I should find out this weekend by installing a friend's disc on my laptop to see the outcome.

How did the weekend work out? I have the same intel 915GM.

Thanks for giving me hope, Comraddict! My intel 915GM may or may not work... I should find out this weekend by installing a friend's disc on my laptop to see the outcome.

How did the weekend work out? I have the same intel 915GM.

How did the weekend work out? I have the same intel 915GM.

I thought I had the same but it's a 945GM. Mine works fine, so I expect your should.

I have S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR, is this able to play the game properly?

I have a sis 650 can some one tell me if it has TnL please

I have a sis 650 can some one tell me if it has TnL please

Sorry mate but I have an sis 650m and It never worked, couldnt get rid of that stupid black screen.

I have since bought a desktop that runs it and I have to tell you causing such grief for so many people was not worth it as the graphics are not much chop anyway and I dont really care if I can zoom out and see the globe.

Civ is about the gameplay.

If you can borrow or rent the game to see if your one of the lucky ones whom it works for give it a try, some people got lucky.

Hey those all seem to be desktop cards, I have:
ATI Radeon Xpress1100
Didn't see it listed, and my Civ IV is completely non-functional. I'm hoping or praying this can be resolved with a quick fix but am losing hope. Thanks,

G

I'd just like to add a few more video-chipsets that I didn't see covered in the table.

3D Labs Permedia 3 - ?!? (has hardware T&L, but could someone try?)

Matrox G450/G550 - NO (no hardware T&L)
Matrox Perhelia - YES (could someone try the 'triple-head' 3-monitor mode?)

PowerVR Kyro series - NO (no hardware T&L)
S3 Savage3D/4/2000 - NO (no hardware T&L)
S3 SavageIX/Mobile - ?!? (could someone check this out?)
XGI Chrome series (Unichrome, Deltachrome, etc.) - YES (hardware T&L and Pixel-Shader 1.x)

SiS 3xx series (300, 305, 315) - NO (no hardware T&L)
SiS Xabre series - YES (hardware T&L and Pixel-Shader 1.x)
XGI Volari series - YES (...)

Trident "Blade3D series" (Blade3D, BladeXP, Cyberblade) - NO (no hardware T&L)

(some integrated graphics...)
NVidia Nforce2 IGP and later - YES (Geforce2/MX class, hardware T&L)
ATI Radeon IGP - YES (at least Radeon 9000 class, ..., pixel-shader 1.4)
Via K8M800/KM800 - ?!? (should be equivalent to S3 Unichrome)

--- even older cards ---
If you have one of the following cards, you need not bother trying to play the game! I mention these separately, because none of the following cards were ever equipped with 64MB (or more) video RAM. [The above cards are available with 64MB or more video RAM.]

Intel i740 - NO (no hardware T&L)
NVidia NV1 - NO (non-compliant 3D-pipeline, 'quartic surfaces instead of triangles')
NVidia Riva128 or TNT1/2, Vanta, LT - NO (no hardware T&L)
S3 Virge/Trio3D series - NO NO NO NO NO NO (sorry, couldn't resist!)
SiS 6326 series - NO (non-compliant 3D-pipeline)
Matrox G200/G400/G450 - NO (no hardware T&L)
Matrox Millenium, Mystique - NO (non-compliant 3D-pipeline)
Rendition Verite1000/2x00 - NO (no hardware T&L)

Okay, thanks for the list, but I'm still not sure. My brother has a "VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP," at least that's how it's listed on his PC. I believe it's also known as a VIA K8M800. Can I get a yes or no as to whether this has TNL?

Thanks,
Poocho :)

Hey those all seem to be desktop cards, I have:
ATI Radeon Xpress1100
Didn't see it listed, and my Civ IV is completely non-functional. I'm hoping or praying this can be resolved with a quick fix but am losing hope. Thanks,

G

I play on high settings with that card on one of my labtops, and can run large maps, possibly its a driver issue.

Hi, everybody. Please someone help me. I have a
Card name: Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) GMA 950
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27A2&SUBSYS_FF001179&REV_03
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: igxprd32.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.4906 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 12/19/2007 11:32:12, 57344 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: igxpmp32.sys
Mini VDD Date: 12/19/2007 11:32:12, 5854688 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B78E66-64E2-11CF-E361-0ADFA2C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x8086
Device ID: 0x27A2
SubSys ID: 0xFF001179
Revision ID: 0x0003
Revision ID: 0x0003
Video Accel:
Deinterlace Caps: n/a
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run
Can you tell me whether my laptop has t&l video capability to play BTS?If not which one should be best to change? (or do I have any option to fix it?) by the way my OS is Windows XP SP2
Thanks very much, I do appreciate any help.

rebakan, as long as you have latest intel's driver, you should be able to play it.