First I'd like to apologize if this has been discussed here before. I tried searching and didn't find anything that looked like it quite fit the bill.

I have a home built system that for everything else is pretty much a hotrod. I even recently updated it with a Core Duo 2 2.66GHz CPU to make sure there were no CPU bottleneck issues. It has 4GB of 6400 DDR2 RAM, a RAID 0 SATA array with all kinds of free space, and dual nVidia 6800GTS cards. I'm running 32bit Vista Ultimate with the latest nVidia drivers.

So what I can't figure out is why I can't play Large or Huge maps at all? Even at turn 1 the performance is horrible and the frame rate is unplayable. There is such a dramatic difference from normal sized maps where the game play is as fast as you could reasonably expect for the entire game (the end of turn scenario can be 2 or 3 seconds toward the end-game) and there is never any frame-rate problem. I've tried tweaking all the in-game settings I can find to no avail. If anything, BtS made this problem much worse (in Warlords I could at least get a 50 turns in before it became unplayable).

I see lots of people here play the large and huge maps and I'd really like to as well. Very frustrating.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any recommendations?

It is most likely the Gfx cards, try disabling SLI, and aren't those cards a little old?

In all honesty I'm surprised that you can even run Civ IV Properly on Vista without patching it. Unless you have actually patched it? If it's not that, perhaps it's just because your cards are out of date.

did you have xp previously, or are you currently dual booting XP? If so, is the game slow there too?

It is most likely the Gfx cards, try disabling SLI, and aren't those cards a little old?

Yeah, the cards are a couple of years old but they still get great frame rates with all my other current games. I will try disabling SLI, but again, changing the graphics settings has no effect that I've seen, and it is only the Large and Huge maps, standard or smaller maps run great. That leads me to believe it's not a graphics issue.

In all honesty I'm surprised that you can even run Civ IV Properly on Vista without patching it. Unless you have actually patched it? If it's not that, perhaps it's just because your cards are out of date.

Never had any problems running Warlords or BtS (never tried Vanilla), well other than this large/huge map issue. As far as I can tell I'm fully patched in both Vista and Civ.

did you have xp previously, or are you currently dual booting XP? If so, is the game slow there too?

No *sigh*. I foolishly jumped into Vista with both feet. I knew better, but *shrug*.

Make sure you run Windows update, because they recently released a performance update (control panel). Also, the most recent patches are 1.74 for vanilla, 2.13 for warlords, and 3.03 for BTS.

More importantly, what programs are running in the background?

If you have xp discs somewhere you can dual boot it and try huge map performance. would at least limit it to OS/game config or Hardware bottleneck.

Make sure you run Windows update, because they recently released a performance update

if you are referring to KB938194 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AE2F819D-C33D-48DB-A7E3-62EEF7C1F7C2&displaylang=en) & KB938979 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3FB80BB9-D832-425B-B42C-D3EB2071BBEC&displaylang=en) I don't believe they have been pushed to windows update yet. you have to download & run the manually.

If you have xp discs somewhere you can dual boot it and try huge map performance. would at least limit it to OS/game config or Hardware bottleneck.

I'll have to try that when I get home. I don't have any experience in setting up a dual-boot since my long-gone linux days, but I'll look into it.

if you are referring to KB938194 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AE2F819D-C33D-48DB-A7E3-62EEF7C1F7C2&displaylang=en) & KB938979 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3FB80BB9-D832-425B-B42C-D3EB2071BBEC&displaylang=en) I don't believe they have been pushed to windows update yet. you have to download & run the manually.

Ahhh, I didn't realize these were manual updates! Thanks a ton for the heads up! Some of the fixes they describe sound promising. I'll try them out and report back just in case anyone else is having this problem.

More importantly, what programs are running in the background?

I'll also check this out more thoroughly to make sure there's nothing using lots of CPU cycles or memory. I pretty much have a clean Vista install with Office 2007, SAV Corporate Ed, and some HP printer junk. I can't think of anything that would be using that much RAM.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! Keep 'em coming. I have to believe I'm not the only one having this problem.

if you are referring to KB938194 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AE2F819D-C33D-48DB-A7E3-62EEF7C1F7C2&displaylang=en) & KB938979 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3FB80BB9-D832-425B-B42C-D3EB2071BBEC&displaylang=en) I don't believe they have been pushed to windows update yet. you have to download & run the manually.
Ah, yes, you are indeed correct (I don't have vista:blush: )

@Jyriki- Ah, Symantec Antivirus- there's your problem right there, Norton/ Symantec products are very bloated and can have a major performance hit on your computer (I even read somewhere that Norton can make disk access up to 16 times slower), slowing down boot and hogging ram and other resources that it doesn't need. I would suggest that you switch to something like AVG free, as it is very lightweight and only uses ~3mb of ram while idle. I also use it and have had less problems with it since switching from McAffe. And if you can't use AVG free for some reason I heard a really good (although not free) Antivirus is NOD32 using something like ~2mb of ram while idle.

@Jyriki- Ah, Symantec Antivirus- there's your problem right there...

Yeah, I was thinking about that when I typed it in. Kind of an "ah-ha" moment. I'll try it the first chance I get with SAV turned off and see if it makes a difference.

Why are you using that Antivirus? Does the 'Corporate Edition' have anything to do with it?

Why are you using that Antivirus? Does the 'Corporate Edition' have anything to do with it?

Because I have a long history of using Norton/Symantec and it works really well for the network I administer at work and we maintain extra licenses for employees to use at home so you can't really beat the price. I can't stand most of the "Norton" line products now, they're totally bloated, but the SAV Corp Ed seems to be trouble free and reliable.

Well last night I got a little Civ-Time so I figured I'd try out a few of these suggestions.

First downloading and installing the two patches recommended by dfi666. This turned into a rather large update since I hadn't been on my system at all this week and I updated all of Microsoft's monthly updates as well.

Rebooted, launched BtS and generated a large size map using the Medium and Small script. It ran great! So I tried a huge size with the same script. It was immediately clear that the frame rate was jacked since the leader animation in the opening dialog was extremely choppy. Sure enough, unplayable. :(

So I went by to trying a large map again. Damn thing was choppy! Every bit as bad as the huge map. :mad:

So I took a look at what was running... SAV was using about 30 MB of RAM (a pittance in my 4GB configuration). SAV's page fault delta occasionally peaked for one sample cycle, but overall wasn't too bad. It looked like the culprit might have been Microsoft Search which was merrily indexing my hard drive *pulling hair out*. Also for some god awful reason Windows Defender decided it was time to run a scan.

So always a one for subtle adjustments, I disabled every service I could think of that wasn't necessary. Goodbye Search, Defender, SAV. Looking at the Task Manager now, nothing was using CPU cycles, there were almost no page faults, and the only thing using a significant chunk of memory was BtS. I still had over 60% of my physical RAM free.

So I closed out of BtS and restarted it, tried a large map, ran great. Tried a huge map, hecka choppy. Went back to a large map, ran great. By this point I was done experimenting and wanted to actually play for a bit. So I went to town on a large map for several hours with no noticeable slow down.

So I guess I'm better off than before, but still not able to play huge maps which is frustrating.

Try this (http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html), you may be able to suck a little more performance of of the computer :)

Try this (http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html), you may be able to suck a little more performance of of the computer :)

That's the thing, most people don't seem to need to tweak the heck outta their systems to play these bigger maps do they? It's not like I have a marginal system. Oh well, I guess I was hopping I was just doing something wrong that would be easy to fix or there was a commonly known problem with Vista and larger maps.

Anyone out there that has Vista and plays large or huge maps?

How many processes do you have while idle? For me, I have 22 (not including the task manager) on XP. If you have any programs that constantly run in the background, you should disable them. Adobe reader, Quicktime, and itunes are some examples. And you should go thru the guide, It really helps a lot.

And I just thought of something, 32-bit operating systems only support 4GB of RAM total (includes video RAM). Is it possible that not enough video RAM is being allocated?

How many processes do you have while idle? For me, I have 22 (not including the task manager) on XP. If you have any programs that constantly run in the background, you should disable them. Adobe reader, Quicktime, and itunes are some examples. And you should go thru the guide, It really helps a lot.

And I just thought of something, 32-bit operating systems only support 4GB of RAM total (includes video RAM). Is it possible that not enough video RAM is being allocated?

I'll have to check the processes again when I get home, but it didn't seem like a horrible amount. That and they didn't seem to be using CPU or disk resources really, nor a huge amount of RAM.

I didn't mean to imply that guide you recommended wasn't great. I've never seen such a comprehensive guide. I just mean to say that something fundamentally seems to be wrong, not just a few tweaks or adjustments.

Perhaps you're on to something with the video RAM address range. I'm not sure how to check that though. I was under the impression that the OS just reserved that address space as needed and that portion of your system RAM was just unused. Since I have 2x256MB of video RAM, I would expect those addresses would just be mapped at the end of the 4GB block and I couldn't get all of the use out of the system RAM. At least this is how it worked under 32 bit XP right? I suppose if the game is stepping on these addresses that could jack the video performance causing the choppyness I'm seeing... *shrug*

i play large and huge maps with the same system dual booting both vista and xp. no probs in either os for me.

Try posting a dxdiag and cpuz (http://www.cpuid.com/) report. sometimes those can pinpoint any problems. I have a couple other ideas but it could be a waste of time if i don't take a peek at dxdiag & cpuz report first.

Is your hard drive light flipping out when you run huge maps?

i play large and huge maps with the same system dual booting both vista and xp. no probs in either os for me.

Try posting a dxdiag and cpuz (http://www.cpuid.com/) report. sometimes those can pinpoint any problems. I have a couple other ideas but it could be a waste of time if i don't take a peek at dxdiag & cpuz report first.

Is your hard drive light flipping out when you run huge maps?

Good idea, I'll put up the dxdiag & cpuz info tonight when I get a chance.

I was keeping an eye on the disk activity light, and at first it was running quite a bit, but it turns out that was Defender and Search. When I turned those off, the disk activity was minimal when starting up large/huge maps.

You guys are heading kinda where I was thinking - RAM - but I don't think video mem tacked on the end & stepping on each other thing is right at all. I'm thinking maybe system ram problem.

What is your ram configuration? 4x1gb, 2x2gb? if 2x2gb try each stick by itself without the other. if 4x1gb try 2x1gb in multiple different configurations. It could be some kind of poor performing stick in the lot. Also it could be incorrectly detecting your ram and clocking it too low (can see w/ cpuz report). My high performance ram is that way. it detects it as VERY slow, and I have manually set it up.

little off topic but 2x256mb of video ram is possibly misleading. i believe that you have 256MB of onboard video memory that is dupilicated on your other SLI card. Each has their own duplicated set of textures in their own memory. I could be wrong on this, since I have not personally researched it - a friend did. =P

I too am having problems playing Huge maps on Vista. I have home premium. Computer specs are as follows:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13ghz

2gb RAM

nvidia 512mb 7950 GT

I can play huge maps to start with, but later in the game it takes FOREVER for it to process a turn. Btw, this ONLY happens with Beyond the Sword. I can play in Warlords just fine. Is it because there is more stuff to process in BtS? Like the random events and brand new Espionage system? Any help appreciated, thanks!

Okay, here is the CPUZ data:

CPU-Z 1.40.5 report file
Processor(s)
Number of processors 1
Number of cores 2 per processor
Number of threads 2 (max 2) per processor
Name Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
Code Name Conroe
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6700 @ 2.66GHz
Package Socket 775 LGA
Family/Model/Stepping 6.F.6
Extended Family/Model 6.F
Core Stepping B2
Technology 65 nm
Core Speed 2667.7 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 10.0 x 266.8 MHz
Rated Bus speed 1067.1 MHz
Stock frequency 2666 MHz
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, EM64T
L1 Data cache 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 4096 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
Chipset & Memory
Northbridge NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition rev. C1
Southbridge NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI rev. A2
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 4096 MBytes
Memory Frequency 400.2 MHz (2:3)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 5.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRDC) 5 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 5 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 15 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 23 clocks
System
System Manufacturer System manufacturer
System Name System Product Name
System S/N System Serial Number
Mainboard Vendor ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Mainboard Model P5N32-SLI PREMIUM
BIOS Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS Version ASUS P5N32-SLI PREMIUM ACPI BIOS Revision 0401
BIOS Date 09/20/2006
Memory SPD
Module 1 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, OCZ
Module 2 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, OCZ
Module 3 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, OCZ
Module 4 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, OCZ
Software
Windows Version Microsoft Windows Vista (6.0) Ultimate Edition (Build 6000)
DirectX Version 10.0

Humm... the BIOS Post detects the RAM at 800MHz 5-5-5-15 (2T). It's all identical OCZ RAM rated at 800MHz 4-4-4-15. I had it manually configured to this at one point, not sure why it has changed back.

Here's the DXDiag info. The complete dump is too long to post, so I just put in the relevant bits (or at least the bits that seemed relevant to me):

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 8/16/2007, 19:00:39
Machine name: JYRIKI
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_gdr.070627-1500)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6700 @ 2.66GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Page File: 862MB used, 5462MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: The file nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Series GPU
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 6800 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00F9&SUBSYS_21201682&REV_A2
Display Memory: 488 MB
Dedicated Memory: 248 MB
Shared Memory: 239 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.6222 (English)
DDI Version: 9Ex
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 4788224 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: No
WHQL Date Stamp: None
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-43B9-11CF-7C6D-2B0102C2CA35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x00F9
SubSys ID: 0x21201682
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: SPDIF Interface (2- USB Audio)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: USB\VID_0C45&PID_17FF&REV_0100&MI_00
Manufacturer ID: 65535
Product ID: 65535
Type: WDM
Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6000.16386 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 11/2/2006 01:55:04, 71552 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Microsoft
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

Description: Speakers (2- USB Audio)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: USB\VID_0C45&PID_17FF&REV_0100&MI_00
Manufacturer ID: 65535
Product ID: 65535
Type: WDM
Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6000.16386 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 11/2/2006 01:55:04, 71552 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Microsoft
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: Microphone (2- USB Audio)
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6000.16386 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 11/2/2006 01:55:04, 71552 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x1
Format Flags: 0xFFFFF

Description: Line (2- USB Audio)
Default Sound Capture: No
Default Voice Capture: No
Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6000.16386 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 11/2/2006 01:55:04, 71552 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x1
Format Flags: 0xFFFFF

Description: SPDIF Interface (2- USB Audio)
Default Sound Capture: No
Default Voice Capture: No
Driver Name: USBAUDIO.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.6000.16386 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 11/2/2006 01:55:04, 71552 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x1
Format Flags: 0xFFFFF

------------------------
Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
------------------------
Drive: C:
Free Space: 39.5 GB
Total Space: 141.8 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: NVIDIA STRIPE 138.49G

Drive: D:
Model: TDK DVDRW840G ATA Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:51:44, 67072 bytes

--------------
System Devices
--------------
Name: VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3044&SUBSYS_81FE1043&REV_C0\4&276FBEC1&0&5878
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\ohci1394.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:16, 62080 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\1394bus.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:12, 53376 bytes

Name: NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_037F&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&72
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\nvstor32.sys, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:07:10, 93696 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvraidco.dll, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:12:34, 358912 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvraiins.dll, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:12:34, 358912 bytes

Name: NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_037F&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&71
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\nvstor32.sys, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:07:10, 93696 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvraidco.dll, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:12:34, 358912 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvraiins.dll, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:12:34, 358912 bytes

Name: NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_037F&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&70
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\nvstor32.sys, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:07:10, 93696 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvraidco.dll, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:12:34, 358912 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvraiins.dll, 5.10.2600.0931 (English), 12/22/2006 20:12:34, 358912 bytes

Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0377&SUBSYS_000010DE&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&C0
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:50:57, 140392 bytes

Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0376&SUBSYS_000010DE&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&98
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:50:57, 140392 bytes

Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0375&SUBSYS_000010DE&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&B8
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:50:57, 140392 bytes

Name: NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0373&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&88
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0370&SUBSYS_CB8410DE&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&78
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:50:57, 140392 bytes

Name: Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_036E&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&68
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\pciide.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:49:20, 13416 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\pciidex.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:50:18, 42600 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:49:36, 19048 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\ataport.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:50:41, 107112 bytes

Name: Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_036D&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&59
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\usbehci.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:04, 38400 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\usbport.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:11, 223744 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\usbhub.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:21, 191488 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\hccoin.dll, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:46:05, 8704 bytes

Name: Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_036C&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&58
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\usbohci.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:05, 19456 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\usbport.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:11, 223744 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\usbhub.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:21, 191488 bytes

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_036A&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&52
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0369&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&48
Driver: n/a

Name: NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0368&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&51
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard ISA bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0360&SUBSYS_CB841043&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&50
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\msisadrv.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:49:20, 13928 bytes

Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Series GPU
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00F9&SUBSYS_21201682&REV_A2\4&55563CE&0&00C0
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 7568832 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvd3dum.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 4788224 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvwgf2um.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 1501184 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvapi.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 360448 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv32.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 6922240 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvcpl.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 8466432 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvsvc.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 86016 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmctray.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 81920 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvdisps.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 6234112 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvgames.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 3321856 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmccss.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 188416 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmobls.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 1142784 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvvitvs.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 3518464 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmccs.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 229376 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmccsrs.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (Arabic), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 45056 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvwss.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 2330624 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvcolor.exe, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 147456 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvudisp.exe, 1.00.0001.0056 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 356352 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvwsapps.xml, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 17254 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvapps.xml, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 123651 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvuninst.exe, 1.00.0001.0056 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 356352 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvdisp.nvu, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 6335 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\dpinst.exe, 2.00.0001.0000 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 521128 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\help\nvcpl\nvdsp.chm, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 170201 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\help\nvcpl\nv3d.chm, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 91094 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\help\nvcpl\nvmob.chm, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 54988 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\help\nvcpl\nvwks.chm, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 174650 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvcpl.cpl, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvcplui.exe, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvcpluir.dll, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvexpbar.dll, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvcpl.chm, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvcod.dll, 1.00.0000.0035 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 37376 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvcod100.dll, 1.00.0000.0035 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 37376 bytes

Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Series GPU
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00F9&SUBSYS_21201682&REV_A2\4&36AAE60&0&0010
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 7568832 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvd3dum.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 4788224 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvwgf2um.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 1501184 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvapi.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 360448 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvoglv32.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 6922240 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvcpl.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 8466432 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvsvc.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 86016 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmctray.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 81920 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvdisps.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 6234112 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvgames.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 3321856 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmccss.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 188416 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmobls.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 1142784 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvvitvs.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 3518464 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmccs.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 229376 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvmccsrs.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (Arabic), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 45056 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvwss.dll, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 2330624 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvcolor.exe, 7.15.0011.6222 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 147456 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvudisp.exe, 1.00.0001.0056 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 356352 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvwsapps.xml, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 17254 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvapps.xml, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 123651 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvuninst.exe, 1.00.0001.0056 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 356352 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvdisp.nvu, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 6335 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\dpinst.exe, 2.00.0001.0000 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 521128 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\help\nvcpl\nvdsp.chm, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 170201 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\help\nvcpl\nv3d.chm, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 91094 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\help\nvcpl\nvmob.chm, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 54988 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\help\nvcpl\nvwks.chm, 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 174650 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvcpl.cpl, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvcplui.exe, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvcpluir.dll, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvexpbar.dll, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\nvtmpinst\nvcpl.chm, , 0 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvcod.dll, 1.00.0000.0035 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 37376 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\nvcod100.dll, 1.00.0000.0035 (English), 7/6/2007 13:15:00, 37376 bytes

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00B4&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&04
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_007F&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&01
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_007E&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&28
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:50:57, 140392 bytes

Name: PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_007E&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A2\3&2411E6FE&0&10
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:50:57, 140392 bytes

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_007D&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&0E
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_007C&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&0D
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_007B&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&0C
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_007A&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&0B
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0079&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&0A
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0078&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&09
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0076&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&08
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0075&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&02
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard host CPU bridge
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0071&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_C1\3&2411E6FE&0&00
Driver: n/a

Name: PCI standard RAM Controller
Device ID: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_006F&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1\3&2411E6FE&0&03
Driver: n/a

Name: ATI Unified AVStream Driver
Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4D52&SUBSYS_A3461002&REV_00\4&276FBEC1&0&3078
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atinavrr.sys, 6.14.0010.0226 (English), 1/5/2007 02:15:18, 522496 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\atinpprr.ax, 6.14.0010.0226 (English), 1/5/2007 02:16:02, 110592 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\CTRL.s3, 12/19/2006 16:06:20, 1494791 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\NcRemotePci.SYS, 1.06.0009.0011 (English), 9/11/2006 18:47:40, 12672 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\BdaSup.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 05:32:40, 12288 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\drmk.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 02:20:50, 130048 bytes
Driver: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\portcls.sys, 6.00.6000.16386 (English), 11/2/2006 01:55:04, 167424 bytes

I'm not seeing anything jump out at me on those. I'd try 2gb combos or maybe some component benchmark software.

Hmm, thanks for the patch heads-up. I'm looking at the Microsoft article right now, and it describes EXACTLY the problem I'm getting:

The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message.

I wonder why they haven't been put on Windows Update yet, though? Grrr...

Well just an update on this. Over the weekend I installed the latest beta drivers from nVidia to see if they corrected an annoying graphics glitch in another game I was playing (I finally got to see Transformers and it made me really want to play Battlefield 2142 for some reason).

nVidia's beta drivers caused the opening screens of Civ4 to not show any of the menu text (or any text for that matter). Frustrated, I tweaked the settings in my BtS .ini file until I finally got the text to show up. As an interesting side effect, both large and huge maps play GREAT now! Much much better than before. Now I just need to figure out exactly what I changed in the .ini file and I'll post it up here. Of course it could have been the newer drivers too. *shrug*

Well just an update on this. Over the weekend I installed the latest beta drivers from nVidia to see if they corrected an annoying graphics glitch in another game I was playing (I finally got to see Transformers and it made me really want to play Battlefield 2142 for some reason).

nVidia's beta drivers caused the opening screens of Civ4 to not show any of the menu text (or any text for that matter). Frustrated, I tweaked the settings in my BtS .ini file until I finally got the text to show up. As an interesting side effect, both large and huge maps play GREAT now! Much much better than before. Now I just need to figure out exactly what I changed in the .ini file and I'll post it up here. Of course it could have been the newer drivers too. *shrug*

I'm hoping it's the drivers. Going to download those and see what happens. Thanks for the update! Keep us posted. :)

Okay, here's where I stand on this:

Downloading the nVidia beta drivers caused some interesting problems with the opening screens (the text was missing). Setting the GUIManagedTextures to 1 in the .ini file brought back the text and allowed me to play the game.

It also seemed to run much faster which I thought was weird since the note on the GUIManagedTextures line in the .ini file says that setting it to 1 may cause performance to decrease. That and I still don't see how it could be a video issue (thus affected by the drivers) and be present only on large and huge maps. It it was a video driver performance issue, it should have manifested regardless of the map size. *shrug*

I played around with some other settings in the .ini file earlier (MemSaver, BinkNoSkip, BinkCopyAll, DynamicUnitPaging, and DynamicAnimPaging) to try and improve performance but none of them seemed to have much effect. With the beta drivers installed, I can't try running the game with GUIManagedTextures set to 0 (the default) since I can't get past the opening screens. So I can't say for sure if this is the culprit. Still I played many many turns of a game on a huge map with no performance problems whatsoever.

I am not positive I have this licked yet since I have not had a lot of time to test it since I've made the changes.

sweet! hope it works. I wouldn't have pegged anything i've seen in the INI as fixing just larger maps, but hey can't complain =)

sweet! hope it works. I wouldn't have pegged anything i've seen in the INI as fixing just larger maps, but hey can't complain =)

I know what you mean about the .ini, I was just trying stuff out of desperation.

Thanks again for your help (and patience ;) ).

I just found this:
http://forums.tweakguides.com/showthread.php?t=6727
I don't know if it is in windows update, as I don't have Vista, but It sounds like it would be helpful.

I just found this:
http://forums.tweakguides.com/showthread.php?t=6727
I don't know if it is in windows update, as I don't have Vista, but It sounds like it would be helpful.

That did seem to improve my performance even more! Thanks for the head's up!