System Specs

So I've been a pretty dedicated Civ fan for the past four or five years, and I've always been frustrated with lack of hardware being able to support the game properly. Now I'm in the position to buy a new computer and I'm looking for tips on a system that can properly handle the Civ series. Also, I'm mainly looking for laptops since I'm going to be a freshman in college come fall. Please post specifics

Even my Windows Vista machine I had was able to run Civ V. (albeit with the the older version of DirectX and all graphics settings on minimal)

My current Windows 7 machine that's a few years old runs Civ V extremely well with DirectX 11 (just use strategic view later on when cargo ships grinds the graphics to a halt.)
Windows 8 even with the 8.1 update is more suitable for tablets than desktops, so I'd try to find a gently used Windows 7 machine instead of buying anything that has Windows 8 on it.

You can probably find something today with better CPU & GPU than my current Windows 7 one for under $200.

What's your budget? I can suggest a $10k system, which runs huge maps flawlessly. A mid tier PC can do just fine for standard sized gaming. As far as i noticed, choke points are CPU and GPU, so make sure you amplify your future PC in this regard.

I have a laptop with windows 8 and 2.6 ghz and i5 processor. It runs well but the video card still failed on me twice already. I didn't upgrade my old pc and laptop that I used to have bts in but got this new laptop instead and it works. Bnw can also be used with a touchscreen.

Hmm interesting thread, actually I was thinking about asking a similar question (albeit with a desktop PC in mind rather than a laptop) - ever since I watched a few Long Plays of CIV V games and noticed that the PCs used by the players who recorded the games cut through turn times like butter...

I would love to get to know which components are most important to boost performance - obviously CPU and GPU matter - but what else ? How about multi-core / multi-threaded CPUS ?

And also what do You guys think about SSD HDDs ? Arent those even more important than other components in regard to turn times and general performance ?

Right now I play on my intel 2,5 ghz C2D Macbook Pro - I almost exclusively play Huge maps (16 civs / 35 CS) marathon games - and it is bearable but I would love to move on to a stronger platform.

I was considering building a new PC before Watch Dogs releases in may - but the idea of an efficient CIV V platform is also interesting.

The min specs for this game are quite low. I think any current generation graphics card will run the game ok on mid settings.

CPU is probably the bottleneck for this game these days. Even so a current i5 or AMD FX8350 runs it just fine (my experience) even on larger maps. Turns will always slow down on a huge map in the last 150 turns however unless you do actually spend $10k.

Windows 8 is actually good once you get used to it. The latest update has made it even more desktop friendly.

SSDs will improve loading times, but not actual in game performance. Worth a small one for your OS and common used programs.

I've just done a little test by playing a bit of late-game warfare, and monitoring the utilization in process explorer. The results and on my i7-2700k, and gtx 670 are %60 cpu utilization(evenly-ish across 4 cores) and %35 gpu utilization. I didn't monitor the fps, however.

My advice to buy the most powerful cpu you can afford. If you wait until intel releases its next batch of new processors(iris?) you might a 'last season' high-end one relatively cheap, just bear in mind you may need to upgrade your motherboard and ram.

Moriarte said:

What's your budget?

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My budget isn't extensive ($700-$1000). A friend of mine told me that the most important thing for this is the graphics card, but I'm still reluctant to believe that that's the only thing that I need to focus on.

Moodtastic said:

SSDs will improve loading times, but not actual in game performance. Worth a small one for your OS and common used programs.

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What are SSDs?

SSD = solid-state drive. Essentially a really fast hard drive with no moving parts (uses integrated circuits for memory, rather than a disk).

Graphic card matter, but cpu and hard drive are more important for Civ V.

Get an intel I7 and a ssd.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p seems good for your budget (except it's a 15").

Im in a similar position, but have a larger budget. It MUST be a laptop, and ideally I would want to run huge maps. My budget is $2,200. Any recommendations?

Carl5872 said:

Im in a similar position, but have a larger budget. It MUST be a laptop, and ideally I would want to run huge maps. My budget is $2,200. Any recommendations?

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http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-gs70-stealthpro001-preorder-p-6934.html

Used to own MSI laptop. The only downside, it was a bit noisy for my liking, when in the heat of processing, that is. But mine was a couple generations back, so maybe they optimised this, don't know. This particular one is not out yet, but available for pre-order.

Haswell i7 CPU, nvidia GTX 870m (6gb), 16gb ddr3 ram, 3x 128 gb SSD + 1TB sata. Should be able to run "huge" reasonably well.

LyricalAssassin said:

My budget isn't extensive ($700-$1000).

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834313584

Or were you looking for a desktop?

Carl5872 said:

Im in a similar position, but have a larger budget. It MUST be a laptop, and ideally I would want to run huge maps. My budget is $2,200. Any recommendations?

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For a huge map, largest Video Card RAM + most regular RAM you can get if you don't want to be on strategic mode for the later half of the game.

Memoryjar said:

Graphic card matter, but cpu and hard drive are more important for Civ V.

Get an intel I7 and a ssd.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p seems good for your budget (except it's a 15").

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Lenovo does have some high performance desktops with I7 and windows 8.. I was watching their computers on their website, lenovo.com

Laptops suck for gaming. Especially for games requiring a lot of CPU power like CIV. The CPU's of most laptops are limited to low 2Ghz ranges. Then there's the issue of the harddisk. Most laptops are stuck in the 90's with 5400rpm drives. Yes they are getting SSD's too but lots are sold without.

An i7 4670k with a medium range board will do 4 - 4.5Ghz stable on all 4 cores with a medium sized cooler and cheap ram. Even if you don't overlock it will blow the laptop out of the water at a 3.4Ghz stock clock and 3.8hz turbo.

For a budget of $2,200 like someone gave above you could have a monster PC with 27" ultra HD monitor. Now compare that to the tiny, slow, hot piece of - censored - you would get as a laptop for the same money.

Hell you'll even be able to fit a decent notebook into that budget for your portable office work and have both.

Your shopping list should look something like this:

4670k
Gigabyte Z78 D3H (mobo)
Scythe Grand Kama (cooler)
8GB Corsair 1866C9 (memory)
256GB Samsung 840 EVO (SSD)
GTX770 (videocard)
700w gold certified PSU

Thats your basic PC for roughly € 800. You'll need a case, keyboard, mouse and headset for another € 150 or so. Pick a sexy 27" or 30" monitor.

Total price for being a PC badass, less than € 1500

GunJ said:

I would love to get to know which components are most important to boost performance - obviously CPU and GPU matter - but what else ? How about multi-core / multi-threaded CPUS ?

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4 cores are enough for CIV, and any game out there. If you get a 4 core CPU with hyperthreading you're better off disabling HT. You'll get less heat, more headroom and better single thread performance. Unless you're into video encoding or other true parallel workloads. Games just don't work that way.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883258024

Too bad it's out of stock. Btw, this is what Shenryyr2 has.

Walter E Kurtz said:

Laptops suck for gaming. Especially for games requiring a lot of CPU power like CIV. The CPU's of most laptops are limited to low 2Ghz ranges. Then there's the issue of the harddisk. Most laptops are stuck in the 90's with 5400rpm drives. Yes they are getting SSD's too but lots are sold without.

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My notebook runs Civ V just fine (as long as I play on standard map size and switch to strategic view in late game); as did the last one I had with Civ IV (the first notebook I had with Civ IV that I bought only one month prior to that coming up though as another matter entirely); and the first notebook I ever had ran Civ III extremely well.

Hard disk speed doesn't appear significant except when starting the game and loading / saving a game file.

And it's really memory (both main memory and video memory) that's the bottleneck; not CPU speed.

will this run it on standard late game. not in strategic view? MORE DETAILS
Processor:
4th Generation Intel Core i5-4200M Processor (2.50GHz 1600MHz 3MB)
Operating system:
Windows 8 64
Display:
14.0" HD Glossy with integrated camera (1366x768)
Graphics:
NVIDIA GeForce GT755M GDDR5 2GB
Memory:
6.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
Hard Drive:
500GB 5400 RPM
Optical Drive:
DVD Recordable (Dual Layer)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

outlaw22 said:

will this run it on standard late game. not in strategic view? MORE DETAILS
Processor:
4th Generation Intel Core i5-4200M Processor (2.50GHz 1600MHz 3MB)
Operating system:
Windows 8 64
Display:
14.0" HD Glossy with integrated camera (1366x768)
Graphics:
NVIDIA GeForce GT755M GDDR5 2GB
Memory:
6.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
Hard Drive:
500GB 5400 RPM
Optical Drive:
DVD Recordable (Dual Layer)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

That should definitely run civilization 5 bnw, yes.

joncnunn said:

My notebook runs Civ V just fine (as long as I play on standard map size and switch to strategic view in late game); as did the last one I had with Civ IV (the first notebook I had with Civ IV that I bought only one month prior to that coming up though as another matter entirely); and the first notebook I ever had ran Civ III extremely well.

Hard disk speed doesn't appear significant except when starting the game and loading / saving a game file.

And it's really memory (both main memory and video memory) that's the bottleneck; not CPU speed.

Click to expand...

You contradict yourself by saying that it runs "fine" but you're limited to standard and strategic view. Yeah, wtf man?

The OP wants to play huge by the way.

CPU speed does matter for games that involve simulation. And memory is not a bottleneck. If you're on a really old machine perhaps, but any 2 year old PC has 8GB ram and 2GB GDDR. SSD's make a HUGE difference in general performance, not necessarily for CIV. But loading times in CIV are terrible too by the way.

Finally, a desktop would do everything better for the same price as a laptop. It's a simple fact of economics. If you want to gimp yourself with a tiny screen and lower performance that's your choice though.