Official System Requirements

I have 2 PCI-Express slots--a x16 that houses the current video card and a free x1 slot. I gather the new card will have to replace the current one in that slot. Not sure if it's PCI 2.0, though--my manual doesn't specify, so I'm worried that it's not (the system is a Dell Dimension 9200C, in case you're wondering).

My thanks to you, Quintillus, and tokala for your help. :goodjob:

If you have a Dell, chances are that that you have non standard form factor power supply with a rather limited power output. In that case a card as powerful as the GTX 460 might give you trouble or even won't work at all, and it will not be possible to upgrade the PSU :nuke:
Ballpark figures for the typical gaming power demands of some video cards
HD 4670: 50 W
HD 5570: 30 W
9800 GT: 75 W
HD 5750: 65 W
GTX 460: 120 W
Worst case can be ~30% higher than that. You should check out the specs of your power supply. For the GTX you will need at the very least 300 W with a high current capacity on the 12 V rail. The most powerful card that will work in probaly all reasonably modern computers would be the HD 5750. The HD 5570 should work in anything that has an PCIe slot :)

Edit: All different PCIe Standards are mutually compatible. The worst that could happen would be a very small performance penalty. No fried computers anymore like good old AGP.

Edit 2: Is the Dimension 9200C a small form factor case? Than you will need a single slot, low profile card. The more powerful cards are usually not available as low profile.
 
Just a shy question.

If 4gb Memory is recommended. Does this mean that Civ5 will be native 64bit??
 
Edit 2: Is the Dimension 9200C a small form factor case? Than you will need a single slot, low profile card. The more powerful cards are usually not available as low profile.
Yes it does, so it's starting to look like the best I can do is upgrade the video card just to meet the minimum requirements. :sad: I'll have to wait until I'm ready to replace my system to get a PC capable of exceeding the recommended requirements. I wasn't planning on doing that for a couple more years.
 
Yes it does, so it's starting to look like the best I can do is upgrade the video card just to meet the minimum requirements. :sad: I'll have to wait until I'm ready to replace my system to get a PC capable of exceeding the recommended requirements. I wasn't planning on doing that for a couple more years.
Can you snap a pic of your PC's internals? That will be the fastest way for us to tell what size card you can take. Also a shot of the label on the Power Supply would be nice.

Is this game, or is it not, more graphically demanding than Napoleon: Total War?

Because I can run Napoleon pretty well
I'd say it's more demanding than N:TW's world map, but less demanding than a large battle.

No, it's totally upgradeable, as it is a pcie card. The problem, apparently, is that most of the graphics cards out there aren't compatible with the mac OS. :(
Thanks for your reply though!

(Also, I forgot to mention in my last post that I have 9 gigs of RAM.)
The Mac Pro has pretty decent GPU support now (at least if you have 10.6) - here's the list from Apple:
NVIDIA GeForce 320M
GeForce GT 330M
GeForce 9400M
GeForce 9600M GT
GeForce 8600M GT
GeForce GT 120
GeForce GT 130
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8800 GS
ATI Radeon HD 4670
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Radeon HD 4870

The new model Mac Pro is going to ship with the Radeon 5870 and 5770, so I assume they're going to add driver support for those in a future 10.6 update. You shouldn't have to use a special "Mac edition" anymore.
 
Yes it does, so it's starting to look like the best I can do is upgrade the video card just to meet the minimum requirements. :sad: I'll have to wait until I'm ready to replace my system to get a PC capable of exceeding the recommended requirements. I wasn't planning on doing that for a couple more years.

If you do require low profile (and dual monitors), it looks like you can get a Radeon 5570 from Newegg.ca?
 
So (since I can run both the world map and the battle screen) do you think I could run it?


And why the hell dosent 2K send the requirements to http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri

That way everyone could check their systems.

I'm basing my analysis on the various screenshots available. I know the TW games are pretty demanding (I'm boycotting them after Empire, though), though. Just wait for the demo :confused:
 
Yes it does, so it's starting to look like the best I can do is upgrade the video card just to meet the minimum requirements. :sad: I'll have to wait until I'm ready to replace my system to get a PC capable of exceeding the recommended requirements. I wasn't planning on doing that for a couple more years.

Naah, a 5570 would be way faster than the minimum requirements, and only about 30% slower than a "recommended" 9800GT. C2D with 2,66 GHz should be fine, too ;)

2K/Firaxis would have a desaster on their hands if you would need a 100 Watt GPU and a quadcore to run CiV adequately. Those are specs for gaming enthusiasts, not for your average Joe Civaddict. In addition, this would basically exclude 99% of all laptop users. Won't happen.

Edit: as a sidenote, over at the Elemental forums, Brad Wardell mentioned that a quad would have the biggest effect during game startup and map generation, not during gameplay. They are also using a brand new TBS engine, so this might also be true for CiV.
 
The Mac Pro has pretty decent GPU support now (at least if you have 10.6) - here's the list from Apple:
NVIDIA GeForce 320M
GeForce GT 330M
GeForce 9400M
GeForce 9600M GT
GeForce 8600M GT
GeForce GT 120
GeForce GT 130
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8800 GS
ATI Radeon HD 4670
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Radeon HD 4870

The new model Mac Pro is going to ship with the Radeon 5870 and 5770, so I assume they're going to add driver support for those in a future 10.6 update. You shouldn't have to use a special "Mac edition" anymore.

Ok, I am currently running 10.5.8, but it seems like the upgrade to 10.6 would easily pay for itself if I were to get the 4850 instead of the '70. (If only I could install one of the 5000 series; they're cheaper and better.:()
Thank you for the info!

PS, where did you find that list?
 
Can you snap a pic of your PC's internals? That will be the fastest way for us to tell what size card you can take. Also a shot of the label on the Power Supply would be nice.
Thanks, I appreciate the offer. Here you go:



 
Thanks, I appreciate the offer. Here you go:
(pics)

PSU capability won't be your problem if you are limited to low profile, but rather the physical dimensions of the card. In addition I would not try to cramp anything with a higher power comsumption than the 5570 into that small space, might not survive all that long ...
The 5570 should draw about the same power as your old X1300 pro.
 
PSU capability won't be your problem if you are limited to low profile, but rather the physical dimensions of the card. In addition I would not try to cramp anything with a higher power comsumption than the 5570 into that small space, might not survive all that long ...
The 5570 should draw about the same power as your old X1300 pro.
Sounds like it's the Radeon 5570 then. Thanks!
 
I'm not a very computer (hardware) savvy person. I have a laptop that I use for work (and civ 4) but I don't have a prayer of running civ 5. If I wanted to put together a purely gaming desktop that would meet the recommended settings for civ 5, are there any reputable online sellers of such? How much could I expect to spend?
 
Ok, I am currently running 10.5.8, but it seems like the upgrade to 10.6 would easily pay for itself if I were to get the 4850 instead of the '70. (If only I could install one of the 5000 series; they're cheaper and better.:()
Thank you for the info!

PS, where did you find that list?
Got that list from Apple's Snow Leopard specs page. It's under the OpenCL section.

Sounds like it's the Radeon 5570 then. Thanks!
:cool:
I'm not a very computer (hardware) savvy person. I have a laptop that I use for work (and civ 4) but I don't have a prayer of running civ 5. If I wanted to put together a purely gaming desktop that would meet the recommended settings for civ 5, are there any reputable online sellers of such? How much could I expect to spend?

Almost hate to say it, but the top level Dell Studio XPS 7100 here isn't too bad for the money. $1200 for a 6-core CPU and a Radeon 5870 (not to mention 8GB of RAM, 1TB HDD, and Blu-Ray) is pretty good if you're not willing to build your own system. Here's a review from an enthusiast site.

If you're against Dell, these CyberPowerPC systems are said to offer good value. If you want one of these, make sure to run it by the thread first ;)

All of these systems also require you to buy a monitor seperately - I'd say if you want to hit the "Recommended" specs, you should be able to do it for ~$1000.
 
Hope you don't mind, but I edited that down for you.

The 13" MBPs come with an integrated GPU. The GeForce 9400M will share up to 256MB of video ram by "borrowing" it from the system RAM. This is not a standalone GPU. Review of the 9400M in Apple line for gaming.

You might be out of luck, given the published minimum specs for Civ5. It's really hard to say until we start seeing some real-world installs. It might load, and you'd likely have to play on minimum graphics setting. Your gameplay will probably be choppy, and experience late game slowdowns.

EDIT: I don't play Starcraft, so I don't know if this is a useful reference or not. However, others with your same unit are playing SC2 on low settings. Improved performance with extra RAM and by playing via Boot Camp. Up to you to decide if it's worth making those investments.

I don't play Starcraft either. In any case, I don't mind choppy/slow games even at minimum graphics, I dealt with the same thing with Civ IV mods on my old computer so its nothing new. As long as the game is up and running, I'm happy.

By the way, is there anyway to upgrade the video card, if necessary? Would upgrading RAM or the video card be more important?
 
I don't play Starcraft either. In any case, I don't mind choppy/slow games even at minimum graphics, I dealt with the same thing with Civ IV mods on my old computer so its nothing new. As long as the game is up and running, I'm happy.

By the way, is there anyway to upgrade the video card, if necessary? Would upgrading RAM or the video card be more important?

As far as I know, it is virtually impossible to upgrade something like a video card in a MBP, because it is soldered to the motherboard.
 
I'm not a very computer (hardware) savvy person. I have a laptop that I use for work (and civ 4) but I don't have a prayer of running civ 5. If I wanted to put together a purely gaming desktop that would meet the recommended settings for civ 5, are there any reputable online sellers of such? How much could I expect to spend?

You could also start from scratch at tigerdirect.com or newegg. Tomshardware has a lot of useful information for beginners for building your own pc. And on the forums you'll see a lot of posts from people asking for build advice fitting within a specific budget range, everything from motherboard to mouse. Not to mention building a pc is a pretty fun experience. But whatever you do, happy gaming :)
 
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