just ordered Civ 4... will it run on my laptop?

[SenhorDaGuerra]

Hey everyone!

I just ordered Civ 4 from amazon (great price, only 20 pounds!), and i was wandering if any of you could give me some advice when i get the game.

Im using a Acer Aspire 1604LC laptop
intel pentium 4 2.8ghz
512 ddr sdram
ATI Mobility RAEDON 9000 graphics card. not sure how many mb it has, i think its 32.

are there any issues i should be aware of, cos ive been reading through some reviews and it seems that ALOT of people are having issues with graphics, especially ATI graphics cards. also, ive installed the hydravision drivers, but cant see what advantage they give the graphics card cos all i get is more options on how to manage the various windows on my desktop... prolly wrong tho!

Thanks for the help!

[Zydor]

Probably ok - but could you run dxdiag and post it? You said you thought video RAM was 32, many 9000's are 64 which is low, but should be ok, 32 is definitely too low. Some users have reported success with the Omega Radeon V3.10 drivers for the 9000. If you get issues, first thing download those drivers and give them a whirl.

Hydravision gives as you found out management options, does not affect driver quality. Yes there are quite a few problems around with Civ IV, but many have been resolved on these boards, quite a few are due to the game, some are user centered. Worth buying ? Definitely, whilst acknowledging current problems (which many civ Fans here can help you with, although a fix is not guaranteed), I doubt Firaxis will be too long now issuing a major patch (if they dont they are dead in the water !).

Regards
Zy

(go to start, click, select run, type in "dxdiag", press enter, let it chunter away for about a 1 min, press "save all information" then upload to here using the advance button below)

[SenhorDaGuerra]

heym just ran dxdiag, not sure how to upload it, but the graphics card only has 32 mb memory, which is quite low... will i have issues with the game because of that. i can run farcry on the lowest settings and it seems alrite. surely if farcry runs civ will...?

is there anyway i can share my RAM to my graphics card, to boost the memory? a friend of mine was talknig about this the other day, and i was wandering if u can setup a laptop to do this.

thansk again!

[Zydor]

No doubt someone has come up with a method of doing that - some where .... However there is no free lunch, it would only be at the expense of main system RAM which would slow it elsewhere (depending how much main RAM you had). Civ IV is a very memory hungry beast.

But 32 mb card ram is too low for the game, you need 64mb minimum, if you upgrade go for a 128mb card, it should work fine on that. I have no doubt someone on Planet Earth is running it on 32mb, but at that level of card RAM it will be like pushing sand uphill. You really do need to upgrade the card if its definitely 32mb.

Dont forget the effects of a card upgrade, you need to take into account the base abilities of your motherboard, and how good other components work.

As a parrallel, its pointless travelling to the shops at Light Speed if you then have to queue at the counter for 3 hours to get served.

Regards
Zy

[SenhorDaGuerra]

Thanks a lot dude. I guess I won't find out until the game arrives either tomorrow or the day after! Fingers crossed!

If it doesnt work, its about time i upgraded to a desktop. laptops just dont cut it.

[patweb]

I'd say you have a good 50/50 chance it will work acceptably. GOOD LUCK.