Can I improve my config

[Mat1]

Hi all,

I'm new here, and need technical advice.

My wife has Civ V Gold Edition, and it's painfuly slow on her computer, a somewhat old Packar Bell with
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz
2 Gb RAM
Nvidia Geforce 8600 GS 1279 Mo
Vista SP2 (I think that's a 32 bits, but not sure)

Obviously, the GPU is far beyond the min requirements, so I just ordered a new one that I should receive soon (GT640, with a new power supply)

But I'm having second thoughts as I realize that as soon as I start the game, it uses around 1.6-1.8 Gb RAM. And obviously, the motherboard does not accept RAM upgrade :-(

So do you think the video upgrade will improve gameplay, or is the 2Gb RAM the real bottleneck, in which case I'd rather save the money for a whole new computer?

Thanks in advance for your advices.

Mat

 

[bc1]

The RAM will likely hurt the most, you really need 4Gb. Going beyond 4Gb is probably useless (on a x64 system with 8Gb of RAM, peak RAM useage while playing Civ V remains below 4Gb, as expected since Civ V is only a 32 bit application).
The CPU is also quite old...
So yes you want a new computer. Good news is desktops are really cheap nowdays.

 

[Mat1]

Thanks for the reply bc1.

That's what I was afraid of

So do you think I should return my new graphic card upon delivery as it would be useless, or would it still improve gameplay compared the current config while I shop for a new computer?

 

[bc1]

Are you sure it's not possible to replace the RAM modules on the motherboard ? There may not be free slots to add RAM, but can't you simply replace the existing ones ?
Better GPU will make the graphics more fluid and look better, but will do little to improve other aspects of gameplay experience.

 

[Mat1]

Unfortunately yes, I'm sure. I checked the motherboard spec sheet, it says max RAM = 2 Gb :-(
I'll definitely have to shop for a new computer then :-(