Advice/Opinion needed!

[The_Aplaustic]

Well, this was it, the weekend that I was going to suck it up, drive to my local mall, face the hordes of gum-smacking junior high'ers, and purchase Civ IV. And it would have been worth it - or would it have been?

I began reading a week ago on this forum about all the troubles people were having with the game - and it doesn't seem to matter what computers are being used - some have high end computers, some have low, some decent - the game's problems seem to strike randomly. It is extremely disconcerting and surpising. So before I brave the mall I need some opinions about my rig -whether it can handle this game. Also, anyone who might have a similar set up and haven't had any problems....or maybe have had a ton of problems please let me know. Here's the specs:

Dell Dimension 8300
P4 3.0Ghz
512 Ram
ATI Radeon 9800XT
Windows XP, SP1

Thanx for any advise!

 

[lachiendupape]

gig of memory i reckon should do the trick, most of the posts I've read with problemas all state they have half a gig or less oh and you got to have at least 128 on the graphics card

 

[AsnoT]

i'd stick in another 512mb ram, which won't hurt generally, but especially with civ4

 

[Venger]

I've got alot of problems with 1GB of RAM, but 512MB more wouldn't hurt you, so why not?

Venger

 

[Mercade]

Dell Dimension 8300
P4 3.0Ghz
512 Ram
ATI Radeon 9800XT
Windows XP, SP1

Welcome to CivFanatics, Aplaustic.

Your machine seems to be very well suited for running

. You indicate that you have not yet tried. My advise would be to just get the game and try. If you have any problems - which I don't expect - then you can always get some extra RAM and try the tips listed on the Civ4 support page.

 

[Warlord Sam]

So... like, are you afraid of the mall? If so..

I'm not sure what to say.

Buy the game, though.

 

[Chayton]

My advise would be to just get the game and try.

Brings up a question, is there actually a demo planned for Civ4?

 

[Tarkhan]

Even a simple benchmarking program would be nice to test it on your machine, which is what I generally use demo's for.

 

[Mercade]

Brings up a question, is there actually a demo planned for Civ4?

Experience from previous releases of Civ teaches us that this isn't to be expected until well into 2006Q1.

 

[Mujadaddy]

Aplaustic--your machine makes mine look like a little girl...but I can run the game flawlessly...

All the gameplay issues that people are having are minor conflicts that WILL be resolved....

...and, the game is Mary Poppins..."Practically Perfekt in Every Way"

 

[oldStatesman]

Well, this was it, the weekend that I was going to suck it up, drive to my local mall, face the hordes of gum-smacking junior high'ers, and purchase Civ IV. And it would have been worth it - or would it have been?

I began reading a week ago on this forum about all the troubles people were having with the game - and it doesn't seem to matter what computers are being used - some have high end computers, some have low, some decent - the game's problems seem to strike randomly. It is extremely disconcerting and surpising. So before I brave the mall I need some opinions about my rig -whether it can handle this game. Also, anyone who might have a similar set up and haven't had any problems....or maybe have had a ton of problems please let me know. Here's the specs:

Dell Dimension 8300
P4 3.0Ghz
512 Ram
ATI Radeon 9800XT
Windows XP, SP1

Thanx for any advise!

I'd recommend Service Pack 2 for XP - (optional: if you can afford it 1GB RAM - not just for Civ but because your whole system will luv you ) - other than that it looks good.

 

[Lincoln77]

I have a Dell Dimension 3000 w/P4 slightly slower processor and 512 ram and the only problem I had was that the stock video card was insufficient (Intel Extreme graphics 32-64 ram). I installed an ATI Radeon 9250 and tweaked some of the settings and everything has worked just fine.
I did do the standard clean up of the hard drive etc prior to install.
I don't see why it wouldn't work on your system.

 

[The_Aplaustic]

Thanx for the welcome, Mercade; I like this forum.

No, I'm not afraid of the malls, but I try to avoid them if possible especially the closer the Holidays come around. I did go to the mall earlier and the guy at EB was telling me all the horror stories about Civ IV, and he was trying to push FEAR and AOE III on me. Well, I am not at all interested in FEAR, and I'm not big on the AOE series so I declined all. I left empty handed. So I'll hang out and see what the patch brings us. Thanx for all the responses!

 

[Belboz]

I'd get it; if it runs smoothly on your computer, you'll love it. And if worse comes to worst, and it doesn't run well, you can always take it back. Of course, that would mean two trips to the mall!

 

[The_Aplaustic]

LOL oh no, two trips! Well, EB doesn't take games back anymore.

 

[reveron]

I have a little over 512 meg RAM, and I run on low graphics, and I can play for hours. However, I too would also suggest that if you have another fifty dollers to get more RAM -- you'll (probably) be able to play on 512, but 1 gig is better. Just my two cents.

 

[jdurg]

I too would up the ram to 1GB and update your XP to Service Pack 2 via Windows Update. I went for a good long while with just 512MB of RAM because I didn't think going to a gig would change anything, but I was completely wrong. Moving to a gigabyte of RAM caused all of my software to seemingly load faster, web-browsing seemed to increase, and if I did ANYTHING in Adobe Photoshop or Acrobat the wait times were now non-existant. (I work with some pretty big photographs on occasion).

When I replaced my two 256MB sticks with two 512MB sticks it only cost about 80 bucks for the full gigabyte. I'm not sure what memory you're using, but the cost to upgrade to a gig shouldn't be all too much. (I'd sell you my half gig of RAM that I took out of my computer, but it's only PC2100 RAM and I'm pretty certain that the stuff in your rig is a faster RAM so the two wouldn't get along nicely).

 

[Faithful]

LOL oh no, two trips! Well, EB doesn't take games back anymore.

EB has been bought by Gamestop and all of the Gamestop rules now apply.

 

[Soryn Arkayn]

Extra memory will help in the early game -- I have 1.5 gigs and the game runs like a dream -- but in the late game, when you have a sprawling empire with a hundred or more units, that's when your CPU will be truly stressed. I have an Athlon XP 2100+ and it was nearly unbearible to play by 2000 C.E.. I actually accepted my Dominaton Victory and didn't continue to conquer the world, which is rare.

I'm in the process of upgrading my computer. I've ordered an Athlon 3000+ from eBay, but apparently it's been lost in transit so I've gotta wait until it's been resolved. In the meantime I've resorted to playing smaller map, quick games, which don't over-stress my computer and are fast-paced fun. But as soon as I get my new proc I'm gonna try a Huge map, Epic speed game.

To answer your question, The_Aplaustic, you probably just need another stick of memory and -- judging by your Windows XP SP1 -- you need to update your OS to SP2 and probably your video & sound drivers. Other than that, you CPU and video card should be more than adequate to play Civ4. But there's no way of knowing if Civ4 will be buggy for your system specifically. I have an ATI AIW Radeon 9800 Pro and I haven't experienced the bugs that most ATI card users have. So there's always a possibility, and it's virtually impossible to know for sure until you actually play the game.

 

[The_Aplaustic]

EB has been bought by Gamestop and all of the Gamestop rules now apply.

Yeah, I knew they were bought out by GS, and that is why I thought EB quit taking games back. So you are saying that EB has reversed their policy on returning games?