Basic Advice on a Computer Upgrade

[Eddogegr3]

Once I heard Civ 5 was coming out, I Immediately went to Newegg last March and built me a new computer w/o knowing the specs. (And I needed a gaming computer anyway, the laptop was not working out)

Simple question: It runs Civ 5 very well. Although I got a Direct X 10 video card (ATI 4850 HD, 512 RAM I believe), not 11. So I may upgrade to the GTX 460, I GIG VRAM or something. However, my CPU is an i7 920--I don't think I will change that. It's the RAM I have a question about.... I have 6 Gig of the fastest DDR3 RAM. I can upgrade to 8. Will this alone make any difference? What about upgrading to the newer video card plus adding the extra 2 gigs of RAM?

The games runs well. bUt I am playing on Earth map mod, HUGE map, 18 civs. By 1900 ad, I am waiting 30-40 seconds each turn. Will these upgrades help with that? or is this a lost cause because that is just how Civ runs--on all configurations.

 

[J-man]

It's very unlikely that upgrading from 6 gig to 8 gig Ram will make a difference.

 

[tokala]

8GB will actually be slower, thanks to the triple channel interface
A better video card will make at best a minor difference with the turn times, probably non at all. The only thing to actually make a difference would be a faster CPU, either via overclocking or by buying a i7-950, not that I would recommend such an upgrade

And yes, with the current state of the game it is a lost cause, and quite likely not to get better in the future.

 

[Eddogegr3]

8GB will actually be slower, thanks to the triple channel interface
A better video card will make at best a minor difference with the turn times, probably non at all. The only thing to actually make a difference would be a faster CPU, either via overclocking or by buying a i7-950, not that I would recommend such an upgrade

And yes, with the current state of the game it is a lost cause, and quite likely not to get better in the future.

It almost seems it is a game error, because during the waiting time, its not like the screen is moving around--it just turns to the Globe mouse cursor and seems to stall for a while. Than BAM! all the notifications appear on the side of the screen...