Do I need a bigger spec computer

[bhinso]

Basically I've played this mod and what an awesome mod it is, I really like the details etc
Just one (major) problem. It doesn't run properly on my computer! The interturns are so slow, even at the beginning, I hate to think what it will be like in the modern era! Basically it gets to a point after 15mins or so where it just quits out of windows.
I can only assume this is because of my PC. I have:
Intel Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz Processor
1GB RAM
Saphire 9600 Atlantis Card
Windows XP

Not a bad spec, but maybe not good enough for mods these days?

I'm looking at spending $1000 or so on an upgrade, AMD Phenom Quad Core processor, 8GB RAM, Radeon HD4870.
Will this help make this mod work?

 

[Sporhund]

With that setup, anything with more memory will make it run better.

 

[Galacticat42]

XP can't handle more than 1 core so it'll screw up your comp. 3.2 Ghz is nice enough to keep everything running. What you need is more RAM 3-4 gb more RAM should do the trick for now. And at $1000 spending, might as well go buy a new comp with a quad core, 2.00Ghz processor with 8gb of ram with half a terabyte of hard drive with Windows 7 (better than vista) or build one yourself.

 

[NBAfan]

Yes more RAM will help. It it very cheep to these days.

 

[Commander Bello]

Intel Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz Processor
1GB RAM
Saphire 9600 Atlantis Card
Windows XP

Not a bad spec, but maybe not good enough for mods these days?

I'm looking at spending $1000 or so on an upgrade, AMD Phenom Quad Core processor, 8GB RAM, Radeon HD4870.
Will this help make this mod work?

What you need will be RAM (as others have already mentioned) and in case of more than 3 GB, a 64bit OS. (Yes, I know, XP will address a bit more than 3 GB...)

Civ does not use more than 1 core, yet the other cores may help a tiny bit since the OS has to be managed too.

Addition: And a graphics card with lots of own memory will help too.

 

[Galacticat42]

Addition: And a graphics card with lots of own memory will help too.

For other PC games yes, a graphics card would be best, BUT since Civ4 is such an old game, it uses the processor instead of the card.

 

[bhinso]

Thanks for your help guys. Sounds like more RAM is the primary way forward, which I had guessed. As you say, RAM is surprisingly cheap. Unfortunately my current PC is 6 years old and only supports DDR1 so time to upgrade.
The AMD Phenom is Quad Core and has 3.4GHz so that should be OK. The graphics card is also good, and yeah I want to go for 8GB of RAM. It's DDR3, not DDR2. Will that cause any problems?
Ben

 

[2ndimpression]

There will be no problems with DDR3, its better than DDR2, but more expensive. The HD4870 looks like a crackingly good card and DX11 to boot which looks like it might be good version of Direct X this time. Want to swap?

 

[MrWhereItsAt]

XP can't handle more than 1 core so it'll screw up your comp. QUOTE]


Huh? This is the first me and my XP-controlled Core 2 Duo laptop have heard about this since I installed a year ago.

 

[Afforess]

XP can't handle more than 1 core so it'll screw up your comp.

Huh? This is the first me and my XP-controlled Core 2 Duo laptop have heard about this since I installed a year ago.

Civ Fuehrer is wrong, XP can handle Multi-Cores. What XP is terrible at is 64-bit.

Not that it matters. Just get Win7, it's faster than XP anyway.

 

[JosEPh_II]

<snip> What XP is terrible at is 64-bit.

<snip>

Hmm.... my XP Pro 64 bit OS has been running my Dual Core E7400 Wolfshead Cpu and 8gb of DDR2 1066 Ram along with a Radeon HD4650 vid card on RoM since March. I don't see any problems like other do.

So maybe 64bit XP isn't so bad???

JosEPh

 

[Afforess]

Hmm.... my XP Pro 64 bit OS has been running my Dual Core E7400 Wolfshead Cpu and 8gb of DDR2 1066 Ram along with a Radeon HD4650 vid card on RoM since March. I don't see any problems like other do.

So maybe 64bit XP isn't so bad???

JosEPh

Maybe I should clairify. XP 64-bit doesn't have all the drivers. A lot of stuff won't work with it.

 

[Preytor]

Get more RAM.
Then Get a newer video card with more and faster RAM.

I had similar systems with a 3.2 P4 and a 3.0 P4 at 3.6.
Back in the day when I jumped from a Sapphire 9800Pro to a GeForce 7600GS (512MB) I noticed a huge difference, and it solved a lot of MAF's.
Also when I jumped from 1GB to 2GB to 4GB (3.4 actual used) I noticed great improvements.

 

[szemek77]

I have Core 2 Duo E7300 2,66 GHz, 4 GB RAM, GeForce 9800GTX+ video card running on WinXP and around 800 AD I'm more waiting then actually plaing

I can't even imagine how it would go If I had weaker PC

 

[vincentz]

Do I need a bigger spec computer

Dont we all

 

[bhinso]

Well i've gone for AMD Phenom Quad Core 3.4 GHz processor, 8GB DDR3 RAM, Radeon HD4870 Card
Windows 7, etc
SHould get it next week, so let's see if it makes any difference

 

[Afforess]

Well i've gone for AMD Phenom Quad Core 3.4 GHz processor, 8GB DDR3 RAM, Radeon HD4870 Card
Windows 7, etc
SHould get it next week, so let's see if it makes any difference

Damn, I'm jealous. It should run a lot faster with that. Maybe only 1 minute turn times in the future era.

 

[civ_king]

Damn, I'm jealous. It should run a lot faster with that. Maybe only 1 minute turn times in the future era.

WTH will he be playing on, NASA's mainframe

 

[strategyonly]

I can see why people are SO concerned about the SLOWNESS in RoM, i am playing Blitz and it takes soooo long in between turns in Classical and above it seems like i am playing on Epic or even Marathon, JEEZ.

 

[zappara]

Well i've gone for AMD Phenom Quad Core 3.4 GHz processor, 8GB DDR3 RAM, Radeon HD4870 Card
Windows 7, etc
SHould get it next week, so let's see if it makes any difference

I'm using almost same combination - I built new computer on summer. Haven't seen my computer use more than 25% of the 8GB RAM so far when playing but the good thing is that when modding it helps to have 8GB RAM as you can multitask as much as you want and run the game on background etc and you don't see any slowdowns