How to Fix Late Game Slowdown

[DrewBledsoe]

Now, pls don't hate me for this, but until today, when playing Huge Maps as I always do, I started getting problems with slowdown almost as soon as the "whole map" was revealed. This got progressively worse, until the late game was such a slow chore to play, I often gave up and started a new game.

Until today, when I added another gig RAM stick, to make 2GB RAM total.

And you know what, there is no slowdown whatsoever, even in the age of huge armies and modern weaponary. All the wonder movies play flawlessly, the sound is seamless, the military advisor is virtually instantaneous..I could run 5 turns from 1900 to 1905 in a couple of RL mins if I so wished. The game didn't need to use the HD swap file even for a second. In short, its become a joy to play.

Its cured every single problem I ever had with CIV, so if you can afford it, upgrade. Its now clear to me that huge maps aren't supposed to be played with anything less than a min 1.5 gb RAM. The graphics card is pretty insignificant (mines very basic) but the amount of RAM is ALL.

So if you're having problems like I was, consider the same solution. I'll say again for the first time EVER the game was a joy to play all the way through

 

[Artosoft]

So it is about memory. I am thinking to upgrade from 1Gb to 2Gb too.

What is your processor and speed?

Regards,
Arto.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

So it is about memory. I am thinking to upgrade from 1Gb to 2Gb too.

What is your processor and speed?

Regards,
Arto.

Its a one year old comp (thats why I waited till out of warranty to take the case off):- P4 3.4 gig processor, the ram is 2 gig pc3200 (400 mhz), works a charm as I said

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

Its a one year old comp (thats why I waited till out of warranty to take the case off):- P4 3.4 gig processor, the ram is 2 gig pc3200 (400 mhz), works a charm as I said

Yes. I agree. I have:

AMD Athlon X2 4400+
2 GB dual DDR

and I've never really had a problem with late game Huge maps.

It takes at most 10 seconds per turn at around 1950-2000 AD

 

[Artosoft]

Wow...

Now I really will eat grass for a month to buy 2GB memory for my PC.

BTW, this should be in technical support forum.

Regards,
Arto.

 

[Bushface]

I don't know whether to go green with envy or red with hate . . .

 

[DrewBledsoe]

I don't know whether to go green with envy or red with hate . . .

I know from this forum that you're one of the more mature age players

I just checked, you can get the same 1 GIG RAM stick for £64.99 instead of £94.99 (aren't I nice) on offer at PC World, no idea where they are near you but I know they are international....thats if you have the motherboard to support it...

 

[Dida]

Just finished my new gaming rig 1 week ago, here is the basic stats:

CPU: Athlon FX-55
RAM: 2x1 gb
Video card: Dual GeForce 7900GTX 512MB SLI
Monitor: 22" widescreen

I was amazed by how much better civ4 looks on the system, it is amazing!

 

[Artosoft]

Just finished my new gaming rig 1 week ago, here is the basic stats:

CPU: Athlon FX-55
RAM: 2x1 gb
Video card: Dual GeForce 7900GTX 512MB SLI
Monitor: 22" widescreen

I was amazed by how much better civ4 looks on the system, it is amazing!

Don't tell me is because you have 2gb. Don't tell me you can run civ4 amazingly faster because its 2gb. Don't!!!

It will make me start eat grass today!!!

Regards,
Arto.

 

[Artosoft]

I don't know whether to go green with envy or red with hate . . .

Eat grass... It is taste better when you can play civ4 faster....

Regards,
Arto.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Just finished my new gaming rig 1 week ago, here is the basic stats:

CPU: Athlon FX-55
RAM: 2x1 gb
Video card: Dual GeForce 7900GTX 512MB SLI
Monitor: 22" widescreen

I was amazed by how much better civ4 looks on the system, it is amazing!

22 inch monitor huh, sorry, no offence, but unless you had that made for you, and u specilfically, its pretty non standard, I wont say more

 

[strategyonly]

22 inch monitor huh, sorry, no offence, but unless you had that made for you, and u specilfically, its pretty non standard, I wont say more

Looks even better on my 30" widescreen, LOL

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

Don't tell me is because you have 2gb. Don't tell me you can run civ4 amazingly faster because its 2gb. Don't!!!

It will make me start eat grass today!!!

Regards,
Arto.

Eat grass? Oh come on man, Taco Bell $1 menu ! 1 extra GiG of DDR2 ram isn't THAT expensive!

 

[Roland Johansen]

My system: Pentium 3500ghz, Geforce 7800GT, 2GB memory (have this comp since januari). No late game slowdowns on huge maps whatsoever. But the fact that civ4 is very memory dependant on the huge maps has been known for a long time. I might have bought less memory in januari if I hadn't known this.

Sorry to all the people who don't have lots of memory and must suffer the late game slowdown or are forced to play on smaller maps.

 

[General Failure]

I agree. With RAM, the rule more=better is pretty much always true. When I buy a new machine, it will have 2 Gb of RAM for sure.

But...I have to say that on my current machine (which is antique by today's gaming standards), I don't have that many problems playing Civ4.
My system is an Athlon XP 1600, with 512 Mb of RAM, and a GeForce 5200 with 128 Mb. This is a very, very basic card. While the game does not run super fast, movies tend to be choppy (I don't have the low-res movies) and I can not play on the largest maps, the game itself still runs amazingly smooth for such an old system. Even in the late game, a turn rarely takes more than 20 - 25 seconds. While this is not very fast, it's also not a huge problem for me. I could even get better speed if I turned the quality settings down a notch (they're on "high", in case you're wondering).

Civ4 will be one of the major reasons for me to get a new computer (the other is mainly the compile times for software, which is generally more of a bother to me), but the game is still very enjoyable.

Just thought I'd share for the people who are considering eating grass...

General Failure

 

[Dida]

Don't tell me is because you have 2gb. Don't tell me you can run civ4 amazingly faster because its 2gb. Don't!!!

It will make me start eat grass today!!!

Regards,
Arto.

2 gb of RAM will allow you to run a game with more civ, with larger map without slow down. But I must say a good video card is very important as well. I can definitely tell the difference between my new 7900GTX and old X850XT.

22 inch monitor huh, sorry, no offence, but unless you had that made for you, and u specilfically, its pretty non standard, I wont say more

I have a 42" plasma screen and a HD Projector. They are mostly used for watching videos and playing games. I just got this 22" LCD to replace two older 17" dual screen. Having 1 large screen instead of 2 means I don't need to drag my mouse back and forth while doing legal research and drafting client memo.

 

[Artosoft]

Eat grass? Oh come on man, Taco Bell $1 menu ! 1 extra GiG of DDR2 ram isn't THAT expensive!

FYI, memory price is going up since few months ago, especially the old one. Mine is DDR, not DDR2. I am noticed 1GB DDR now at least 20-30% more than 5 months ago.

Also, my mobo need me to change 2x512mb to 2x1gb since it is only 2 memory slots. So, I need to buy 2gb instead of 1gb. Afterthat sell that 2x512mb (ewh..., the price will drop some more...).

BTW, thanks for taco bell advise !

Regards,
Arto.

 

[Dida]

If you have 1 GB, civ4 should run just fine. The performance jump from 512MB to 1GB is huge, but small from 1gb to 2 gb

 

[Charles 22]

My system: Pentium 3500ghz, Geforce 7800GT, 2GB memory (have this comp since januari). No late game slowdowns on huge maps whatsoever. But the fact that civ4 is very memory dependant on the huge maps has been known for a long time. I might have bought less memory in januari if I hadn't known this.

Sorry to all the people who don't have lots of memory and must suffer the late game slowdown or are forced to play on smaller maps.

I currently have a 2.8G with 1MB RAM and I don't have to shrink the map or the length of the game, but there are other tweaks I attained. Firstly I cut down on some of the unneccesary graphic like the cows moving (whatever that's called) and turning off the resource balloons (I already played without the map grid, as that is a killer). I have also found that playing with the game in a closer view helps considerably, so I no longer play at the furtherest view, but one or two views closer. Perhaps the most important thing is that I've cut down the number of civs to 8-9.

My rig didn't so much as slow down too annoyingly, though there were spots, but it was CTD's that I was getting finally at some point. I will consider going the 2MB RAM route, but it is pretty pathetic that a guy with a 3.4G has to go max out his RAM on something which had such massively modest recommended requirements.

 

[Arlborn]

Aye...I need a new computer...Any donations?