If I get a new computer (to handle Civ4) should I wait on the Conroe chip?

[stwils]

I have to get a new computer soon. My windows 98 is good, but Microsoft no longer supports it and neither do many anti virus programs.

What do I really need to play Civ4? 2 Gigs of Ram? A good Nvidia card? And what else? Should I wait for the Conroe chip?

stwils

 

[MRM]

I have to get a new computer soon. My windows 98 is good, but Microsoft no longer supports it and neither do many anti virus programs.

What do I really need to play Civ4? 2 Gigs of Ram? A good Nvidia card? And what else? Should I wait for the Conroe chip?

stwils

I think you should wait. IMO it makes no sense buying a new computer before the conroe is on the market right now. Either you buy the new Conroe, a very good processor according to the benchmarks, or you buy an other processor for much less money then you would have to pay right now.

Just see AMDs price reduction ...

http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/2094_large_amd_pricing_1023.png

But for civ 4 you don't need the newest processor. I play with a Athlon 2400+ and it works well. Could be a tick faster sometimes, but is still o.k.

But memory is importen. It don't make fun with 512 MB only, 1 or 2 GB is better

 

[GenocideBringer]

It should run with 512 mb as long as you get the patch ASAP after you install it. The patch improves performance a lot.

 

[suspendinlight]

Depending on how bad I wanted to play civ 4, I would probably wait for the Conroe. Still, you may be waiting for a month or two until there is actual street availability. Also, I would suggest going with at least 1 GB, so you can play larger maps without having to swap, and also because 512 is getting to be subpar these days.

 

[Kivarenn22]

I play absolutely fine with these specs and the 1.61 patch

and nowadays you can probably get my computer for around.. $450 brand new (no monitors, peripherals)

The video card came seperate, but it only cost me about.. 80$ CAD its a bit old, but does just fine

 

[boneys26]

I'm waiting till it comes out i was going to build me a new pc as this ones 3 years old but i can hang on for a while. i'm not in any rush this plays civ4 just fine for now

 

[Doomed_UK]

wait and see if AMD's price drops are any good - the conroe is the better chip, which may make AMD do some good 'bang for your buck' deals.

 

[I_batman]

I have to get a new computer soon. My windows 98 is good, but Microsoft no longer supports it and neither do many anti virus programs.

What do I really need to play Civ4? 2 Gigs of Ram? A good Nvidia card? And what else? Should I wait for the Conroe chip?

stwils

Go with 2 gig of high end memory.
I did some screen captures not long ago of my machine running Civ IV showing memory usuage and CPU utilization, and posted them in another thread (which I cannot remember)

I don't want to paste them again, but they indicated that 1 Gig may be OK, barely, and I have a 3.4 Gig processor with 4 MB Cache that was running at 51%.
My wait time/turn, in 1997, on a huge map, with 13 Civ's still alive, was about 6 seconds.

So 2 gig memory, while maybe overkill, is quite prudent.

BTW, if you go with an AMD board, stick with the Nvidia card, and get the best card you can afford.
If you go with an Intel board, go with an ATI card. (I have an ATI card with 512 MB onboard and have not regretted for one second that kind of expenditure)

I talked to my computer supplier, and they have stated for a long time that you have a higher chance of problems with Intel/Nvida and AMD/ATI matches.
Don't ask me why that is the case, but I trust these guys, and they do a ton of commercial work as well as retail.

 

[Murky]

I used to be crazy about having the best gaming system possible. Now I'm more concerned with being financially secure. The new system can wait until I can safely buy the parts for it without accumulating any debt.

 

[stwils]

I talked to my computer supplier, and they have stated for a long time that you have a higher chance of problems with Intel/Nvida and AMD/ATI matches.
Don't ask me why that is the case, but I trust these guys, and they do a ton of commercial work as well as retail.

What does that mean? Stay away from Intel / Nvidia combinations? But what if you get the Intel Conroe with a good Nvidia card? Problems?

Please explain.

stwiils

 

[suspendinlight]

I think he's referring to Nvidia & ATI motherboards.

 

[I_batman]

What does that mean? Stay away from Intel / Nvidia combinations? But what if you get the Intel Conroe with a good Nvidia card? Problems?

Please explain.

stwiils

I have been told by my supplier that Intel chipsets have a higher probability of problems with Nvida video cards than ATI cards, and AMD processors have a higher probability of problems with ATI cards than NVidia cards.

So what they are saying is buy AMD/Nvdia, or Intel/ATI combinations.

I am sure tons of people have combos that work just fine that counter what I am saying.
I have no direct proof, other than what I have been told by my supplier, and and another buddy of mine that is the IT guy for about a 200 person company.

But like I said, I trust this company, and they have a booming long term business selling to inviduals and to commercial enterprises alike.

And they have seen just about every combo of gear you can imagine, so they do have experience.

As for the Conroe, since it has not hit the street yet, and no one has released benchmarking on it, no one can really give you advice on that particular combination.

I would suggest that buying cutting edge(bleeding edge?) chipsets like that might be overkill for this game.
What I have read about the Conroe is that is geared for commercial use, not for guys like us who want to push bits around on a screen.

 

[Murky]

I have been told by my supplier that Intel chipsets have a higher probability of problems with Nvida video cards than ATI cards, and AMD processors have a higher probability of problems with ATI cards than NVidia cards.

So what they are saying is buy AMD/Nvdia, or Intel/ATI combinations.

I am sure tons of people have combos that work just fine that counter what I am saying.
I have no direct proof, other than what I have been told by my supplier, and and another buddy of mine that is the IT guy for about a 200 person company.

But like I said, I trust this company, and they have a booming long term business selling to inviduals and to commercial enterprises alike.

And they have seen just about every combo of gear you can imagine, so they do have experience.

As for the Conroe, since it has not hit the street yet, and no one has released benchmarking on it, no one can really give you advice on that particular combination.

I would suggest that buying cutting edge(bleeding edge?) chipsets like that might be overkill for this game.
What I have read about the Conroe is that is geared for commercial use, not for guys like us who want to push bits around on a screen.

I have built dozens of systems for my own use and for work. I haven't see any incompatiblity between Intel any either of the two graphics chipsets. Not sure if the same holds true for AMD or not because I usally put Nvidia into those anyway. There maybe some driver or bios issues between different manufacturers of motherboards and graphics cards. I would stick with brand names you can trust. Saving a few bucks on a bargin board isn't worth it.