Lowest computer spec to run Civ 4?

[Nigel Stutt]

My brother really likes the Civ games and wants to get Civ 4. Problem is I think he only has avery limited computer and we are talking P200 or 400 here! Probably with Win98, little Ram etc and a no T&L graphics card.

Can anyone give me their specs if they have managed t get it working using some older computers perhaps by reducing the graphics settings to a minimum etc as I know you can freeze all the animations etc which may make it playable on his computer. Certainly he has been playing Civ 3 ok.

Any advice welcome because I'm thinking of getting it as a Christmas present for him

 

[Lahdoz]

That's a risky gift as it may not work... I wish I could tell you I've run it on something comparible. The closest I've seen anybody play on was an 800 w/ 256, and it was laggy and choppy. Personally, I wouldn't chance it.

I do give you credit for wanting to get somebody something they actually want, rather than just buying anything.

 

[Byrath]

Unless you know that he is planning to upgrade that stone age computer , don't even think about it.
I played on a 900mhz cpu w/ 384 ram decently .. but I did have a 128meg radeon 9000 video card to offset my under-the-required-specs system somewhat.

 

[Lillefix]

That's barely enough to run civ3. I can't imagine civ4 will work on that computer.

 

[Seanirl]

No way it'll work even close to playable. It's slow enough on my computer which, while not being any way new, wipes the floor with that, with a 2ghz P4, 512 RAM and a 64MB Geforce 3 ti500. It still lags annoyingly throughout and sometimes it takes several minutes for it to open something like the religion screen or financial advisor.

 

[henrycccc]

Tell him to delete every file/application and maybe it'll just be a little slow. Buy him a new computer.

 

[yumyumtreetree]

I am running mine on a 1Ghz w 384MB RAM and 64MB nVidia. Graphics are all set to wicked low. Had to edit confg to prevent CTD during Middle Ages (~1200AD). Was a real pain though and I still have to be patient with it.

Good luck!

 

[Smidlee]

If you can atleast download the demo and try on his machine. (IIRC the demo doesn't run long enough to test on a full loaded map)

 

[Marquez]

I'll tell you right now that you need either Windows 2000 or XP to run the game. My planned XP upgrade from ME ran about a week late after buying Civ and that lead to the dreaded "failed to initialize renderer". After I upgraded to XP, thankfully, the game runs extremely well without having to try any of the common fixes.

With regard to the processor, I'm still using a computer I got almost five years ago. It has a 1.3Ghz processor, 128MB RADEON 9600 XT and 640MB of RDRAM. Obviously it's been upgraded since then. So far I have only played the GOTM and two epic 17 civ huge map games. Thanks goodness I've never had a CTD and the graphics only get slightly choppy during the modern era of the game. The only real problem I have is long game load times and the time between turns can drag on for a bit. I'm assuming both of these are the result of a slower processor.

If the game could run with the processor's you mentioned it seems to me the game would be absolutely unbearable to play. I'm pretty sure that the game won't run on that computer at all. Maybe you could get him a gift card to Dell or Best Buy or something like that to help him upgrade or buy a new computer.

Hope this helps.

 

[naknek]

I'm running Civ4 on a 900MHZ Duron with a 64MB GeForce 2 MX, 512MB RAM. The movies skip and the game slows noticeably in the later eras, but it is definitely playable with low graphics settings. I just wrapped up one multiplayer LAN game last night at 2007 AD.

No way a Pentium 400 without T&L graphics is going to cut it, but at least you don't need a new computer either. You could probably get away with a $400 new computer, or just check eBay/Craigslist/classifieds for an old used computer running Win 2000.