Min System Requierment

[Sark6354201]

This sucks, my PC will not run Civ IV, too old.


That means I will have to spend more than a 1000 $$$ in order to be able to play the game

NOT true, you should not need to spend a 1000$ on a machine to play Civ4. Especially if you are not buying a monitor.

For 7 or 800, you can get a nice machine that will for sure be able to handle Civ4.

Things to look for when buying a machine:

Athlon or Pentium for gaming, don't go crazy over the clock speed or rating either. Moderate jumps in clock speed (like a 3.2 P4 to a 3.4 P4) can cost a lot of money without giving comparable benefit.
At LEAST 512 RAM
An ATi or Geforce video card that is not a budget card (mx 4000, radeon 9200) Try to avoid the FX series of the Geforce if you can. But at the very least just make sure it has a video card.

Past that, adequate cooling (case fans) and a case that has good ventilation (side vents) if you can find one.

Try to get a machine with a PCI-Express slot, as then you can upgrade to future video cards, since AGP is now defunct.

I would say those are the main things... hope that helps

 

[Sark6354201]

Hi! i'm considering buying a lap-top computer due to professional reasons but it would be great if I could also use it to play CIV4.

I know that the recommended requirements are: 512MB of ram, Pentium4 processor, and a recent graphics card (like the Radeon 9800).

Do you guys think that I will be able to get this requirements in a lap-top? What about screen and sound? Do you think I will enjoy CIV4 in a lap-top as much as I would in a normal PC?

You will be able to find a laptop with that much power... for a price.

Just last week I used a laptop with a 3.0 P4 and a gig of RAM, so they are out there.

Since the screen is a lcd basically, that shouldn't be a problem, especially on higher end laptop models. However you might suffer in sound... I have heard of people who have had poor experiences/results with built in laptop speakers, even with more expensive laptop models.

 

[apatheist]

For 7 or 800, you can get a nice machine that will for sure be able to handle Civ4.

You could probably do it for $500, if you don't need a new monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.

 

[Janos]

You should keep in mind, these are MINIMUM requirements. I'd guess for a satisfactory pace of the game it should be a P4, 2.x upwards GHz, and of course the more RAM, the better. Not to mention that a good graphics card will pay off, as well.

At the moment, I wonder if my ATI Radeon 9600 will still be good enough.

Don't worry, those of us with good old reliable 9600s should be fine - it will probably run very satisfactory on medium-high settings with it.

 

[doronron]

Just reposting for the newer users' edification:

If you're looking to upgrade without spending too much, I would suggest this site: www.pricewatch.com

It's easy to navigate and you'll find some great deals. My new machine from pricewatch has the following:

Intel Celeron D 2.96GHz
500W PSU
52x/48x DVD/CDRW Drive
1GB PC3200 RAM
40GB 7200rpm SATA HD
SB Audigy 4
ATI Radeon x850 Pro w/256MB 4x/8x AGP
Windows XP SP2

The pricetag was $650. It would have cost $550 if it hadn't been for XP.

 

[Sark6354201]

I wanted to be generous with my estimate, especially if someone wants to buy a pre built machine. So yes, you could do it for 5 or 6 hundred.

doronron, nice machine, except for that celeron. I hope it isnt socket 478 (Due to the high clock speed I'm assuming its LGA775) so you'll be able to upgrade your machine to a P4 later if needed.

Even then, great value.

 

[doronron]

I wanted to be generous with my estimate, especially if someone wants to buy a pre built machine. So yes, you could do it for 5 or 6 hundred.

doronron, nice machine, except for that celeron. I hope it isnt socket 478 (Due to the high clock speed I'm assuming its LGA775) so you'll be able to upgrade your machine to a P4 later if needed.

Even then, great value.

It will upgrade to a Prescott-core P4 with HT. The RAM also has room for upgrades. I can build my own, but didn't want the hassle this time around. The machine was purchased pre-built with the OS already installed, and all parts tested for compatibility.

 

[dannyevilcat]

Just reposting for the newer users' edification:

If you're looking to upgrade without spending too much, I would suggest this site: www.pricewatch.com

It's easy to navigate and you'll find some great deals. My new machine from pricewatch has the following:

Intel Celeron D 2.96GHz
500W PSU
52x/48x DVD/CDRW Drive
1GB PC3200 RAM
40GB 7200rpm SATA HD
SB Audigy 4
ATI Radeon x850 Pro w/256MB 4x/8x AGP
Windows XP SP2

The pricetag was $650. It would have cost $550 if it hadn't been for XP.

Pairing a Celeron with an X850 Pro is wrong on just so many levels

 

[doronron]

Pairing a Celeron with an X850 Pro is wrong on just so many levels

The x850 was a reaction to having to fight an Intel Extreme GPU chipset that I couldn't replace for about 18 months.

There's room for improvement on the board (as stated above), and it would've run an additional $125 or so to get a 3Ghz P4...maybe next year I'll put down the cash to upgrade the RAM and CPU a bit.

Still, the point is that pricewatch does a good job providing cheap new parts.

 

[jameson]

I fully intend to try and run Civ4 on my Duron 1.6Ghz with 256MBs of DDR and an ATI Radeon 9200 - if it doesn't work properly (it still supposedly meets the minimum requirements), one can always upgrade later. No need to obsess about it just yet .

 

[Paasky]

The [updated] Minimum System Requirements for the game are: 1 GHz CPU, 256MB RAM, and a 32MB video card with hardware transform and lighting capabilities.

Me:
800MHz CPU = bummer
384MB RAM = makes up for the CPU, right?
64MB GF4MX = Graphics can look the same as in Pirates (1024x768, medium settings). Btw, teh MX pwns all

So I should look forward for a bit more lengthy turn times, which means that my usual 100x100 will hopefully work quite well.

As you can see, my PC isn't the best but I'm not crying for a new one. If it can handle Pirates, it can handle civ4.

 

[marshal zhukov]

You should keep in mind, these are MINIMUM requirements. I'd guess for a satisfactory pace of the game it should be a P4, 2.x upwards GHz, and of course the more RAM, the better. Not to mention that a good graphics card will pay off, as well.

At the moment, I wonder if my ATI Radeon 9600 will still be good enough.

That is a very good point. CIV IV not only has to run but it has to run at a SATISFACTORY pace, specially if you plan to play multiplayer online, players just can stand a game that is lagging, they will either give up or boot you out.

In think that in order to play CIV IV at a satisfactory pace I better get a Pentium 4 HT, 3.5 GHZ with more than 1Gb of RAM 400mhz.

That Brazil costs around 1000 to 1500 Dollars.

 

[Sark6354201]

Me:
800MHz CPU = bummer
384MB RAM = makes up for the CPU, right?
64MB GF4MX = Graphics can look the same as in Pirates (1024x768, medium settings). Btw, teh MX pwns all

So I should look forward for a bit more lengthy turn times, which means that my usual 100x100 will hopefully work quite well.

As you can see, my PC isn't the best but I'm not crying for a new one. If it can handle Pirates, it can handle civ4.

RAM can only do so much to make up for a slow CPU, that processor is too old...

Everyone keeps saying that if their machine runs Pirates well, then it will run Civ4 well. I tend to think that Pirates does not have as much actual computing and things to keep track of that Civ4 has. So it might be ok graphic wise, but the rest of the Civ4 program's needs will be greater overall.

Now having said that, I admit to never playing Pirates, thus my argument could be moot

I think a 3.5 P4 with over a gig of RAM is excessive for Civ4, especially when the higher clocked P4's don't get nearly the performance gain that Athlons do when their clock is increased. You aren't getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Then of course it all depends on what your definition of satisfactory playing level is...

 

[doronron]

RAM can only do so much to make up for a slow CPU, that processor is too old...

Everyone keeps saying that if their machine runs Pirates well, then it will run Civ4 well. I tend to think that Pirates does not have as much actual computing and things to keep track of that Civ4 has. So it might be ok graphic wise, but the rest of the Civ4 program's needs will be greater overall.

Now having said that, I admit to never playing Pirates, thus my argument could be moot

I think a 3.5 P4 with over a gig of RAM is excessive for Civ4, especially when the higher clocked P4's don't get nearly the performance gain that Athlons do when their clock is increased. You aren't getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Then of course it all depends on what your definition of satisfactory playing level is...

Well...Pirates did have its fair share of things the game had to keep track of, and it had to push the graphics in real time, as well. I don't think the AI or much of the game mechanics for Pirates is as complex as Civ, but it did make up for it in other areas.

Pirates should be a decent benchmark for testing machines, though. It runs the same minimum requirements, in addition to being made by the same company with the same programming resources...

 

[Sark6354201]

Well...Pirates did have its fair share of things the game had to keep track of, and it had to push the graphics in real time, as well. I don't think the AI or much of the game mechanics for Pirates is as complex as Civ, but it did make up for it in other areas.

Pirates should be a decent benchmark for testing machines, though. It runs the same minimum requirements, in addition to being made by the same company with the same programming resources...

Alright, fair enough. Like I said, I never played it.

 

[FenrysWulf]

I just bought my computer in April 2004 and I ran that diagnostic tool to see if I can play it and it said my video card failed, so it's not just people who have a 6 year old computer who might have to worry. I'm going to buy the game anyway and hope it works. I'd rather not have to buy a new video card considering this will probably be the only game I buy until Civ V or Colonization II are released.

 

[Paasky]

If your definition of statisfactory gameplay is that it has to work with 100fps at 1600x1024 with everything at high and the roundtime taking less than a few seconds every round, THEN you might need those 4GHz processors, X800 gfx cards & 2 gigs of ram. If you can survive with low graphics, 1024x768 and a minute between turns, anything above 1.2GHz, 512 RAM & GF2 (GF4MX) will do fine.

And if the PC parts cost over double where-ever you might live when compared to US/UK/DE prices, by it online! You might need to add 50$/£/€ into shipping but it's still much cheaper

 

[GR8Madmax]

An ATi or Geforce video card that is not a budget card (mx 4000, radeon 9200) Try to avoid the FX series of the Geforce if you can. But at the very least just make sure it has a video card.

That's very good advice. If you're looking to buy a new video card, I'd suggest not going for the MX or FX series cards. Also, avoid the XFX or PNY brand cards if you're going with Nvidia.

The "budget" video card I'd suggest is 6600 GT. It should cost about $135 and handles directx 9.

 

[darkdude]

I fully intend to try and run Civ4 on my Duron 1.6Ghz with 256MBs of DDR and an ATI Radeon 9200 - if it doesn't work properly (it still supposedly meets the minimum requirements), one can always upgrade later. No need to obsess about it just yet .

I agree; there's no real hard requirement like the game won't start at all when you don't meet these minimum requirements. It's just that the gameplay will be horribly slow without enough memory and a decent graphics card so you will give up playing very quickly when your hard drive is swapping all the time and the graphics stutters along. But there's a large grey area what people will and won't find acceptable to play so the only way to find out is just try it out.

256 MB sounds like it might need some upgrading though. A typical XP installation easily takes up some 150-200 MB I've noticed. CPU and graphics card should be good enough in your case and since decent memory is not expensive I would recommend you to invest in 500 MB extra RAM. You won't regret it.

 

[DreadCthulhu]

Hi! i'm considering buying a lap-top computer due to professional reasons but it would be great if I could also use it to play CIV4.

I know that the recommended requirements are: 512MB of ram, Pentium4 processor, and a recent graphics card (like the Radeon 9800).

Do you guys think that I will be able to get this requirements in a lap-top? What about screen and sound? Do you think I will enjoy CIV4 in a lap-top as much as I would in a normal PC?

It wouldn't be too hard to find a laptop that will play CIV IV nicely. A Pavillion ze2000z laptop can be configured with a 1.6ghz Turion (should match a 2.8ghz P4 in gaming apps), 512 MB Ram, its Radeon xPress 200M graphics chip should get CIV IV running nice, all for about $800.