Need help with video cards - CIV4.

[Mahatmajon]

{snip} Considering i work in IT i find this product dangerously UNSTABLE, and have managed to get a few chaps at work who code to investigate this as well

Oh come on now. "consdering i work in IT" and your original post said nothing about your motherboard, memory, power supply or another other issues that could be problematic and are much more likely than Civ4's effect on the graphics card?

I agree with an earlier poster that you need to take a deep breath, but you should also try investigating the problem more before complaining that this game is blowing up graphics cards.

 

[Efexeye]

It's pretty clear to me from the thread title and the handle the OP picked that he's looking to vent.

He's done so.

 

[Kolyana]

....fact!!

 

[MetHimPikeHoses]

there's hardly anything crappier than GF 440mx and 5200

Hey, why do you have to pick on my FX5200? She's running CIV alright, not great, but I can play on Huge maps with only a 2-3 second delay between turns... and this on a Celeron processor!

Behold my pre-built Dell, and kneel before it!

 

[PaulM]

yup agree on my card being not as good as the other, however I`m just trying stuff at the mo to see what works best. and yes so far BEST performance has been the 6600 128 bit, but it got fried by playing civ ( at least thats what i think )
Also done the bios upgrade, but thanks for the post on soundcard and RAM
I`m going to run those checks later, HOWEVER Married man and all that, going out now for a night on the town with the missus( babysitters in)
And running the game tomorrow on an HP box with a corporate build to see what happens....see ya

 

[Efexeye]

but it got fried by playing civ ( at least thats what i think )

Not trying to flame, but, that is quite a different statement from "Civ4 fries videocards.....FACT."

 

[Shylock]

Your title is deceptive. Civ4 didnt destroy anything.

 

[vbraun]

My video card is fine, and it is overclocked.

 

[Kolyana]

OH NOES! F1r@X1Z STOELZ MY MEGAHURTZ

 

[Dale]

Considering the 6600 is designed for Intel chips (his is an AMD) and they're only available (that I know of) in PCI-E & AGP8x configs, his motherboard blew the card. Simple.

That card probably cost more than the rest of the whole rig.

"Considering I work in IT". Must be a manager.

Dale

 

[GenericKen]

It doesn't sound like you have a video card problem at all.

You're running at 512 Ram, which is rather low for a game like this. Try defraging the hard drive and upping your virtual memory to a large, constant block.

 

[zeeter]

Maybe not the case here, but I've heard a lot of people saying that you can't just buy a new Dell and expect the game to run. That you need to know your computer and put in better parts yourself because Dells are just cookie-cutters and use inferior equipment.

To me this is all Bull. If Firaxis is making a game that only power users can play then that is a big problem. Most people are not power users, and when they get a game that their PC meets the recommended (not the minimum) requirements for it should work. If it doesn't then that is on Firaxis - not the user.

I had problems initially with videos. Got a new card and everything was cool, except that the game can't be played in the last fifty turns or so without crashing every two turns due to memory issues. I've got 768 MB, which ought to be enough on a standard map.

In this case, while I question whether or not the game itself is the cause of burnt out video cards (likely it's something else that wasn't apparent before Civ4), theres no denying that the game has problems, or that the game was made for machines at a level that most people don't have. It is illogical to write a game that cannot be played on a two year old machine when that machine was top of the line when purchased. The lifespan of the average computer is about four years. We can't all just run out and buy new PC's whenever a new game comes out.

 

[Dale]

......theres no denying that the game has problems, or that the game was made for machines at a level that most people don't have. It is illogical to write a game that cannot be played on a two year old machine when that machine was top of the line when purchased. The lifespan of the average computer is about four years. We can't all just run out and buy new PC's whenever a new game comes out.

It's not as expensive as all that. Come on! There's PLENTY of computer places that will upgrade your existing PC from 2-3 year old specs up to 6 month old specs for a couple hundred bucks. It's not THAT hard. Some can do it cheaper if you exchange your old bits too as they then setup a student PC and sell that.

Usually it's only the motherboard, chip and graphics card that need upgrading. Maybe an extra stick of RAM but not like that busts the bank.

People crying "it's too expensive" just doesn't cut it with me. There's ways to do it on the cheap and get a good rig, and not need IT knowledge either.

Dale

 

[Efexeye]

There's ways to do it on the cheap and get a good rig, and not need IT knowledge either.

Dale

Don't you remember when Homer was being pressured to buy a computer? He asked the salesman "this is the fastest and best computer ever and always will be, right?"

People don't always understand that gaming is an expensive hobby, and things need to be upgraded with a fair amount of regularity. It IS cheap, but not if you buy from a big box...Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com are your friends!

 

[ainwood]

Moderator Action: Limit these discussions to helping resolve the problems this person is having.

Do not use it to flame or bash - Kolyana warned for spam.

To the original poster - your user name is NOT acceptable - I am arranging to get it changed. You can PM Thunderfall with your preferred alternative one. Also - your thread title is factually incorrect. Changed.

Moved to tech support.

 

[zeeter]

It's not as expensive as all that. Come on! There's PLENTY of computer places that will upgrade your existing PC from 2-3 year old specs up to 6 month old specs for a couple hundred bucks. It's not THAT hard. Some can do it cheaper if you exchange your old bits too as they then setup a student PC and sell that.

Usually it's only the motherboard, chip and graphics card that need upgrading. Maybe an extra stick of RAM but not like that busts the bank.

People crying "it's too expensive" just doesn't cut it with me. There's ways to do it on the cheap and get a good rig, and not need IT knowledge either.

Dale

Completely disagree. It's not a matter of being expensive. It's a matter of a two year old machine shouldn't NEED anything. But still - I'll buy a new video card and some more ram and see what happens. Nope - still doesn't work. New processor? New Motherboard? So now I've purchased a new video card, more Ram, a new motherboard, and a new procesor. May as well have bought a new PC.

My point isn't about the expense of buying new hardware. I expected video and ram problems when I bought it. My point is that even after these were upgraded to exceed the recommended requirements the game still doesn't work properly in the modern age. On a two year old Dell with new video and added ram this should not be an issue on a standard map. I've got a problem with a company that writes a game that can't be run on a two year old computer even when the game is set to the most minimum levels.

 

[Depravo]

To me this is all Bull. If Firaxis is making a game that only power users can play then that is a big problem. Most people are not power users, and when they get a game that their PC meets the recommended (not the minimum) requirements for it should work. If it doesn't then that is on Firaxis - not the user.

Amen. Get that man a cigar.

If a significant number of users can't run the game reliably - I can't with my five-month old Compaq that well exceeds given requirements - how is it anyone's fault but the developers'? No amount of macho-nerd rhetoric can change that. I shouldn't need specialist technical knowledge or a bespoke PC to get something like this to run.

If it was a simple matter of freezing / crashing it would be understandable, though irritating. But this game reboots my PC at random intervals and since one such crash I now get a warning at startup that a hard drive crash is 'imminent'. Tech support have been absolutely useless.

It's bad enough to have a game that won't run, but to have my hard drive raped by an innocent-looking piece of commercial software is grounds for anger, aye.

 

[firej55]

So what video card would you say is the best for this game?

 

[Dale]

Completely disagree. It's not a matter of being expensive. It's a matter of a two year old machine shouldn't NEED anything. But still - I'll buy a new video card and some more ram and see what happens. Nope - still doesn't work. New processor? New Motherboard? So now I've purchased a new video card, more Ram, a new motherboard, and a new procesor. May as well have bought a new PC.

My point isn't about the expense of buying new hardware. I expected video and ram problems when I bought it. My point is that even after these were upgraded to exceed the recommended requirements the game still doesn't work properly in the modern age. On a two year old Dell with new video and added ram this should not be an issue on a standard map. I've got a problem with a company that writes a game that can't be run on a two year old computer even when the game is set to the most minimum levels.

Two years ago there wasn't affordable video cards with:
- Hardware T&L
- DirectX 9.0c (it was only DX8 back then)
- Hardware pixel shading

All required for Civ4. Badged PC's will have cheaper software rendering vid chips in them instead. This means your "1 gig RAM PC" can quickly become a "500 meg RAM PC" due to the software rendering sucking heaps of your RAM up.

Also, older motherboards don't support the voltage and mHz required to run the better modern vid cards.

And then we get to the power supply. In badged PC's you can guarentee they short-changed the watts to just run the PC. Throw in a good vid card and extra RAM and it will suck over the power supply limit when there's heaps of processing. Especially when the vid card has to kick in it's fan to keep the chip cool (already running hotter because the voltage is wrong). Boom, reboot!

How is this the developers fault? If anything it's the PC manufactorers fault for not providing for the future.

I'm getting sick of people blaming hardware faults on the software (whatever program/game it is). Can't blame their tech support either for those problems.

Dale

 

[Neon Deon]

Dale if I had not already eaten all the Christmas cookies I would give you one, maybe even two!

Hang,(or what ever your new name will be)

Please post a dxDiag file and systems specs.